God on TV

Television shows usually skirt around the issues of religion, faith, and God, in order to avoid insulting anyone, Christian, atheist, or otherwise. It is a touchy subject. Honestly, I think dialogue gets more attention when it mentions God than any sexual reference or violent act. I know I perk up when I hear someone say, “I prayed to God about it” but not when someone gets shot or if someone has sex. It’s more of an eye roll, like “Oh, they’re having sex again”. But when someone talks to God, either in anger at “what he’s done to their life” or if they’re begging for a second chance, it gathers attention, both negative and positive.

I’m going to take you through one of my favorite television shows, Supernatural, that has gone from basically “God-absent” to a very present God in nearly every episode.

Supernatural centers around the Winchester brothers, whose mother was killed by a demon when they were children. Their father swears that he will destroy the demon that killed his wife, dragging his boys across the country throughout their childhoods. Because their dad is so obsessed, they never had a home and stayed in one hotel room after another, changing schools just as often. Their father was never really there for his boys, and this caused the oldest son, Dean, to become a sort of father figure to his little brother, Sam. As the boys’ father constantly tells Dean, “It is your responsibility to look after Sammy. Protect him at all costs.” On the rare occasions when their father is around, he teaches his sons everything they need to know about hunting demons, shapeshifters, Grim Reapers, werewolves, wendigos (mutated flesh eating humans), Tricksters, and the souls of vengeful ghosts. Their father expects them both to go into the “family business”, but when the booksmart Sam graduates high school, he defiantly takes his full ride to Stanford to practice Pre-Law. Four years later, the Winchester boys’ father goes missing, and the boys team up and spend the rest of the first season finding him.

Although this series deals with very evil things such as demonic spirits, and the boys use crucifixes and holy water to ward off spirits, there is only one episode in the first season that mentions God. It centered around a “faith healer”, who was a pastor at a church. Dean was dying, so the boys went to visit him, hoping that he could be cured. However, the man ended up being a sham, although he really did think he was working through the power of God. A Grim Reaper was the one taking the ailments and transferring them onto another person.

In season two, there was only one episode that had a God centered theme. It was about the soul of a priest who may or may not be killing “sinful” people, and this caused the Winchester brothers to confront their feelings about religion and faith. Dean remained adamant that there was no God who would allow such horrible things to happen to people. Sam followed up with his ideas on faith. “There is a God. How can you not believe after all we see?” Dean says something snarky about Sam praying about them solving the case, to which Sam says, “I do pray. Every day.”

Season three is about Dean trading his soul for Sam’s life (long story), and the process of him going to Hell. But it’s in season four where things really pick up in the “God” department. An angel (Castiel) drags Dean out of Hell (yes, they couldn’t get him out of the deal), and says that God has a special plan for Dean. Whoa. This came out of the blue. They want the guy that has firmly said that he doesn’t believe in God to work for the Man Upstsairs? In the rest of the season, the angels are constantly there, guiding Dean and Sam, the latter of whom, in a twist of irony, seems to be headed on a darker path.

Some other shows that have religious references are Kings (sort of a reimagining of David and Goliath) and Heroes (last week had a main character had a whole conversation with Jesus on the cross in a church). What do you think about shows having religious references? Are they not respectful enough? Too respectful? Should they have more or less religious references?

I will leave you with this clip from Supernatural: Dean vs. Cat