By Jack Holloway Sacha Baron Cohen is making a lot of news with his new Showtime special Who is America? The concept for the show will be familiar to those who know Baron Cohen’s work: he disguises himself as whacky characters and gets people to do crazy things under misleading pretenses. Among the characters this…
Call for Papers: Theology and the Star Wars Universe
Call for Papers: Theology and the Star Wars Universe Editor: Ben Espinoza (theologyandstarwars@gmail.com) Theology and Pop Culture is currently seeking contributions for an edited volume from Rowman and Littlefield on the intersection of theology and Star Wars. Essays may focus on any of the films, TV series, books, and other media that comprise the Star…
Teaching Gospel Texts and Mimesis with Superhero Stories
From our friends over at Sacred and Sequential: Dr. John Fadden discusses how he teaches Gospel texts and mimetic theory to students who would be otherwise interested in those topics. His solution: incorporating superhero narratives. “Finally, the activity left an impression on the students. I could talk to students about the narratives without them jumping to…
Call for Papers: Theology and Star Trek
Call for Papers: Theology and Star Trek Editors: Shaun C. Brown (shauncbrown@yahoo.com) and Amanda MacInnis Hackney (macinnishackney@icloud.com) Theology and Pop Culture is currently seeking contributions for a potential edited volume from Rowman and Littlefield on the intersection of theology and Star Trek. Essays may focus on any of the television series or films that make…
Pharisees, Jedi, and a New Ecclesia
By Ben Espinoza To be honest, when I first saw The Last Jedi, I wasn’t a huge fan. Rey’s a nobody? Snoke’s dead? Luke’s gone? I thought most other folks would agree with me. Turns out, they didn’t. Over time, I sought to understand how folks could possibly like this affront to the Star Wars…
EXTENDED Call for Papers: Theology and Black Panther
Call for Papers: Theology and Black Panther Theology and Pop Culture is currently seeking contributions for a potential volume from Rowman and Littlefield on the character of Black Panther in comics, television, and film with a specific emphasis on Black Liberation Theology. Essays should be written for academics, but avoid “jargon” to be accessible for…
Secret Invasion: How to Trust Other People
By Corey Patterson Marvel Comics’ Civil War event was one of the biggest phenomenons to shake up the comic book world. The tensions between those heroes in favor of superhero registration and those who weren’t continue to reflect our conflicting desires of freedom and security. Marvel cleverly expanded these themes in the next event to hit…
Worship and MacLaren’s Pub
By David Tassell “I wish we had our own MacLaren’s pub!” Fans of How I Met Your Mother are likely to resonate with this sentiment. After several seasons, something about the familiar central place for the whole gang to meet and Barney’s antics to flourish becomes an attractive ideal for 20- and 30- somethings and…
Sorry to Bother You…But We Need a Prophet
By Fr. Linh Hoang Sorry to bother you is a statement that polite telemarketers say when customers answer their phones. It is a way to get your attention and draw you into their sales pitch. Sorry to Bother Youis also a movie about Cassius Green an unemployed, black Oakland, California resident who lands a telemarketing job….
Become Ocean’s Spiritual Frontier
By Sam Bennett Born in Mississippi and raised amid California’s suburban sprawl, composer John Luther Adams lived for forty years in Alaska. Not just a vague source of inspiration, he intended to produce a translation in sound of Alaska’s surrounding environment. His most celebrated attempt is the symphony Become Ocean (2013). A key element of…
Pop Culture and Theology 