Relativism: So What? (Part Five: I kissed a girl)

[koganbot]

How does it stand in light of the biblical message/worldview?

"Because it serves to direct young viewers and listeners, 'I Kissed a Girl' is more than a song kids will listen to. It actually serves as a map to life, guiding impressionable kids into accepting and practicing the values, attitudes, and behaviors that are depicted and promoted in the song. This includes a postmodern ethical relativism, and homosexuality."

"We suggest that after securing parental permission, youth workers view the video and deconstruct its message with their middle school and high school students. The exercise will not only offer opportunities to bring the light of God's Word to bear on the song's faulty messages, but will serve to teach kids how to think Biblically and Christianly about their media choices."

Comments

[skyecaptain.livejournal.com]

"Deconstruct" is a fairly common term in media literacy literature that I've been studying a bit recently -- it's really just a jargony way of saying "understand the various elements and how they work together to create meaning." You could just as easily use the word "analyze," "interpret," or "critique," and these words tend to be used interchangeably.

The difference is that media literacy is about giving (young) people the tools to understand a picture, but doesn't really instruct them how to then further judge what they're understanding. You could understand the elements of the song and place it within a Christian worldview, but I think your point about him essentially misreading the song is precisely what makes this...y'know, media illiterate. (As for "postmodern ethical relativism," I have no idea what this person thinks it might actually mean, except maybe "culturally sanctioned views that don't sync up with my own.")