Pop Culture: modern popular culture transmitted via mass media and aimed at younger people

There are numerous elements of today’s culture that incorporates religious themes and messages

Les Miserables:

• while not a particularly religious book, Victor Hugo’s classic is well regarded as showcasing theological and spiritual themes

• Justice and Law v. Grace and Forgiveness

• The term “les miserables” translates best to “the dispossessed” or “the outsiders”

• showcases the hardships of the poor and the injustices thrust upon them

• when sleeping in a doorway, a bishop invites valjean inside

• valjean’s selfishness, fear, and haste represents humanity

• the bishop being forgiving, unconditional, and looking for the best to come to humanity exemplifies God

• bishop saves valjean’s soul by buying him (trading him silver for a devotion to God)

• he cannot understand the way the bishop treated him

• valjean renounces his ways and looks to start over

• he rips up his parole papers

  • this represents resurrection, repetance, and confession

• finding out another man is accused of his crimes, valjean (now known as monsieur madeline) must decide whether to allow him to take the punishment or face the truth, though that would hurt others besides himself

  • “if I do it I am condemned, if I don’t I am damned”

• in his last moments, valjean looks back on his choices and hands cosette his “confession”

• as he dies, he meets Fantine and the Bishop, singing together

  • “and remember the truth that once was spoken, to love another person is to see the face of God”

• the dead sing:

  • “we will live again in freedom in the garden of the Lord”

  • “somewhere beyond in the barricades is there a world you long to see”

  • this is a reference to the kingdom of the God

• victor hugo was not a fan of the Catholic Church, yet showcases the bishop and the teachings of the Church in still a very positive light

• it is valjean who saves cossette, but he had previously been saved by the bishop, and the bishop was saved by Christ

• we all have the ability to bring Christ’s love to others

• the story showcases the very notion of Grace- that God loves us and provides for us, even though we are undeserving of that love

Superman:

• created by jerry siegel and joe shuster

• both were the sons of jewish immigrants

• both found themselves in the midwest at a time of widespread anti-semitism

• through the creation of superman they found a way to alleviate their own sesne of being “aliens” or “others”

• the look and history of superman were actually very Jewish in origin

• he was an infant, rocketed from a dying planet to be raised and protected by someone else and ends up a hero when he finds out his heritage

• purposefully very similar to a key jewish figure (moses)

• moses was put in a basket and sent him down a rover to protect him from death, where he was found and raised by Pharaoh’s granddaughter, and became a hero when he found out his origin

• superman’s original name was kal-el, it was a way that siegel and shuster secretly added in obvious jewish heritage

  • kal-el in hebrew translates to “one who is like God”

• the disguise of clark kent (a very white name) was meant to convey the way jewish people try to hide and blend in with the christians, especially the american midwest

• in more recent years, superman has taken on a more christ-like persona

• he is seen as a messiah and a savior figure

• in the both the comics and movies, superman has been resurrected