A while back I wrote a post discussing my thoughts on the popular podcast Serial. While the story might be “old news” now, I still believe it has value as we look into its popularity and success. In addition to this, a simple google search will reveal that the story of Adnan Syed isn’t finished yet (check out this recent article). In keeping with my goals for this blog, I’ve edited the post and updated it a bit, but I’ve kept the message of my original draft the same. Let me know what you think!
On January 13, 1999, high school student Hae Min Lee went missing in the crime-ridden community of Baltimore, Maryland. Her body, which was buried in a wooded park near the city, was discovered nearly a month later. Suspicion eventually fell on the victim’s ex-boyfriend, a seventeen-year-old named Adnan Syed. Even after being convicted and sentenced to life in prison, Syed still claimed he was innocent. Years later in 2014, Sarah Koenig, a journalist and reporter, began to take an interest in Syed’s case; she documented her findings publicly on a podcast called Serial that became popular all over the nation. If you are at all interested in podcasting or pop culture, I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Maybe you even listened to the story in real-time as it unfolded on a week-to-week basis. In many ways, Serial Season 1 revolutionized the podcasting world. Even though it’s been at least a year and a half since the season’s conclusion, fans are still devouring every new piece of gossip about the case as it becomes available. Currently, (due in part to the success of the series) Syed has been ordered a retrial, but his guilt is still heavily-disputed and remains undetermined. I was required to listen to Serial Season 1 for a college-level English class I took last year, and I must admit, I wasn’t too happy about it. For one thing, I didn’t see that it had much academic value (truthfully, my personal preferences lie with works by authors like Hawthorne and Shakespeare), and I also felt that the podcast’s subject matter wasn’t appropriate for the classroom setting. On top of this, the series also contains occasionally graphic descriptions of the murder and unnecessary foul language. Looking back on it now, I realize that the thing that bothered me most about Serial wasn’t the language. It wasn’t necessarily even the unsettling descriptions of a high school murder victim. Instead, I discovered that my distaste for the series was found in one issue: Serial tells a story that lacks redemption. I love stories. So often they serve as a mirror, though admittedly sometimes quite dim, for the greatest story ever told: The Gospel. So when I’m confronted with a true story, one without any apparent redemption for either our heroes or the antagonists, it can make me a little uncomfortable. Each episode of Serial left me feeling empty, and yet I always came back for more. Why was this? Perhaps it was a subconscious desire—a desire for the true murderer to be found and for justice to be served—even though I knew in my head it wouldn’t happen. You see, even to this day, we still do not know who murdered Hae Min Lee. Furthermore, we don’t even know if the man spending life in prison for the crime was even involved. When I learned of the popularity of Serial, admittedly I was confused. Why would such a dismal story be followed so closely by millions of people around the world? But then I realized that maybe we don’t love Serial for what it is—empty, depressing, devoid of redemption. Maybe instead we love it for what we want it to be—a story of justice and redemption, a story where the good guy comes out on top. After all, we were created with a desire for justice; we all love to see evil punished and good triumph. Maybe that’s why each episode up until the finale of Serial received over 1,000,000 downloads. We all wanted answers; we wanted to see justice served. There is so much about Serial that merits deep thought and discussion. Is it right for us to listen to a story like Serial purely for entertainment purposes? Is the podcast’s occasionally casual treatment of murder harmful to the way we ourselves think about and view murder? In addition to these questions, the podcast also merits discussion about important themes like morality, truth, and the consequences of our sin. So while I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this podcast to others, I believe that listening to it with discernment can be healthy as we seek to understand the motivations and world-views behind its surprising success.
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Welcome to the new (and hopefully improved!) "Watching with a Purpose"! I'm slowly but surely going to move older content from my previous site here, and hopefully upload a variety of brand new content over the next year! With school starting very soon, I wanted to establish a vision and schedule for this blog. Here are three of my goals:
1. Have a schedule (and stick to it!) Thanks to The Inner Tube, one of my all time favorite podcasts, one of my main goals for this blog is to regularly post content. This not only makes it easier for potential followers to know how often to check back, but it also keeps me accountable to keep fresh, new content available. Because of school (and general busyness:), my goal is to update my blog at least every two weeks. 2. Improve my writing abilities I have some old posts from my previous blog that I would like to re-post. However, in keeping with the spirit of this goal, I plan to revise my work to better reflect my writing progress over the last year before uploading to my new site. 3. Write a post exploring the importance of using discernment in the media we engage with, and what that looks like in my own life. This is something I've been avoiding for a while, because I'm honestly not sure what my beliefs on the subject really are. Obviously I believe that, as a Christian, the way I engage in media should be different than the world around me. I also firmly believe that what we take into our minds changes who we are and influences our thoughts, opinions, and worldviews. But I've never taken the time to write down WHY it's so important that we use discernment. I think it's important that I have those thoughts organized in my brain, and writing them all out should help with that. If you have any thoughts, opinions, or questions about this blog, feel free to contact me! I'd love to hear from you! |
Welcome!This blog is devoted to analyzing the content and themes in movies, television, video games, and other forms of media from a Christian perspective. Thanks for stopping by!
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