Monday, February 02, 2004
Six Feet Under and the Church
I have been, at my friend Griffin's recommendation, watching the first season of the HBO original drama, Six Feet Under. Overall, I have been very impressed with the show. It tackles a subject that we Americans don't necessarily like to talk about - death - and it does so in a very real and very human way. The characters are intriguing and the storyline keeps me engaged. Recently (and by recently I mean episode five of the first season - all I've watched up to this point) they've been slowly introducing religion and the church angle. Several of the characters are devout church goers, one an agnostic, and one an athiest. One of the church going characters is David, a 31 year old man who inherited half his father's undertaking ("Death Services") business after his father's own demise and a principle character in the program. Though the viewing audience knows this, it has not been made known to other characters until now that David is gay, with a partner named Keith, who represents one of the other church goers. David was called out by his home parish to become a Deacon and much to my surprise, the church turned out to be an Episcopal one. David accepts the nomination and is pleased to be considered for the position. Needless to say, this is really not how this works in our church, but, we'll go with it for now. (His discernment process was also a whopping two weeks.) David ends up having an interview with his parish priest and the diocese's bishop. The parish priest knows David is gay but the bishop does not. The viewing audience is led to believe the Bishop suspects it however. (It should be noted that David is very nervous about coming out of the closet and generally shys away from any type of conflict surrounding his sexuality.) Anyway, the Bishop asks him if he is married and David says no, but that once he was engaged for a brief time. The Bishop gets an odd look on his face and asks if David has anything else about himself that he thought "I should know". David says, "No," and in a contest of wills and a surprising show of strength of character adds, "Unless there is something specific about myself you would like to know." The Bishop replies, "No. But this is an old church. A conservative church. We wouldn't want to have anything that would rock the boat. I'll let you know of my decision in a few days."
Now, I did not care for this scene at all and want to make my reasons known, because I think they are important in the broader public realm. This show is from 2001 and so pre-empted the whole Robinson controversy by a couple years, but it by no means pre-empterd the issue of homosexual clergy. The way the bishop was portrayed in this scene does not show the conservative side of the homosexual clergy argument well at all. No, in fact, it makes him look like an ass, who wants nothing to do with anything that might "rock the boat". Granted, this was the shows intent in tackling this issue, no doubt. Now, while you may think that those of us who are not willing to accept the ordination of homosexuals are asses anyway, this scene does not give any credence to the sound theological arguments made by conservative persons. I loathe having to bring up this issue over and over and over again, but it seems like a necessary on-going dialogue. I understand the shows desire to tackle this issue, but in my opinion, it ought to have done so fairly to both sides of the argument, especially if it was intent on pointing out the particular denomination. As it turns out, David was accepted as a Deacon, and so, from the shows perspective, the point is mute. I just don't relish the idea of people who view this show, and not knowing about the Episcopal church, coming away with the notion that those who argue against the ordination of homosexuals persons are just a bunch of goons who really have no sound theological basis to what they say.
Am I going to stop watching the show now? Absolutely not - it's a wonderful show and I would encourage you to check it out as well. If you are not familiar with the Episcopal Church, I would admonish you to do two things: don't take everything the show says or shows about our church for granted and two, if you're not attending a church right now, investigate your local Episcopal congregation. We have much to offer, and seemingly contrary to what I've been arguing here, all are welcome in our pews.
-R
I have been, at my friend Griffin's recommendation, watching the first season of the HBO original drama, Six Feet Under. Overall, I have been very impressed with the show. It tackles a subject that we Americans don't necessarily like to talk about - death - and it does so in a very real and very human way. The characters are intriguing and the storyline keeps me engaged. Recently (and by recently I mean episode five of the first season - all I've watched up to this point) they've been slowly introducing religion and the church angle. Several of the characters are devout church goers, one an agnostic, and one an athiest. One of the church going characters is David, a 31 year old man who inherited half his father's undertaking ("Death Services") business after his father's own demise and a principle character in the program. Though the viewing audience knows this, it has not been made known to other characters until now that David is gay, with a partner named Keith, who represents one of the other church goers. David was called out by his home parish to become a Deacon and much to my surprise, the church turned out to be an Episcopal one. David accepts the nomination and is pleased to be considered for the position. Needless to say, this is really not how this works in our church, but, we'll go with it for now. (His discernment process was also a whopping two weeks.) David ends up having an interview with his parish priest and the diocese's bishop. The parish priest knows David is gay but the bishop does not. The viewing audience is led to believe the Bishop suspects it however. (It should be noted that David is very nervous about coming out of the closet and generally shys away from any type of conflict surrounding his sexuality.) Anyway, the Bishop asks him if he is married and David says no, but that once he was engaged for a brief time. The Bishop gets an odd look on his face and asks if David has anything else about himself that he thought "I should know". David says, "No," and in a contest of wills and a surprising show of strength of character adds, "Unless there is something specific about myself you would like to know." The Bishop replies, "No. But this is an old church. A conservative church. We wouldn't want to have anything that would rock the boat. I'll let you know of my decision in a few days."
Now, I did not care for this scene at all and want to make my reasons known, because I think they are important in the broader public realm. This show is from 2001 and so pre-empted the whole Robinson controversy by a couple years, but it by no means pre-empterd the issue of homosexual clergy. The way the bishop was portrayed in this scene does not show the conservative side of the homosexual clergy argument well at all. No, in fact, it makes him look like an ass, who wants nothing to do with anything that might "rock the boat". Granted, this was the shows intent in tackling this issue, no doubt. Now, while you may think that those of us who are not willing to accept the ordination of homosexuals are asses anyway, this scene does not give any credence to the sound theological arguments made by conservative persons. I loathe having to bring up this issue over and over and over again, but it seems like a necessary on-going dialogue. I understand the shows desire to tackle this issue, but in my opinion, it ought to have done so fairly to both sides of the argument, especially if it was intent on pointing out the particular denomination. As it turns out, David was accepted as a Deacon, and so, from the shows perspective, the point is mute. I just don't relish the idea of people who view this show, and not knowing about the Episcopal church, coming away with the notion that those who argue against the ordination of homosexuals persons are just a bunch of goons who really have no sound theological basis to what they say.
Am I going to stop watching the show now? Absolutely not - it's a wonderful show and I would encourage you to check it out as well. If you are not familiar with the Episcopal Church, I would admonish you to do two things: don't take everything the show says or shows about our church for granted and two, if you're not attending a church right now, investigate your local Episcopal congregation. We have much to offer, and seemingly contrary to what I've been arguing here, all are welcome in our pews.
-R
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