St. Margaret’s staff member Kurt Armstrong writes book reviews for several publications and we’ve decided we wanted him to post them on our site as well. We’ll be posting a new one each week. To find out what Kurt thinks of other books visit his blog, Five Second Book Reviews.

PROPHETICALLY INCORRECT: A CHRISTIAN INTRODUCTION TO MEDIA CRITICISM
BY ROBERT H. WOODS JR. AND PAUL D. PATTON
GRAND RAPIDS: BRAZOS, 2010
182 PAGES, SOFTCOVER
ISBN 978-1-58743-276-7

There’s a simplistic version of Christian media criticism that says to shut off the TV at the first sign of sex, violence, profanity or some other offensive content. And then there’s actual media criticism: active, engaged, intelligent, non-partisan, the kind described in this excellent new book.

Prophetically Incorrect looks at media creation, consumption, and critique through a view of culture informed by the writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel and Walter Brueggemann. Woods and Patton’s idea of a prophetic media critic is someone who is a truthteller more than a foreteller, one who “is burdened by humanity’s greed and arrogance,” rejects complacency, and seeks stories that challenge structures of injustice.

The authors give us a broad range of critical tools for evaluating the form and content of the media we watch and participate in. They want us to approach things like movies and television with at least the same level of thoughtfulness and intelligence that goes into creating them. Faithfully reading media asks us to consider all aspects of media – the economic assumptions, political perspective, social and cultural values, broad narrative structure – through a thoroughly biblical lens.
Woods and Patton encourage us to not shy away from what a lot of Christians might consider morally offensive because, they say, sometimes it’s appropriate for us to be shocked. Like some of the Old Testament prophets who used R-rated imagery and stories to shock the self-satisfied (i.e. read Ezekiel 23), media that challenges the status-quo and exposes structural injustice might not be appropriate for younger audiences. But, as the authors argue, passively consuming media that keeps us complacent can be much more dangerous than media that shocks or disturbs us.

Prophetically Incorrect is really a book about developing a deep Christian worldview. No doubt, the sort of cultural engagement described here is a lot more demanding than mindlessly sitting down to watch a bit of TV. But part of what makes this book so valuable is that it shows us how to watch media, rather than

Whether you’re a daily-download teenager, a parent who wants to help the kids make good media choices, or an older pastor trying to lead the congregation in uncharted media waters, this is a book that plenty to offer.

First published at christianweek.org