Did American TV Bring Down Communism?

"J.R. Ewing Shot Down Communism in Estonia." This is the arresting headline of a film review by Stephen Holden in this morning's New York Times, of an Estonian documentary entitled Disco and Atomic War.

As this cute five-minute trailer for the film shows, Estonia is about 70 miles south of Finland--close enough to pick up broadcast TV signals of Finnish television. Like many Americans in the early 1980s, Finns in Helsinki were captivated by the TV show Dallas and the exploits of its main character, J.R. Ewing (right). So, too, were the Estonians who could pick up the signal from Finland on their rooftop antennas. 

Estonia was then under Soviet control, and Communist authorities wasted no time in trying to crack down on this infestation of Western propaganda. Obviously, they failed. Images of decadence and material abundance--the giant mansions of rich oil tycoons, their fancy cars, their well-coiffed wives, the warmth of sunny Texas--enticed the Estonians in their bleak Communist world.

I noted in a previous post about basketball in Turkey that we should recognize the power of compelling images to capture the imaginations and desires of viewers. For example, while Dallas never quite captured my imagination, I will confess that Knight Rider, another show of the era, did . . . for a few weeks, anyway.

I worry, as a former TV junkie, that advertising, television, and movies are a powerful force of cultural globalization--at times, more powerful than the church (see chapter 10 of the book). 

But I also think that the challenge for the church is not to make the message of the full gospel (in all of its complexity) more compelling than the attractions of a souped-up, black TransAm (at least to a middle-school boy in the early 1980s). That would be allowing popular culture to dictate the terms of success. It would be a bit like trying to create worship services that compete with rock concerts to grab the attention of bored youth. (Oh, wait, lots of churches are doing that!)

Rather, the challenge is to keep presenting the message with integrity, in the confidence that the Holy Spirit takes our frail efforts to communicate and makes them truly universal. Of course, we should try to speak to the felt needs within all segments of our culture, but let's not worry too much about current fads in entertainment. 

After all, I cringe when I see old Knight Rider videos today. And all of us who ever watched Dallas cringe when someone alludes to the "who shot J.R." season-ending cliffhanger. Pop culture gets stale and cheesy very quickly. 

We should always communicate in ways that capture the imagination and orient it toward the Kingdom, trusting that this Kingdom will endure, while cheesy 1980s TV shows will fade away. 

How an Obscure American TV Show Persuaded Turks to Play Basketball

Today's New York Times sports section has a fascinating story on how The White Shadow television series helped inspire young people in Turkey to play basketball, in a place where soccer had been king.

For those who weren't watching obscure TV shows in the early 1980s, the show starred Ken Reeves, who played a white ex-NBA star who was coaching basketball at the imaginary Carver High School, a predominately African-American and urban school dealing with issues of poverty, broken families, and racial tension. I remember watching a few re-runs after it first aired--after the days when I'd played YMCA basketball at the old downtown Y and dreamed of floating like "Dr. J." above the rim--and thinking that it captured the era pretty well. As an aspiring basketball player back then, the show spoke to me.

But I had no idea that the show was being exported to Turkey, where it became a smash hit on Friday nights beginning in 1980. Syndicated re-runs came in 1993 and 2001, further spreading the show's influence. According to a number of Turkish voices quoted in the story, people rushed home to watch the show after basketball practice or games.

The quote in the story that really caught my eye was from Robert Thompson, who teaches communication and media studies at Syracuse University. I think he describes the influence of media quite well:

“The exportation of American television was a form of empire building — empires of consciousness, not of geography — that shaped the desires, perceptions and goals of global populations in ways it is impossible to appreciate,” 

As a fan of the James K.A. Smith's book Desiring the Kingdom, I think this nails the way that media can capture our imagination. It doesn't seem rational or sensible, but compelling story-telling can capture the imagination in such a way that we desire to be like characters in television programs.

It reminds me of a student years ago who came to me to say that she was interested in going to law school. After we chatted, it became clear that a major reason why she wanted to go was that she loved watching Law and Order on TV. Although that was a pretty slender basis on which to base a career choice, I now understand why a TV program could be that basis. It's all about capturing the imagination and the desires.

Young people in Turkey were moved to play basketball because of The White Shadow--a slender basis on which to base a choice.  But that's how we affective, liturgical animals (to borrow Smith's terms) tend to operate. Something captures our desires and moves us.

Instead of cheesy 1970s television shows, however, I hope that Christians will be moved by worship.