Popular Culture Review - Volume 26, Number 2 - Summer 2015
Television, Religion, and Supernatural:
Hunting Monsters, Finding Gods
By Erika Engstrom and Joseph M. Valenzano III.
2014, Lexington Books
Kim Idol, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
In their book, Television, Religion, and Supernatural: Hunting Monsters,
Finding Gods, Erika Engstrom and Joseph Valenzano review the popular
television series Supernatural in terms of the religious and ethical philosophical
Supernatural,
while prioritizing one set of moral values over others, still invites conversation
in terms of how particular religions are prioritized (or subordinated) and how
this insisted order affects this series’ narrative arc.
The authors present Supernatural as a discussion of comparative
religions, as a presentation of American exceptionalism and as an investigation
of patriotism. I in fact disagree with some of the conclusions this work supports,
but the arguments within are so soundly developed that I feel invited into the
conversation about their validity. The book covers a wide range of topics while
remaining true to its central proposal, and includes with an analysis of the
validity of popular culture as a way to discuss moral and cultural beliefs that
can be deeply held, but are not often examined. Engstrom and Valenzano
contend that because Supernatural’s main purpose is entertainment it invites
an audience that believes in the ideals that drive these quintessentially
American cowboys, Sam and Dean Winchester, to investigate these very
standards.
I marked this book up because reading it spawned a number of ideas
for papers I wanted to write in response. This book encourages creative
and passionate responses because of the generous way in which it tackles
religiosity. I would read this book for pleasure, for the way in which it invites its
audience to respond and I would also use it in the classroom to teach students
how to argue well. It is also ruled by a love of the series and therefore allows
a television show the respect not easily won when your topic is a family of
demon hunters.
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