Assignment 1-3

The article I chose to analyze is Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture. I located the editorial in the Journal of Popular culture, a peer reviewed publication of the Popular Culture Association (Hoppenstand, n.d.). The article appears to be aimed at any common person wanting to learn about or share their experience with popular culture. In this case, the review was based on the writings of William D. Romanowski. In the piece I reviewed, Theodore Turnau, III writes a peer review and shares his thoughts about. Turnau’s views are shared in first person including himself in perceived thoughts, theories and views of Christians and Christianity. It appears though his choice of words, he is specifically targeting persons with a little above basic knowledge of writing, research, Christianity and education. Throughout the context of the commentary his use of terms like “cultural domination”, “denunciations of sex” and “trend in Christian popular publishing” gives the inclination that this may be a topic he has familiarity with. Though it appears Turnau may have had preconceived ideas regarding the stereotypical behavior of Christians in general, throughout the piece, it appears that he ends with respect for Romanowsk’s work, his views and his writing.
It is brought to the reader’s attention in the article that Eyes Wide Open is a book of reference for Christians that provides a small blueprint of how to discuss popular culture. It offers suggestions on how to engage in the topic without being judgmental.
Instead of the stating the expected stance of Christians avoiding worldly items and way, the article states that Romanowski suggests we view popular culture as an art form we can learn from. It is further suggested that we pay attention to the context of the production by way of market forces (Turnau, 2009) and other things we have learned in class.
Through the review we learn that Romanowski believes humans should take an Atheistic type approach and open our minds because it is his belief that Christians too often belittle popular culture to suit their own needs and agendas. He dissects Christian belief because he feels that Christians like for things to end up okay, so we come up with ways to make it all come together nicely. He talks about the belief that Christians seem to have a Wizard of Oz syndrome and gives the example that Dorothy and her friends travel throughout Oz looking for things that are already inside of them (Turnau, 2009) just as he believes Christianity does. He goes on to state that Christians are characterized by the belief that we are all broken people that need God’s grace because we cannot save ourselves.
I found the text easy to read even though it didn’t go into great detail with concepts. It was logically organized with a chronological detail of the concepts being explored. I am quite familiar with Christian belief because of my upbringing but I believe for those who are not familiar with the idea of Christianity there would be a little research needed.
The thing that stayed with me after reading this article was Turnau’s belief of Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture being one of the best books available to show the Christian perspective. I enjoy learning about Christianity, however I found it interesting that Turnau believes that persons of “any or no faith” could benefit from the book and feels that the topic should be discussed in the undergraduate academic setting. I am a Christian so I enjoy learning about and strengthening my relationship with Christ. I thought it was interesting that although this gentleman does not discuss his actual belief in Christ or the concept of Christianity, he does still believe it is a valid subject that should be considered and explored by mainstream individuals.


Turnau. III, T. A. (2009). Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture. The Journal of Popular Culture, 43(3), 581-583. Retrieved September 25, 2009, from http://0-journals.ohiolink.edu.olinkserver.franklin.edu/ejc/pdf.cgi/EJC_Article.pdf?issn=00223840&issue=v42i0003