This Weeks Public Service Announcement Presented by the Letter F - Faith, do you have it?

The television show, Supernatural and Secret life of the American Teenager, use religious themes as a means to discuss faith. The articles by Louisa Stein and the Pew Research say that youth (or the Millennial generation) are less religious but share the same few as religious elders. With some reservations for youth becoming more religious as they grow up, observations are pointing to the millennial generation being less religious than previous generations. In Professor Steins article on religion in Supernatural it can be understood that fans used Season 5 as an opportunity to talk about the increased religious representations in the plot and characters. The same occurs in the pilot episode of Secret Life of the American Teenager, here on referred to as SLAT. Both of these shows confront major issues of religion in the pilot episode and leave the viewer with the same feeling after the show is complete, “wait, what? I don't know what to believe in.”

In Supernatural Dean being brought back to life by an angel of God is used as a site of religious tension that will be negotiated throughout the series. Dean himself cannot accept that the angel brought him back to life. Dean has fought demons and literally has been to hell and back. However, Dean can’t believe that an angel of God brought him back to life? It is very hard to believe that Dean is perplexed by his current fortune. More importantly, his confused and slow to accept the presence of God, forces the viewer to take in their own religious beliefs. The viewer must contemplate her own beliefs and situation in reality. Can good things happen to good people? Dean struggles with this concept of God and divine intervention, however he is quick to believe in hell and demons. This tension allows for debate in the Supernatural communities about religion in the show as well as personal exploration of religious beliefs.

Secret Life of the American Teenager more overtly demonstrates religious tension by positioning characters that think about sex and religion all the time. In the pilot of SLAT we are introduced to Amy, a pregnant teenager. Then there are many other characters that just think about sex. Then there’s Grace. Grace is the shows religious and morality check character. She provides the venue for each public service announcement brought to you by the Christian Society. The pilot episode is a classic example of a public service announcement woven into a plot where characters blatantly discuss topics of religion and sex. These two aspects are wrapped around the concept of faith, which each character will either have within themselves or in God. Grace is the example of the strong willed believer and her boyfriend is her counter, as he struggles with maintaining faith and his human desires. While other characters tend to not worry about faith making “God an afterthought.” (Stein) Viewers are left to deal with questions of faith, religion and sex because of the shows characters and plot.

These two shows present aspects of religion that must be wrestled with by viewers. Questions of angels, demons, sex, and faith, cannot be left at the table for face value. They need to be explored with Blog and family members in order to get clarity on what characters on the show are thinking. More importantly, the viewer has to express how they feel about the presented subject matters at hand in order to understand their own faith.