Damning "Daniel"

Hollywood misjudges Christianity again

From the network that brought you "Supertrain" and "Manimal" comes "The Book of Daniel," a midterm replacement show that has only just started airing but has stirred up controversy. The show stars Aidan Quinn as Rev. Daniel Webster, an Episcopalian priest trying to juggle job, family, and, oh, the ability to see and talk to Jesus. Throw in a wife that likes to drink, a gay son, a teenaged daughter, and an adopted son from China who is a stud jock, and what do you have?

Another reason I don't watch television that much.

With very few exceptions, I don't watch network television shows regularly because we don't see eye to eye about what constitutes entertainment. The best thing you can say about the majority of shows on network TV right now is that they make for wonderful background noise while you surf the Internet for its best-known feature, great recipes. (Yeah, like there's another reason to get high speed Internet access.)

That's what makes "The Book of Daniel" somewhat interesting. It takes a unique look at a priest's relationship with God, the church, and his family. But being quirky does not make a show popular or good. Case in point: "Twin Peaks." I watched two or three episodes and I'm still trying to figure out what happened. But I did get an unexplained hunger for cherry pie served by midgets who talked backwards.

As you might have guessed, some Christian groups have taken offense to "The Book of Daniel," saying it mocks Christianity. I can see their point, but I disagree because it's not Christianity that's being mocked. It's Hollywood's interpretation of Christianity. And when it comes to accurately portraying what Christians think and do, Hollywood has a track record that makes the Arizona Cardinals look like the New England Patriots. Let's not forget that Hollywood passed on "The Passion of the Christ" while thinking "Alexander" would be a money maker.

Even so, the people complaining about the show have at least some legitimate beefs. Compare "The Book of Daniel" to another show involving a family with a religious leader as its head, the WB's "7th Heaven." "7th Heaven," although a bit sappy and predictable at times, does deal with faith-based issues in a realistic manner. You can tell the creators and writers of the show have taken the time to consider what real men and women of God would do in the situations the Camdens find themselves in on a regular basis. They aren't perfect, but they do all right. But the one thing you notice when you watch "7th Heaven" is that the entire family has made God part of their lives.

And as the WB will attest, people have responded favorably to "7th Heaven."

Meanwhile at NBC, the first airing of "The Book of Daniel" tied for second place for its time slot for network television. Not too bad, until you consider the number of shows on at any given time slot on network television. It's like being first runner up for Miss America or being Al Gore and John Kerry.

This may be one of the reasons NBC is trying to make nicey-nice with Christians by saying "The Book of Daniel" doesn't mock Christians. They realize that if they torque off a portion of the audience, the show won't last long. However, I guarantee if the show had won the night and became the sleeper hit of the mid-season, they wouldn't communicate with the Christians except to flip them the bird. And in a way, I guess, they're trying to do that by even putting the show on the air in the first place regardless of how the show does.

There are two ways to handle the controversy surrounding "The Book of Daniel." One is, obviously, to complain. Several Christians have already and have gotten the local affilliates in two areas to run something else other than the show. The drawback to this is that it doesn't often work and helps to feed negative stereotypes about Christians. To people in Hollywood, Christians are like the parents from "Footloose": uncool, submissive to the rules, and afraid of dancing. (Come to think of it, that sounds a lot like me when I was 12.) And by acting to get "The Book of Daniel" taken off the air, Christians might be shooting themselves in the foot from an image standpoint and the media types can say, "See? They were against a show they never saw because they're closed-minded."

Instead, allow me to offer a second, more beneficial solution. Ignore it. No one is forcing you to watch the show, and you can urge others in your immediate sphere of influence not to watch it. Then, just let it go. Sure, it may seem as though I'm letting NBC get away with mocking God, but the way I see it if God wants to punish you, He'll figure out a way to do it. Just ask Lucifer, or for that matter, Brian Dunkelman, the former co-host of "American Idol."

And that's the Bottom Line.

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