The Church, Art, & Commercialism

Based on the readings of my fellow bloggers it appears to me that most have forgotten that much of religious history is very much intertwined with art. I of course am speaking of the elaborate cathedrals, exquisite alters, countless paintings depicting the life of Christ, or even the beautiful hymns and the like. I think ultimately as we look around us art has taken a more commercial role in today's society. I don't think the church is shutting out art as a whole but embracing the fact that art does not represent what it used to. Nobody wants to take the financial risk on a new opera or film that they don't think will sell to a large commercial consumer. As a result all of our forms of art are shaped by modern day commercialism. We see it in the theaters, public art galleries, on your TV, in supermarkets, and so forth. The problem isn't an anti art church, but a church that wants art with more meaning in a commercial world.

Body (Mis)image

The statistics are staggering, but simply taking the time to stop and realize the truths about the word around you will reveal that they are the reality existing around our closed worlds. It's easy to understand why they produce these adds and films containing unrealistic characters. As humans we seem to seek out perfection. We all have flaws and insecurities and we are always seeking out that "greener grass" on the other side of the fence. We all want that perfection for us and we like to live it out in the media we digest. The growth of the male objectification is not surprising.  This seemed the logical next step for a world where everyone is more worries about appearance than character. The world as a whole seems to be more worried about a fancy looking book cover even if the content is shallow or non existant. We seem to find an odd level of comfort in "beautiful" people. We are told to look towards Christ as a model for how we should act and shape our character. As the world continues to spiral deeper into vain mentalities, like many other problems we face, Christ may be the only answer.