Some of the lyrics in this song are very relevant to Religion and its relationship with modern day media:
"Why'd you choose such a backward time in such a strange land? If you'd come today you could have reached a whole nation.
Israel in 4 BC had no mass communication".
The above line, although written over thirty years ago is actually reflective of a lot of modern day examples of religion in the media. Hillsong and and The Christian Broadcast Network (CBN) are just two example of how the word of god is spread through popular media.
The motif of a god figure as a superhero/superstar is obvious in this song. The below lines broach this subject:
The motif of a god figure as a superhero/superstar is obvious in this song. The below lines broach this subject:
Do you think you're what they say you are Tell me what you think about your friends at the top.
Who'd you think besides yourself's the pick of the crop?
Buddha, was he where it's at? Is he where you are?
Could Mohammed move a mountain, or was that just PR?
Did you mean to die like that? Was that a mistake, or
Did you know your messy death would be a record breaker?
Don't you get me wrong.
I only want to know.
It will be fun to see what Andrew Lloyd Webber is going to do with the new version of Superstar. Will it be from Disco to Grunge or HipHop? or to a Glee 'New Directions'?
ReplyDeleteRupert Till has a critical view of these types of religion changes. He says that unless mainline religions shift to these perspectives, they may lose membership as new younger adherents look elsewhere for a message wrapped in pop culture 'garmentology/symbology (are these real words?).
But you raise an interesting question from the poem too - the ability to ask questions about something sacrosanct.