In 2010, the French sociologist Frederic Martel published Mainstream, on the global exportation and supremacy of the entertainment culture -- in which the notion of success (that which sells and reaches the public is good; that which fails to do so is bad) has rendered absolete any other historical conceptions of value. A study to which Mario Vargas Llosa remarks:

Martel's study does not talk about books ... instead it talks exclusively about films, television programmes, videogames, manga, rock, pop and rap concerts, videos and tablets and the "creative industries" that produce and promote them: that is, the entertainment enjoyed by the vast majority of people that has been replacing (and will end up finishing off) the culture of the past. ...

The accounts and the interviews collected by Martel, along with his own analysis, are instructive and quite representative of a reality that, until now, sociological and philosophical studies have not dared to address. The great majority of humanity does not engage with, produce or appreciate any form of culture other than what used to be considered by cultured people, disparagingly, as mere popular pastimes, with no links to the intellectual, artistic and literary activities that were once at the heart of culture. This former culture is now dead, although it still survives in small social enclaves, without any influence on the mainstream.

The essential difference between the culture of the past and the entertainment of today is that the products of the former sought to transcend mere present time, to endure, to stay alive for future generations, while the products of the latter are made to be consumed instantly and disappear, like cake or popcorn. Tolstoy, Thomas Mann, still more Joyce and Faulkner, wrote books that looked to defeat death, outlive their authors and continue attracting and fascinating readers in the future. Brazilian soaps, Bollywood movies and Shakira concerts do not look to exist any longer than the duration of their performance. They disappear and leave space for other equally successful and ephemeral products. Culture is entertainment and what is not entertaining is not culture.

Excerpt, Notes on the Death of Culture: Essays on Spectacle and Society by Mario Vargas Llosa pp. 19-21.

Neil deGrasse Tyson's "Cosmos" vs. History and Academic Integrity

I love science television, especially anything to do with space, astronomy, etc. My son and I watch "Nova" religiously and I was delighted at how quickly he's taken to it at an early age. It's one of our favorite shows to watch together and talk about.

But when a show purportedly about "science" indulges in sheer propaganda and lays it on thick in the most cartoonish, crass, childish form imaginable, ignoring the nuances and complexities of history -- well, you can't help but sense that something's missing:

[Neil deGrasse Tyson, narrator]: His name was Bruno, and he was a natural born rebel. He longed to bust out of that cramped little universe. Even as a young Dominican monk in Naples, he was a misfit. This was a time when there was no freedom of thought in Italy. But Bruno hungered to know everything about God's creation. He dared to read the books banned by the Church. And that was his undoing!

Seriously? -- Alas, yes. Seriously. And that's just the beginning.

Q: Does this elevate Tyson as a scientist, or Cosmos as a show possessing any sense of academic credibility? -- Frankly I found it all rather embarrassing.

Not that I've written it off entirely, I'll likely check out the next several episodes in hopes of improvement. But wow, what a genuine disappointment.

* * *

Cartoons and Fables - How Cosmos Got the Story of Bruno Wrong (Armarium Magnum) This magnificent post really nails it as to why the first episode of "Cosmos" turned me off. And by a "wry, dry, rather sarcastic, eccentric, occasionally arrogant Irish-Australian atheist bastard" no less. (Or as we might say, one who is "on the side of the angels").

"Black Friday"

"The New Evangelization"?

Carrying on the mission of his predecessor, Pope Benedict announced in June 2010 a pontifical council for the "the new evangelization", the principle task of which was to:

[promote] a renewed evangelization in the countries where the first proclamation of faith has already resounded and where there are churches of ancient foundation present, but which are living through a progressive secularization of society and a kind of 'eclipse of the sense of God.

Fr. Mirilli of Rome seems to have interpreted the Holy Father's directive in a rather novel manner:A section of the crypt of the Basilica di San Carlo al Corso near St. Peter's Square has boasted tombs of cardinals for centuries, has been turned into a nightclub by Rome's Catholic Church:

The Catholic church in Rome is trying to win back young people with a nightclub in the crypt of the Basilica di San Carlo al Corso, complete with a beer and wine bar.

Rev. Maurizio Mirilli, head of youth ministry in Rome's Catholic Church, has converted a section of the crypt into a nightclub with a live-music stage and a bar stocked with beer, Prosecco and other wine. Father Mirilli has christened the new watering hole GP2, short for "Giovanni Paolo II," as the late Polish pope was known in Italian.

Image Source: The Beerean

For Rome's young and restless, GP2 is the prime destination for mingling, dancing or having "a drink with a bishop," Father Mirilli said Saturday night. He he leaned against the club's mirrored bar and nursed a glass of pineapple juice as a phalanx of young men with gelled hair bobbed their heads to the Black Eyed Peas. Scrawled across the bar was a biblical passage from the Gospel of St. John, quoting Jesus Christ: "Give me a drink." (Actually, he was referring to water).

In fairness, "clients are expected to observe a two-drink maximum, and GP2 doesn't serve hard spirits, like vodka and gin." Fr. Mirilli intends to "open a small counseling center adjacent to the bar," offers confession in an underground chapel located in the back of the club, and appears sincerely motivated to offer a spiritually-infused alternative to the "club scene." (According to a recent poll, only 15% of Italian Catholics between the ages of 18 and 29 consider themselves "practicing Catholics," compared with 18% in 2004).

At the same time, I question the transformation of an explicitly religious venue in this manner, and the emphasis on music, socializing and 'clubbing' might promote an atmosphere counter to its distinctly evangelical objective (compare/contrast with other bar-based ministries such as "theology on tap").

Source: "Tales From the Crypt: To Attract New Blood, Church Joins Club Scene " | Slideshow | Video. Wall Street Journal November 5, 2010.

(Via Rorate Caeli - the readers of whom are understandably, vehemently, opposed).