Nicarao Estrada

The way religions are portrayed in the media is relative to the existing bias and agendas of those that control the media. I will be researching how the depictions of religions in the media differ from the true ideals of the religion. The modes of media I will be analyzing are television, movies, newspaper, and the internet. The portrayal of religion in television is directed towards children and teenagers. Television shows have the capability to present false idols and misrepresent religious values, creating a new generation of young adults having false preconceptions of these religions as a result of their learned bias. Religion portrayed in the movies are typically over exaggerated to fulfill the need for cinematic drama demanded by the public. The news outlets display only “news worthy” things. News outlets will report the scandals and the extremist believers before they report the spirituality and the good. The portrayal of religion in the media influence the views and beliefs of adolescents and teenagers. It helps them form their views of the world especially with the amount of time this generation spends in front of a screen.

Buddhism follows the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, a man born into royalty in Lumbini, which is present-day Nepal during the 6th century BCE. His father was the king and his mother died following his birth. Siddhartha was prophesized for great things. He was either to become a King, a military leader, or a great spiritual leader. His father, the King, sheltered Siddhartha from the ugliness of the world so that he would have no need to seek spirituality. He was sheltered from religion and human hardship. When he reached his mid-20’s, he ventured away from the palace and pulled back the veil of what had been hidden from.  He saw a sickly old man, and this confused him for he had never seen illness nor the elderly. As he ventured further he came across a diseased man, a decaying corpse, and an ascetic. His charioteer explained to him that everyone ages, everyone gets sick, and everyone eventually dies.  He explained that the ascetic practiced self-discipline and was aiming to release himself from human fear of death and suffering. Overwhelmed by what he had just learned, Siddhartha made the drastic decision the following day to leave his old life behind, which included his wife and child. He was determined to figure out how to relieve the world of suffering. He then devoted his life to that of an ascetic, he practiced his new way of life with five other ascetics who eventually became his followers. Siddhartha could not find the answers to his questions he decided to increase his efforts, proceeding to endure pain, fasting nearly to starvation, and refusing to drink water. He continued this until a young girl offered him a bowl of rice. As he accepted it, he realized that extreme abstention was not the answer to achieving spiritual release. That night, he sat under a Bodhi tree and vowed to stay there until he figured it out. He reached enlightenment after days had past. The goal of Buddhism is to reach Nirvana and become enlightened by following the guidelines set forth by Siddhartha.

 “In the digital era, interaction between users and technologies becomes significant, and the rise of digital technologies inspires a growing body of work on the mediatization of religion.” (Jin, Dal Yong. "The Mediatization Of Buddhism In Digital Media:). Media being used as an outlet for religion can either divert from its views and give a false representation or allow for a well-adapted religious portrayal. Movie portrayals of Buddhism depict very spiritual and calm individuals that follow a life of peace and are pacifist, on the opposite end of the spectrum they show Buddhist as intense martial artist. In this modern age, technology and digital media is extremely prevalent.  As a result several digital adaptions in games and movies reflect Buddhist philosophy. The 2007 film Avatar adapts many religious philosophies from Buddhism.  The film follows the journey of a disabled ex-marine who is lost following the death of his twin brother. The film shows a journey of self-discovery. The movie adapts the Buddhist values of reincarnation and transmigration as the major themes. The peace the marine reaches by the end of the movie is meant to represent the principles of nirvana because he was in a state of essential being and supreme bliss. The marine transporting his mind to his new alien body represents reincarnation as he receives another chance at life. This adaption of Buddhist beliefs and values is used to highlight the spirituality of the aliens and the spiritual oneness they have with one another. The is a good deep representation of Buddhism.

The movie, "The Golden Child" starring Eddie Murphy, is a 1986 comedy film that follows Chandler Jarrell (Eddie Murphy) who is sought out by a young woman named Kee Nang who informs him that he is "The Chosen One" and destined to save "The Golden Child", a young Buddhist child with extraordinary powers who is the savior of all humankind. The movie depicts a very mystical underground world of Buddhism. It exaggerates the spirituality of Buddhism and the comedic aspects of the movie makes Buddhism look comical. The film is not a good representation of Buddhism because it is an example of how Hollywood exaggerates plots and depictions of reality for cinematic gain to sell tickets

The Holy Qurʾān does not distinctly mention the words for moral or ethical but the theme of the Revelation none the less reverberates with many references to general patterns for behavior and rules of conduct which may be designated as the moral code. ( Tan, Clara. "Media Ethics And The Coverage Of Islam). Muslims use the culmination of these rules to establish how they live their lives. Muslims make decisions in their lives that follow a moral code. The bias surrounding Muslims in America hinder the Muslim community from expressing is true form of love and acceptance.

The way Muslims are portrayed in the media is very questionable. With recent events happening around the world, it seems only the few bad souls are being used to generalize a whole culture. Terrorist organizations, such as ISIS, are used as a face for the whole culture. As a result of the bias of being American and having suffered at the hands of terrorist, the media proceeds to illustrate a bad view of the people to the public. This causes an ignorance amongst the people who now judge Muslims from misunderstandings about their history, culture and diversity. The American media, along with other Western media outlets, produce news articles littered with false truths that lead the Western population to dislike Muslims and Islam. In television shows, the idea that all Muslims are evil is drilled into our subconscious. The television show "24" is an American action thriller television series starring Kiefer Sutherland as counter terrorist agent Jack Bauer. The series stretches 24 hours over a whole season in order to show Jack Bauer over the course of a day. The show details Jack Bauer’s life as he attempts to protect America from terrorist plots. The Terrorist that are shown are Muslim. This intense show that was very popular creates a distrust towards Muslims.

The religion of Islam contains strict guidelines for conducting daily life and how relationships are formed. The Quran and the hadith are hold the set rules and guidelines for everyday life. The Muslim religion bases its guidelines under the “5 pillars of Islam”. Islam prohibits anything that would be harmful to the body, mind, soul or society. Islam prohibits the consumption of pork except with halal which is considered beneficial and is required to be blessed in an Islamic way. Alcohol or mind-altering drugs are also prohibited. Muslims follow strict lifestyle guidelines being prohibited from gambling, killing, lying, stealing, cheating, oppressing or abusing others, being greedy or stingy, engaging in sex outside of marriage, disrespecting parents, and mistreating relatives, orphans or neighbors. All things to which the opposite is personified in the media. (Tan, Clara. "Media Ethics And The Coverage Of Islam). The way women are perceived in Muslim culture is also skewed. Women have the right to inherit wealth or belongings, they are allowed to work outside of their homes and they have the right to be educated. In all communities there exist violators of these laws and because of this and of how different the ideas of women’s right and expectations are creates a false understanding of the culture as a whole. In Muslim communities, women often have a strong influence in the family, the workplace, the religion and society in general. Muslim women are allowed to participate in anything they wish as long as their modesty is not affected. Because of the role women as mothers on their children, it is important that the women is educated so that their children grow to understand life. Men and women of the Islam culture are expected to present themselves with modesty. Women show modesty with the veil that they wear called the Hijab. The reasoning is so that women do not become a source of temptation for men. (Rasmussen, Susan J. "Re-Casting The Veil:). Some women find it as a safe way to free themselves from the gaze of many men. The real belief systems of Muslims are not as terrible as the media depicts them. They actually have more rules to their society then Americans do, however, they have a bias of being savages.

The oldest religion in the world that is still being practiced is Hinduism. Hinduism is a mixture of many Indian cultures and traditions. It is hard to pinpoint when it began because it started more as a way of living and it had no founder as it was a collection of ideas. Hinduism is popular in both India and Nepal. Media depictions of Hinduism have allowed for a formation global communities of Hindu worshipers. The use of Film in India has continued the process of distributing the culture and ideals of Hinduism. The film industry that exists in India effectively utilizes this outlet and developed a unique genre of Film. This genre of film utilizes the vast and unique Hindu mythology, this genre is known as mythologicals. The Cinematic shots of Hindu deities in film have an aesthetic that resembles the darshan. The Darshan is the beholding of a deity or sacred object. It results in the viewer receiving a blessing. This is a great effect by the film industry because it results in the viewers being able to have a spiritual experience while they watch the movie. The depiction of Hinduism in this outlet of media sheds a beautiful light on the culture by properly exemplifying it aesthetics. “This aesthetic convention, derived from poster art, is extended and amplified by cinema’s ability to include a reverse shot, presenting the perspective of the deity, and thereby ‘closing the darshanic loop” (Sen, Abhijit. "Media, Hinduism & Buddhism)

The Amerian film industries interpretation of Hinduism is different. Aside from the visual mode, Hollywood movies depicting this religion tend to mock its views and way of life. The 2008 film the love guru is the perfect example of this. The film stars Mike Myers who plays Pitka a love guru in the business of self-help who is trying to fix the problems of hockey players marriage. With the lack of knowledge of the Hindu religion, people are more inclined to believe the movies satire. The film itself stirred up controversy as many found it as a ridiculously over exaggerated representation. Hindus in India even attempted to get the movie banned. The movie is an example of racial and religious stereotyping. In the movie, Mike Myers character Pitka has a post on his Myspace that reads “Prepare to get your enlightenment freak on,” This page is religiously offensive as it includes Sanskrit origins of the word Guru. The page shows Mike Myers doing ridiculously impossible yoga poses that would require over elastic limbs. The interpretation of Hinduism in these two countries significantly varies. While the Films in India seek to portray a truly spiritual experience and one that is true, the American films seek to mock and overexaggerate the spiritual culture of Hinduism. The difference can clearly be seen, the media outlet is the same however the difference amongst the two is the people who made them. The film makers seek to push their own agendas of the religion. The American mode belittled the culture by making it seem childish.

Religion is an effective mode of persuasion and oppression when used in the media. The way religions are portrayed in the media are relative to the existing bias and agendas of those that control the media. The way religions are portrayed in the media differ amongst each other, however the modes of media being used also dictate how well people understand them.  Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam are different religions but all are affected by the media. The media has different impacts on how the religions are received and perceived by their audiences.