It’s back. Stranger Things that is. I’m glad. Perhaps I’m just a big kid, but watching season 1 of the Netflix series hooked me. I’m not a science fiction fan so the attraction was a bit of a surprise to me. I get why so many kids binge-watched the first season, and why so many will be binge-watching or have already binge-watched the nine episodes in Season 2. Lisa and I watched the first four Season 2 episodes last night. Anyone want to guess what we’ll be doing tonight?!?
This last weekend, I had the opportunity to speak to youth workers at the Rooted 2017 conference in Dallas, TX. One of my sessions introduced folks to principles of cultural exegesis. . . a task I believe is not only commanded by our Lord (to be in but not of the world), but occasioned by the breakneck speed of cultural change and our kids’ immersion in media. We are, after all, cross-cultural missionaries. And in a world where media tastes and involvement are all over the map, the widespread appeal of Stranger Things offers us an increasingly rare moment of opportunity to pull together a large number of our students who have engaged with this cultural artifact in order to teach them how to think critically and Christianly about music and media. But how do we best do that?
Source: CPYU[/column]
