"I don't think you get there unless you start telling the stories and the stories start sounding normal. ... The more you tell certain stories, the more possible and plausible they become, and the more you can accomplish them." (Or something like that.)

It's an interesting idea, one that seems pretty real. She said that shows like Will & Grace got people to see homosexuality as much more normal, much more OK; black and female presidents on TV perhaps eased us into accepting Obama.

I find it very compelling. I'm always wondering how to institute shift in society, and you know, these little culture boxes called television really do seem to have an astonishing power. It's no wonder that these shows that take on these big questions are so popular; television and film really are the things people talk about (in my social circles, anyway). They're the springboard to talk (and even begin thinking) about ethics, truth, virtue, and aesthetics.

The idea of watching TV as a ritual act was startling, but is undoubtedly true. It really does bring people together in a way that nothing else seems to in the kids at my school. Somebody puts on the DVD of True Blood, and suddenly there's a rush to that room. There's so much shared identity, so much emotion when you realize someone else loves the same TV show as you, or the same movie. I hadn't thought about this, but it's a neat insight.

The professor said that a lot of people were asking the question, "How do we re-enchant things?" She said that capitalism and industrialism (protestantism?) has largely sucked the mystery and the meaning out of life. When I think of my brother and my best friends' mother starting to talk about some particular movie or scene, man, their faces light up, and they're there. They bring a richness and a color to life that can't be found in the monotony of daily life; sounds like religion...!