Religion, the occult, science fiction and other mysterious topics remain fashionable in popular culture post-Sept. 11, and one visiting professor attempted to find out why.
Lynn Schofield Clark, an assistant professor and director of the Estlow International Center for Journalism and New Media at the University of Denver, gave a presentation Wednesday at the Wexner Center. Her presentation ended a lecture series about public interest in the occult and was sponsored by Ohio State's Center for the Study of Religion.
Clark started with an overview of the market saturation of recent popular television shows and movies focusing on the mysterious. Clark discussed popular shows, such as "Lost," "Heroes" and "Ghost Whisperer." "Lost" was the 14th-most watched show last week, according to Nielsen rating system.
Clark then gave a brief summary of the history of public interest in the U.S. She said the occult used to be for the lower-class and "low-brow," and was not deviant until the turn of the 19th century when occultist Aleister Crowley gained influence.
Delving into the topic of current television shows, she attempted to explain why interest exists in them. Television shows about mysterious things have now evolved from scripted shows to reality shows such as SciFi's "Ghost Hunters" and the Canadian series "Ghost Trackers," highlighting the increasing popularity of this genre, she said.
Clark connected the popularity of the shows to the nation's attitude post-Sept. 11. She said after the unexpected terrorist attacks, the nation's interest piqued in pop culture that shows unresolvable issues.
"'Touched by an Angel' was popular pre-9/11, and then you look at something like 'Lost,' which is a much darker type of drama, and so we're seeing much darker interpretation," she said. "I think that's partly because we're grappling with issues of life and death in a way that's much more in our face now than before 9/11."
Charlie Billingsley, a senior in marketing, enjoyed the presentation and how Clark examined pop culture before and after Sept. 11.
"She had some pretty interesting points," Billingsley said. "It was a fun, light lecture. I think there's a lot more shows today that have a little bit more depth to them."
The lecture was exclusive to OSU, she said, and originated from research she did for her 2003 book "From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media, and the Supernatural."
"It was really fascinating that the teenagers from no religious background at all often sounded a lot like the conservatives in terms of talking about heaven and hell and the occult," she said.
Tom Knox can be reached at knox.105@osu.edu.
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