Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture

Grounded in Christian principles, this accessible and engaging book offers an informed and fascinating approach to popular culture. William D. Romanowski provides affectionate yet astute analysis of familiar, well-loved movies and television characters from Indiana Jones to Homer Simpson, and he speaks with historical depth and expertise on films from Casablanca to Crash and music from Bruce Springsteen to U2.

Romanowski's confessional approach affirms a role for popular culture in faithful living. Practical, analytical approaches to content, meaning, and artistic style offer the tools to participate responsibly and imaginatively in popular cultural activities. An engaging read, this new edition introduces students and thoughtful readers to popular culture--one of the most influential forces in contemporary society.

From the Back Cover

"This revised and expanded edition of Eyes Wide Open, already a standard on the topic, widens and deepens the discourse on the popular entertainment arts. Readers will find in William Romanowski's imaginative and down-to-earth approach to popular art as art a manifesto of Christian involvement and a matrix assessment of the sights and sounds that inescapably shape our everyday life."
--Scott Young, University of Southern California

Praise for the first edition:

"This is a lively and much needed Christian perspective on the popular arts--helping the reader to move beyond a mindless acquiescence to popular culture, on the one hand, and blanket condemnation, on the other. The style is direct and accessible, giving it a natural appeal to a wide audience."
--Jeremy Begbie, Duke Divinity School

"William Romanowski confronts the culture with his eyes wide open to the negative effects it can have upon us. He also informs us of ways we can increase our understanding of the world in which we live and thus be aided in the task of addressing our culture in a relevant way. His commentary on contemporary music and films will get the Christian reader to discern things that otherwise would go unnoticed in the world around us."
--Tony Campolo, Eastern University

"In the tradition of C. S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer, William Romanowski has articulated a deep theological perspective on culture and the popular arts. He urges Christians to love music and the movies as God would have us love them--not as passive consumers but as thoughtful critics who are wide awake and enthusiastically enjoying the whole of God's creation."
--Scott Derrickson, screenwriter and director, The Exorcism of Emily Rose

"Provides a unique, evangelical perspective on the relationship between religion and popular culture that is meant to serve as a practical theological framework for laypeople. . . . Romanowski provides a change of pace from the academic perspectives dominating this field of study and offers a unique point of view that merits attention."
--Christopher Daryl Healea, Religious Studies Review