René Girard, Theology, and Pop Culture

René Girard, Theology, and Pop Culture provides a fresh and engaging introduction to and the application of René Girard’s mimetic theory. From movies to social media, television to graphic novels, the contributors explore popular culture’s theological depths and challenge readers to consider what culture reveals about them.

In René Girard, Theology, and Popular Culture, fifteen contributors consider how Girard’s mimetic theory can be used to uncover and probe the theological depths of popular culture. Creative and critical engagement with Girard’s theory enables the contributors to offer fresh and exciting interpretations of movies (The Devil Wears Prada, Mean Girls, Star Wars), television (Hoarders, Cobra Kai), classical literature and graphic novels, and issues ranging from anorexia to social media. The result is a volume that establishes Girard as an innovative interpreter of culture and shows him as an invaluable guide for theologically reflecting on desire, violence, redemption, and forgiveness. Written in fresh and lively prose, the contributors demonstrate not only that Girard provides a powerful lens through which to view culture but also—and more provocatively—challenge readers to consider what popular culture reveals about them. Readers looking for an accessible introduction to mimetic theory and exploring its theological application will find this a welcome resource.

Chapter 1: Mimesis, Mean Girls, and the Culture Creating Them: Tina Fey’s Interrogation of Teen Comedy

Brian Bajek

Chapter 2: Star Wars: Between Myth and Gospel

Erik Buys

Chapter 3: Desire, the Scapegoated Other, and J.J. Abrams’ The Force Awakens

John C. McDowell

Chapter 4: Girard’s Lasso of Truth: Wonder Woman and the Overcoming of Satan

Stephanie Perdew

Chapter 5: Those Who Have Eyes to See: The Divine Origins of the Modern Plot Twist

Jordan Almanzar

Chapter 6: Gazing into a Mirror: Watching Hoarders with Girard

Ryan G. Duns

Chapter 7: From the Hermeneutic of Violence to Redemption: The 100 and Mimetic Theory

Paolo Diego Bubbio

Chapter 8: Mercy, Honor, and Girardian Conversion in The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai

Ryan Smock

Chapter 9: The Pleasures and Perils of Revenge: Sons of Anarchy and Girard

George A. Dunn

Chapter 10: Exorcising Blame Through A Contract with God: A Girardian Analysis of Will Eisner’s Graphic Novel

Daniel DeForest London

Chapter 11: Unmasking the Theological Shell: A Girardian Reading of Jonathan Hickman’s Secret Wars

Matthew Brake

Chapter 12: From Autonomy to Annihilation: The Monstrous Truth of the Romantic Lie

Robert Grant Price

Chapter 13: Subtweeting in the End Times: Social Media and the Escalation to Extremes

Justin Lee

Chapter 14: Starving for Beauty: On Anorexia and Mimetic Desire

Anna Scanlon

Chapter 15: From #MeToo to #WeToo: Mimetic Ecclesiology and the Possibility of Structural Reform

T. Derrick Witherington