Contrary to the cynics out there, I actually think there’s some good TV shows out there. There’s a lot of junk too. But I’ve recently been observing how a lot of shows (non-reality) portray pursuits for truth and they do so in very different ways. This pursuit of truth shows itself in trying to solve problems, find killers, or achieve some measure of justice.
The multiple CSI shows on TV use science and facts (evidence) to get to the truth. There’s a show that tries to get to the truth through Math (Numbers). Criminal Minds uses human behavior and pathology. There’s a new show that I actually find very entertaining and fascinating when I get to see it that uses body language as the key pathway to the truth (The Mentalist). There’s a pursuit for truth on Lost, but I’m not consistent or smart enough to figure out how they portray the search for the truth. If I had to guess I’d say that it’s a journey to the truth through perseverence and survival in a life that just don’t make sense.
There’s other shows that past and present show the journey for truth through relationships (love), outerspace (stuff like all those star treks), extraterrestrial life (x-files), politics and several other themes. Regardless, there’s a search for meaning or truth or at least an underlying orientation towards what is meaningful that is shown. And in some ways this reflects the ways in which so many of us search for truth or find meaning.
A lot of us try to get at what is true in very different ways. It’s worth thinking about how we try to pursue truth and meaning, how we experience meaning as well as how others we relate to or have opportunities to minister to experience meaning or pursue truth. A lot of communicative efforts fail greatly because this spectrum is not recognized or we assume people find the same things meaningful as us.
