Category
Textual or Investigative
Description
Contemporary apologists have emphasized that engaging with culture in an insightful and respectful way is a powerful tool for evangelism (Chatraw & Allen, 2018). In this vein, children’s media, born in a specific cultural setting, has a formative impact on upcoming generations, an avenue of influence that should be explored for its implications in apologetics. To do this, the research explores themes highlighting the transition between postmodernism and metamodernism by comparing the films Toy Story (1995) and The Lego Movie (2014). The project figures characters in Toy Story as representing the shift from modernism to postmodernism, while characters in The Lego Movie illustrate the movement from postmodernism toward metamodernism. Emphasizing recent research on metamodernism, the films will be comparatively analyzed alongside contemporary descriptions of metamodernism. For the apologetic implications of this comparison, the Inside-Out method of apologetics, highlighted in Chatraw and Allen (2018), will be used. In Toy Story, the fantasy-to-reality aspects will be explained, and the meaning of life and its purposes will be shown through the characters’ thinking. In contrast, The Lego Movie demonstrates a cultural shift beyond postmodern irony in which collaboration and hope while challenging rigid systems will be explained. By comparing these two films, this research emphasizes how animated movies shape cultural formation by influencing how people understand identity, rules, and social interaction within a changing cultural worldview, and how apologetics should respond to these changes in a culturally sympathetic way. Future research in this area can expound upon how the Inside-Out Method can be used in light of metamodernism and the search for meaning in other demographics.
Is Everything Awesome? Cultural Apologetics in a Modern Age
Textual or Investigative
Contemporary apologists have emphasized that engaging with culture in an insightful and respectful way is a powerful tool for evangelism (Chatraw & Allen, 2018). In this vein, children’s media, born in a specific cultural setting, has a formative impact on upcoming generations, an avenue of influence that should be explored for its implications in apologetics. To do this, the research explores themes highlighting the transition between postmodernism and metamodernism by comparing the films Toy Story (1995) and The Lego Movie (2014). The project figures characters in Toy Story as representing the shift from modernism to postmodernism, while characters in The Lego Movie illustrate the movement from postmodernism toward metamodernism. Emphasizing recent research on metamodernism, the films will be comparatively analyzed alongside contemporary descriptions of metamodernism. For the apologetic implications of this comparison, the Inside-Out method of apologetics, highlighted in Chatraw and Allen (2018), will be used. In Toy Story, the fantasy-to-reality aspects will be explained, and the meaning of life and its purposes will be shown through the characters’ thinking. In contrast, The Lego Movie demonstrates a cultural shift beyond postmodern irony in which collaboration and hope while challenging rigid systems will be explained. By comparing these two films, this research emphasizes how animated movies shape cultural formation by influencing how people understand identity, rules, and social interaction within a changing cultural worldview, and how apologetics should respond to these changes in a culturally sympathetic way. Future research in this area can expound upon how the Inside-Out Method can be used in light of metamodernism and the search for meaning in other demographics.
