THE SOCIAL EDGE INTERVIEW: AUTHOR WILLIAM ROMANOWSKI
by Gerry McCarthy
William Romanowski is a professor of communication arts and sciences at Calvin College. He’s a widely respected speaker on subjects dealing with American culture and the entertainment industry.
Romanowski is the author of Pop Culture Wars and co-author of Risky Business: Rock in Film. His book Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture was first published in 2001. It received the ECPA Gold Medallion Award in 2002. A revised and expanded edition of the book was recently published by Brazos Press. I reached him in Grand Rapids, Michigan to speak about the book.
Gerry McCarthy: In Eyes Wide Open you quote British film and TV producer Norman Stone who pointed out that movies "can move people into thought, into facing things, into challenging themselves in a different way from a textbook or novel or sermon." You add that: "Whether as producers or patrons, people have a responsibility to understand this vital means of cultural communication." Can you talk to me a bit more about this? How do movies challenge us in different ways than a novel or sermon?
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