Hollywood Faith: Holiness, Prosperity, and Ambition in a Los Angeles ChurchRutgers University Press, 2008 - 234 pages In Christianity, as with most religions, attaining holiness and a higher spirituality while simultaneously pursuing worldly ideals such as fame and fortune is nearly impossible. So how do people pursuing careers in Hollywood's entertainment industry maintain their religious devotion without sacrificing their career goals? For some, the answer lies just two miles south of the historic center of Hollywood, California, at the Oasis Christian Center. In Hollywood Faith, Gerardo Marti shows how a multiracial evangelical congregation of 2,000 people accommodates itself to the entertainment industry and draws in many striving to succeed in this harsh and irreverent business. Oasis strategically sanctifies ambition and negotiates social change by promoting a new religious identity as "champion of life"-an identity that provides people who face difficult career choices and failed opportunities a sense of empowerment and endurance. The first book to provide an in-depth look at religion among the "creative class," Hollywood Faith will fascinate those interested in the modern evangelical movement and anyone who wants to understand how religion adapts to social change. |
Contents
Hollywood | 21 |
Love and Hate between Hollywood and Christianity | 39 |
Save the World Starting in Hollywood | 61 |
Celebrity Heartache and the Pressure to Make It | 87 |
Playing at a Theater Near You | 105 |
Fade to Black | 130 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
achievement activities actors African Americans ambition Angeles attenders audience became become believers black church career celebrity censorship champions Christ church leaders commitment congregation connection conservative Christians create creative creative class cultivate culture Da Vinci Code Durkheim economic emphasizes entertainment industry evangelical experience feel film filmmakers God’s going gospel Hollywood Christians Hollywood industry Hollywood sign Holy identity important individual interviews involved Jesus labor Lindvall lives Los Angeles ment ministry moral community motion picture motion picture industry move movie houses movie theaters nickelodeons Oasis Christian Center one’s orientation Pastor Philip Pentecostalism percent Philip and Holly popular production promote Protestant racial relationships religion religious role sacred screen secular share social society soul music spiritual staff member stories structure studios success theology tion understanding Walk of Fame Word of Faith workers worship