Includes bibliographical references (pages 237-261) and index.

Preface to the revised and expanded edition -- Introduction -- Part 1: -- 1: State of the art: worldly amusements no more -- 2: Smoke goes upwards: faith and culture -- 3: Terms of the trade: studying popular art and culture -- Part 2: -- 4: Close encounters of the high, low, and divine kind: reimagining the popular arts -- 5: Mapping reality: popular art and culture -- 6: Measuring Christian distinction: moral, ideological, and theological approaches -- 7: Popular art as art: marking the aesthetic -- Part 3: -- 8: Cultural landscape: toward a Christian framework -- 9: American melodramatic way: individualism, religion, and materialism -- 10: Message in the bottle: love, sex, and gender stereotypes -- 11: History of violence: charting the terrain -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Matrix for analysis -- Relevant readings -- Notes -- Index.

From the Publisher: Grounded in Christian principles, this accessible and engaging book offers an informed and fascinating approach to popular culture. William D. Romanowski provides affectionate yet astute analysis of familiar, well-loved movies and television characters from Indiana Jones to Homer Simpson, and he speaks with historical depth and expertise on films from Casablanca to Crash and music from Bruce Springsteen to U2.