In my latest reading of Rick Santorum's It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good,
Santorum offered some thoughtful insights on movies and stories. A lot
of his discussion on this topic was lamenting the illicit sex without
consequences and the anti-hero in today's stories, which he contrasts
with the clear delineation of good and evil in stories of the past. But
Santorum makes clear that he's not in favor of flat stories that do not
show anything unpleasant. Here are some of his insights about stories:
Page
275: "An ancient rabbinic saying is that 'God made people because He
loves stories.' I say, 'Man makes stories because God made us to
love.'"
On page 282, Santorum quotes novelist Walker Percy, who
said: "Judeo-Christianity is about pilgrims who have something wrong
with them and embark on a search to find a way out. This is also what
novels are about."
Pages 285-286: "Cultural capital consists of
the stories, images, music, and practices----all the 'artifacts' and the
activities that are the fruit of leisure----that explain ourselves to
ourselves, the whole of ourselves, and which do so truthfully, honestly."
I
agree with a lot of this. I love stories that encourage me to care for
the characters. I believe that good stories have characters who grow.
And I think that good stories have realism or (even if they're
unrealistic) communicate values.
Santorum takes a swipe at Desperate Housewives,
but I think that the series fits what Santorum considers to be a good
story, at least in many areas. It makes me care for the characters. It
presents characters who learn and grow, notwithstanding their flaws.
And, while I agree with Santorum that it does not promote a morality in
which sex is reserved solely for heterosexual marriage (since there are
gay characters and also people who live together), it does have
story-lines that depict the bad consequences of adultery, as well as
highlights that pre-marital sex can result in a baby. Moreover, it has
had positive episodes about faith. I'd say that these are
characteristics that I've observed in a number of TV shows and movies
nowadays.