Contributor Carole McDonnell’s short stories and essays appear online and in print, in speculative fiction, ethnic, and Christian publications. She lives in New York with her husband, two sons, and their pets. Wind Follower, published by Juno Books, is Carole’s first novel. Her voice adds plenty to our discussion, so I welcome Carole and her column Faith in Color to Allaboutrace.com.

I am often suddenly reminded that the notion we westerners have about ourselves, each other, and folks in the rest of the world is often a notion filtered through Hollywood writers. And, because Hollywood films and tv shows are one of the United States’ largest most prized export, the converse is also true: other cultures also see America through that same distorted media lens. Not that I’m saying anything against the Writers Guild or anything.

My expatriate North American friend, Christina, lives in Mexico. She says that when she first met her husband’s family, they thought she was a whore. Because, well, all American girls have a reputation for being whorish. And it didn’t help matters that Christina is blonde.

Of course over time, the kinds of women and men we see in the media changes and with these changes newer stereotypes are exported. In the old days, our white men were shown as cowboys. Now, I wonder how they are viewed. What with “CSI Miami”, the “Law and Order” franchises….well, so many serial killers, so many men with kinky fetishes, so little time. Those Writers’ Guild writers know that perverseness perks up ratings in night-time dramas. And perhaps it even sells abroad. Hey, we all have different stuff that “floats our boat” but I just don’t think the average person is as sex-crazed as Hollywood paints us. I, for one, actually watch television shows because I like stories.

And that’s just the creative imaginary stuff. I’m sure newscasts and “real life” situations also affect the way the world perceives North Americans, and the way North Americans perceive the world. American newscasts are filtered, manipulated. We want to show Americans as rich and happy; we want to show the world how powerful our government is. Shock and awe and all that stuff. We want to show Americans that the rest of the world is not as well off as those of us who live in “The Greatest Country in the World.” Or we sometimes simply ignore certain countries. Hurricanes, monsoons, uprisings, whatever….if they don’t concern us, why show them on our screens? We may be the largest media-controlled country but our television shows and newscasts are incredibly provincial.

I’ve got to say, though, that sometimes, little flashes of honest-to-goodness real human behavior creeps in across the silver screen. When this happens, I begin to see again what we humans are really like.

Truly, we are a lovely species. Consider the English program “Going Tribal.” If you haven’t seen it on Discovery or Travel channel, you’re missing out. Our English working-class hero simply enters a culture or village – in Asia, the Latin American rainforest, Africa– and lives there for three weeks or so. Shows such as this – “Tribal Odyssey” and others– show that humans are essentially alike. One of the major human traits that I rarely see on scripted television programs is our tendency to become attached to people, even strangers. The grief these natives and foreigners show for Bruce when it’s time for him to move on is downright heart-breaking. In a culture where people move across the country for new jobs or where people get divorced at the drop of a hat, we are hardly ever shown the power of love. Why? Perhaps we want to show that we are rational civilized people, unruled by such immature and uncivilized emotions, folks who know what to do, what has to be done in spite of how we actually feel.

Oh sure, every once in a while we see signs of humanity’s innate need for love and companionship. On “Beauty and the Geek” for instance, people bond really quickly. On competition shows such as “American Idol,” whenever a contestant is sent home, the remaining contestants pretty much look as if their lives are over. All that weeping. Even though they’re all going to be “on tour” together.

Another thing I’ve noticed is that we as a species actually like being taught. Again, that’s not something one would see on many scripted television programs. As a culture, we’ve been taught to believe that we don’t like authority. But shows such as “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Project Runway,” and the like succeed simply because they depict experts in action.

I was genuinely surprised at these observations. I’m sure there are more discoveries to be made. So I’m kinda hoping the Writers’ Guild strike goes on for a long while. Sure the networks will respond and give us reruns. But maybe being out of work and far from their desk in the wide open air, the writers will get an eye-opening experience of what real life and real people are like. They need it because they are way more powerful than they realize.

Dear Father, help me to see humans as we really are, not as the culture has brainwashed me to see them. I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.