Tuesday 24 July 2007

The Endings of Acts and The Sopranos


Micah Kiel recently contributed a rather interesting article comparing the ending of Acts of the Apostles to the final episode of The Sopranos in the Society of Biblical Literature Forum.

"What happens when something ends before it should? On a recent Sunday evening, millions of people went to bed with the unease of an open ending. The arguments proliferated immediately: Was the ending of The Sopranos a cheap trick or a beautiful work of art? Was the ending a snapshot of quotidian Sopranos dysfunction, depicting characters who have learned little and will continue in their ways? Or, were there hints of a different ending that the observer was supposed to supply once the screen went dark? While a comparison between Tony Soprano and the Apostle Paul may seem strange, the ending of the Acts of the Apostles elicits reactions similar to the ending of The Sopranos. Does the ending portray Paul in all his apostolic glory? Or, does Luke hint at another ending outside of the text?"

To read the rest of the article, Did Paul Get Whacked? The Endings of The Sopranos and the Acts of the Apostles, click here. It is definitely worth reading and it is also interesting to see how Kiel makes the connection between the New Testament and popular culture.

No comments: