DVD review: McLuhan Way, by MasterWorks Productions

The last apostolic letter released by Pope John Paul II before his death was entitled The Rapid Development, referring to the incredible development in recent years of communications technology. Of course, this “rapid development” has been going on for a century now, starting with the development of the radio and the telephone, to the movies and television, and now to the Internet and a general convergence of communications media.

Such social revolutions are not without their commentators, and this one was no exception. One of the great early prophets of this revolution was Marshall McLuhan, once dubbed the “High Priest of the electric age”, one of the few professorial types in recent memory to achieve a kind of pop culture status. What many people do not know, however, is that Marshall McLuhan was a Catholic convert, and that his faith was a direct influence on his work. I certainly didn’t know — not until I had a chance to view the award-winning video McLuhan Way: In Search of Truth, by MasterWorks Productions. It was quite eye opening.

Deiren Masterson, the writer/director/producer of the video has taken on quite a challenge: McLuhan was known for being himself a skilled communicator, and so it necessarily would take an artist of some skill to be able to make a documentary on him without making McLuhan appear banal. I believe Masterson has succeeded, thanks in major part to his focus on the motivating core of Marshall McLuhan: his faith.

Apart from coining some of the original sound bytes — such as the expressions “global village” and “the medium is the message” — McLuhan was particularly perceptive regarding the ways new communications media would transforms societies. Books upon books have been written on this topic, of course, but Masterson cuts through to the unique question of how the Church would operate in a media-soaked world — and indeed, how the Church would be itself changed. The following McLuhan, for example, strikes me as quite on the money:

A state of civil war exists — or will soon exist between the Catholic Church and the forces of the electric media. There is no ground for the coexistence of these two tribal forces.

McLuhan is not speaking here of the merely technical aspects of “electric media”, but of the kind of social forces they would unleash. To be sure, the Catholic faith sometimes benefits from the use of “electric media” — this DVD is an example — but one must admit that this is often a tiny corner of world of communications. The Catholic Church is often shown on TV or in film when a pretty or striking image of “spirituality” is needed, as a kind of curiosity, but the *truth* behind these images is not often presented. Simply put, it is extremely difficult for the Catholic faith to be adequately presented in a sound byte or 10-second clip.

One element of particular interest for me was McLuhan’s views on the role of media in (believe it or not) the End Times. McLuhan believed that media would allow people to be “instantly tuned to a new Christ, and mistake him for the real Christ”. I myself believe that the development of media is part of our providential “signs of the times” (although I tend to believe that the role of media will be, in particular, the simultaneous presentation of the Gospel to the entire world), so I see this inclusion as necessary to the complete presentation of McLuhan’s thought. Still, given the possible reactions to such a topic, I see this inclusion as a gutsy move on the part of Masterson.

As far as I know the only way to obtain a copy of McLuhan Way is by contacting MasterWorks Productions directly. As a Catholic documentary, I don’t exactly see this as the video to watch over beers on a Friday night with friends. The video is very well positioned, however, to be a discussion tool for Catholics interested in examining the relationship between faith and secular culture. It is worth a look.

My grade: A.