Page - 161 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/01

individuals and communities laugh at and do not laugh at is instrumental in under- standing the value, boundaries, and wider culture of that group” (182). The book’s aim is to understand religious groups and their worldviews through an exploration of humor and its effects. McIntyre refers to discourse analysis in chapter 2 and to humor studies in chap- ter 5, but in the remaining chapters her method is not explicit. Much of the study involves hermeneutic analysis of the sources within their context of production and in light of the intended audience. The discussion of this material is enriched by insightful interviews with comedians and other producers of religious humor. Although they are not systematically analyzed but instead used for commentary, excerpts from interviews provide a hermeneutic framework that allows access to the possibilities and limitations of religious humor. The interviews also show that a comedian must fully understand their audience’s moral priorities if they are to be able to touch or even push against that audience’s boundaries but avoid violating them. The book is structured in five chapters, with an additional introduction and a short conclusion. The first chapter, “Evangelicals, Mormons and Popular Culture”, situates Christian and Mormon comedy in the wider setting of popular culture. McIntyre explains the sensitive relationship between religion and popular culture from the perspective of religious actors. Both evangelicals and Mormons, she notes, are concerned about and often reject popular culture, turning away because in their view it transmits dangerous worldviews, particularly in relation to family values (17). Strategies deployed to counter the dissemination of such representations in- clude the production of an alternative popular culture and regulation, for example via a rating system, two methods that form the core of this study. The discussion of how Mormons are particularly intensely engaged in film productions leads to the observation, “The desire of many religious media producers is to persuade their au- diences toward belief in God as well as to beliefs in certain moral principles. […], even though the majority of evangelical and Mormon media ends up being con- sumed by people who are already believers” (28). McIntyre depicts how religious comedy can be enjoyable while also instructional and persuasive, a multiple intent comprehensively demonstrated in chapters 3–5, in which humor strategies across various sources are explored. Chapter 2, “Introducing the Challenge of Humor”, considers the relationship be- tween humor and religion and elaborates the theoretical framework for the analysis of the sources. The categories for “appropriate” humor developed in this chapter systematize the discussion of the sources. Humor held to be appropriate by reli- gious actors is defined as non-blasphemous, clean, and nonhostile (39). The vital distinction between humorous and offensive is, as McIntyre shows, is often con- 160 | Marie-Therese Mäder www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/1, 159–162