Popular media content creators have routinely drawn from religious concepts when seeking inspiration for new material. Developers in the West have traditionally relied heavily on Christian themes to supply new ideas. Now, more artists have begun to look towards Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Shinto religions for inspiration when conceiving many of the storylines we find in mainstream entertainment today. This thesis will study key examples of film, video game, literary, and television media to show how these artists weave their religiously inspired themes into their respective platforms. In using the rich stories and traditions to develop more in-depth landscapes and compelling storylines, these religions benefit by having their values showcased in some of the most famous pop culture media today.
","abstract_html":"<p>Popular media content creators have routinely drawn from religious concepts when seeking inspiration for new material. Developers in the West have traditionally relied heavily on Christian themes to supply new ideas. Now, more artists have begun to look towards Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Shinto religions for inspiration when conceiving many of the storylines we find in mainstream entertainment today. This thesis will study key examples of film, video game, literary, and television media to show how these artists weave their religiously inspired themes into their respective platforms. In using the rich stories and traditions to develop more in-depth landscapes and compelling storylines, these religions benefit by having their values showcased in some of the most famous pop culture media today.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Poveda, Arianna A."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"History","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"History and Geography","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Bryan A. Banks","Dr. Ryan J. Lynch","Dr. Markus Weidler"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:44:41Z","subjects":["Religion"],"languages":["english"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/526","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Bryan A. Banks","Dr. Ryan J. Lynch","Dr. Markus Weidler"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Poveda, Arianna A."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2024-05-21T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History and Geography"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["History"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Religion"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["english"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/526"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Popular media content creators have routinely drawn from religious concepts when seeking inspiration for new material. Developers in the West have traditionally relied heavily on Christian themes to supply new ideas. Now, more artists have begun to look towards Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Shinto religions for inspiration when conceiving many of the storylines we find in mainstream entertainment today. This thesis will study key examples of film, video game, literary, and television media to show how these artists weave their religiously inspired themes into their respective platforms. In using the rich stories and traditions to develop more in-depth landscapes and compelling storylines, these religions benefit by having their values showcased in some of the most famous pop culture media today.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Sacred Screens: Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism and Islam in Popular Culture"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Bryan A. Banks","Dr. Ryan J. Lynch","Dr. Markus Weidler"],"dc:creator":["Poveda, Arianna A."],"dc:date.available":["2024-05-21T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Popular media content creators have routinely drawn from religious concepts when seeking inspiration for new material. Developers in the West have traditionally relied heavily on Christian themes to supply new ideas. Now, more artists have begun to look towards Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Shinto religions for inspiration when conceiving many of the storylines we find in mainstream entertainment today. This thesis will study key examples of film, video game, literary, and television media to show how these artists weave their religiously inspired themes into their respective platforms. In using the rich stories and traditions to develop more in-depth landscapes and compelling storylines, these religions benefit by having their values showcased in some of the most famous pop culture media today.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/526"],"dc:language":["english"],"dc:subject":["Religion"],"dc:title":["Sacred Screens: Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism and Islam in Popular Culture"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["History and Geography"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["History"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:44:41Z"}