{"id":900,"date":"2009-10-12T04:01:55","date_gmt":"2009-10-12T04:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/markdroberts\/2009\/10\/the-office-the-wedding-and-the-power-of-the-internet.html"},"modified":"2009-10-12T04:01:55","modified_gmt":"2009-10-12T04:01:55","slug":"the-office-the-wedding-and-the-power-of-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/2009\/10\/the-office-the-wedding-and-the-power-of-the-internet.html","title":{"rendered":"The Office, the Wedding, and the Power of the Internet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Warning: The Office<\/em> spoilers ahead.
\nIf you have doubted the power of the Internet to impact culture, consider last week’s big event on The Office<\/em>.\u00a0 After seasons of waiting, Pam and Jim finally got married. The “Niagara” episode offered its usual dosage of off-the-wall humor, plus some tender moments.
\nBut one of the most clever and, for me, surprising scenes came right at the end. Pam, John, and their wedding party gathered in Spruce Avenue Presbyterian<\/em> Church. Three cheers for the Presbyterians! (Note: This is a fictitious church. There are five Presbyterian churches in Niagara Falls, New York, but none named “Spruce Avenue.”) That Pam and John got married in a Presbyterian church was not a the surprise, however. (By the way, the actress who plays Pam, Jenna Fischer, is good friends with Angela Kinsey, the actress who plays Angela Martin on The Office<\/em>. Angela Kinsey attends Bel-Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles.)
\nRather, the surprise came as the organist was about to play the processional music. On cue, she stopped playing. Dwight raced to the pulpit to turn on his iPod. All of a sudden the rock song “Forever” by Chris Brown began to play, and the wedding party started dancing forward as the processional, much to the bemused disgust of Pam and Jim, who had apparently asked that this song not<\/em> be used in their wedding.
\nIt was a funny scene. But it was much funnier and more striking if you knew the backstory. On June 20, 2009, Jill Peterson and Kevin Heinz got married in Christ Lutheran Church,\u00a0 in St. Paul, Minnesota. They and their wedding party danced forward for the processional, using Chris Brown’s “Forever.” Someone videoed the event. On July 19, 2009, somebody uploaded the video to YouTube so that Jill’s father could share it with relatives. Here’s the video. It’s well worth watching if you haven’t seen it.
\n[youtube:http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1-q-fsYQPZw]
\nHere’s a link to the imitation of this video on The Office<\/em><\/a>.
\nThe video went immediately viral. A week after being posted, it had 6.6 million views on YouTube. As of a few days ago, it has over 26,000,000 views on YouTube, not counting the large number of views on copies of the video.\u00a0 My guess is that, after last weeks’s episode of The Office<\/em>, the original video will get millions of new viewers.
\nSo here’s what impresses me about the power of the Internet. Think about it. Less than three months ago, somebody put up a video of a small wedding featuring two ordinary and relatively unknown people. Last week, one of the most popular television programs imitated the opening moments of the wedding, and millions upon millions of viewers got the joke. Never before in the history of the world could something like this have happened. It’s rather stunning, if you stop and think about it. (Photo: a scene from the processional of The Office<\/em>.)
\n
\nBy the way, Jill and Kevin decided to capitalize<\/a> upon their new-found fame by encouraging people to give to the Wellstone Institute, a progressive institute with a particular focus on preventing domestic violence. Way to go, Jill and Kevin! This is\u00a0 ironic, of course, because Chris Brown, who recorded the song “Forever,” recently and famously pled guilty to assaulting his former girlfriend, Rihanna. Jill and Kevin do not mention this situtation explicitly on their website, but they do say this about the utterly unexpected response to their wedding video: “We hope to direct this positivity to a good cause. Due to the circumstances surrounding the song in our wedding \t\t\t\t\tvideo, we have chosen the Sheila Wellstone Institute. Sheila Wellstone was an advocate, organizer, and national champion in the effort to end domestic violence \t\t\t\t\tin our communities.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Warning: The Office spoilers ahead. If you have doubted the power of the Internet to impact culture, consider last week’s big event on The Office.\u00a0 After seasons of waiting, Pam and Jim finally got married. The “Niagara” episode offered its usual dosage of off-the-wall humor, plus some tender moments. But one of the most clever…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,81],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cultural-commentary","category-internet"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Office, the Wedding, and the Power of the Internet - Mark D. 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Roberts","description":"Mark D. Roberts: Thoughtfully Christian Reflections on Jesus, the Church, and the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/1ff094a57b7e41f534434b1723df3d73","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/f2d\/f2ddf5f080861f66ea230384f9d1bab2x96.jpg","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"description":"The Rev. Dr. Mark D. Roberts is a pastor, author, retreat leader, speaker, and blogger. Since October 2007 he has been the Senior Director and Scholar-in-Residence for Laity Lodge, a multifaceted ministry in the Hill Country of Texas. Before coming to Laity Lodge, he was for sixteen years the Senior Pastor of Irvine Presbyterian Church in Irvine, California (a city in Orange County about forty miles south of Los Angeles). Before his time at Irvine Pres, Mark served on the staff of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood as Associate Pastor of Education. (Thanks to Janel Pahl for taking the photo to the right.) Mark studied at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Philosophy, an M.A. in the Study of Religion, and a Ph.D. in New Testament and Christian Origins. He has taught classes in New Testament for Fuller Theological Seminary and San Francisco Theological Seminary. Mark has written several books, including No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer (WaterBrook, 2005), Dare to Be True (WaterBrook, 2003), Jesus Revealed (WaterBrook, 2002), After \"I Believe\" (Baker, 2002), and Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther (Word, 1993). His most recent book is Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Crossway, 2007). He is currently working on a commentary on Ephesians that will be published by Zondervan in 2014. Mark writes a devotional for The High Calling of Our Daily Work, a website associated with Laity Lodge. His \"Daily Reflections\" can be viewed online or sent as a daily email. If you wish to receive this email, just visit TheHighCalling.org and sign up. Mark serves on the editorial board of Worship Leader magazine, where he publishes articles and reviews, including his regular column \"Lyrical Poetry.\" Additionally, he has published dozens of articles in leading magazines and journals. He often speaks for churches and other Christian groups, and has been interviewed on over seventy-five radio programs nationwide. Mark is married to Linda, who is a Marriage and Family Therapist, a Spiritual Director, and a retreat speaker. They have two children, Nathan and Kara.For Publicity Photos and Bio Statements for Mark, please check here. Mark's Dossier Professional History: Senior Director and Scholar-in Residence, Laity Lodge, October 2007 to present. Senior Pastor Irvine Presbyterian Church, June 1991 to September 2007 Adjunct Assistant Professor Fuller Theological Seminary, 1994 to 2007. Courses: New Testament Theology and Exegesis. Adjunct Instructor San Francisco Theological Seminary, 1995 to 2001. Courses: New Testament Greek and Exegesis Associate Pastor of Education First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1987-1991 Teaching Fellow Harvard University, 1980-1983 Education: Ph.D. in the Study of Religion. Harvard University, 1992. Area: New Testament and Christian Origins M.A. in the Study of Religion Harvard University, 1984. A.B. magna cum laude in Philosophy Harvard University, 1979. Phi Beta Kappa; Danforth Fellowship Books: Can We Trust the Gospels? Investigating the Reliability of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Crossway, 2007 No Holds Barred: Wrestling with God in Prayer. WaterBrook, 2005 Dare to Be True: Living in the Freedom of Complete Honesty. WaterBrook, 2003. Jesus Revealed: Know Him Better to Love Him Better. WaterBrook, 2002. After \"I Believe\": Experiencing Authentic Christian Living. Baker, 2002. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther in the Communicator's Commentary Series. Word, 1993. Contacting Mark: You can reach Mark at: E-mail: mark@markdroberts.com mroberts@laitylodge.org Phone: Laity Lodge: (830) 792-1216 Address: Laity Lodge 719 Earl Garrett Kerrville, TX 78028","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/author\/mroberts"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=900"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/900\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}