I've struggled to articulate why I think it is so important that pop culture and theology are brought into dialogue. I still haven't quite gotten there, but this quotation from Vincent Van Gogh struck a chord for me:

...modern reality has got such a hold on us that, even when we attempt to reconstruct the ancient days in our thoughts abstractly, the minor events of our lives tear us away from our meditations, and our own adventures thrust us back into our personal sensations - joy, boredom, suffering, anger or a smile.

Just made me think.