What's Really Important Oh Mother Ship Where Art Thou?
Is it just me, or is mediocrity becoming the norm? Is this the planet to be on? Last night while watching TV I experienced a “twilight zone� moment spread over the period of an hour. There are maybe at most a dozen shows I might watch on a permanent basis. I spend the rest of the time with my finger firmly pressed on the remote and indulge in high-speed channel surfing in hopes of finding something even remotely interesting. On this occasion I was rewarded with three separate incidents that would have made Rod Serling blush.
The first was a news clip. There was a reporter speaking with a Mexican woman about the proposed wall between Mexico and the United States that had just been approved by the Congress and signed into law by the President. She was saying something like, "I am totally against this wall; it
is against the inherent rights of all Mexicans.� Now that really caused me to raise an eyebrow. Though I believe the wall is a lame idea, I hadn’t been aware it was the right of all Mexicans to cross our border at will. I didn’t know it was the right of any person from the two nations along our borders to enter our country without going through proper checkpoints, or vice-versa.
I surfed on, still shaking my head in disbelief, and came upon the second incredulous newsreel. This one occurred on a beachfront perhaps somewhere along the southern California coast. There was a group of at least seven police officers arresting a young man for something; I didn’t quite catch what. The man was not cooperating fully, but the police were finally able to subdue and handcuff him. While placing him in the car, one of the officers told him, “You are being arrested for resisting arrest.�
I mumbled to myself, “What? How can you be arrested for resisting arrest?� I briefly envisioned hearing, “signpost ahead: the next step the twilight zone.� I presume the officer meant to say you are going to be charged with resisting arrest, along with the reason we’re arresting you in the first place. It just struck me as rather odd he hadn’t said that. No doubt this one was just a fluke, the officer having made a mistake.
The last TV spot was the real mind bender; the best saved for last. This was some sort of Judge Judy type court show I’d never seen before. A man and a woman were called into court on suspicion of owning some drugs found in their car. I had missed the part about why they were stopped in the first place, but apparently some drugs had been subsequently found lying on or wedged between the seats of the two suspects. Both denied owning the drugs, and both had come up with a negative drug test.
The car had been impounded, and the judge called a drug-sniffing dog into the courtroom to go check out the car (which I presume was nearby) for any signs of more drugs. While passing through, the dog happened to be attracted to the male suspect and walked over to him. The judge, taking notice of this, became suspicious and asked one of the bailiffs to search the man.
Guess what? If you surmised that they found drugs on the guy, you win! The judge could hardly believe it, and neither could I. He repeatedly stated that in all his years on the bench he had never seen anything as stupid as a person charged with possession of drugs, actually bringing drugs into the courtroom and his own hearing. Meanwhile, I’m dumbfounded while staring at the screen and thinking “Dooooooh!� Move over Mr. Serling and make room for Homer Simpson.
At this point, I expected to wake up and find it had all been a dream. I looked around, half expecting to see Serling’s ghost-like apparition smiling at me from some corner. I had thought the present political climate in the nation was totally inane. Last night I sensed perhaps it is just business as usual in a world and nation that had long ago subtly entered that Twilight Zone unnoticed.
In the 21st Century, an epoch in which we might have expected some enlightenment from Homo sapiens, and on the verge of establishing a World Federation founded in peace and harmony, and ready to explore the galaxy; we are instead still bogged down by greed, avarice, fear and universal conflict. A powerful and privileged few, simply by virtue of having lots of money and ambition, not any inherent humanity or awareness, still force us to rely on fossil fuels, support a military industrial complex that needs war to survive, and display a willingness to convince us there are no such things as Global Warming which might in the end make all our previous history a moot point. I mean why should we be concerned with the habitability of the planet in 50-100 years when we can make an extra dollar now (so much for “real� family values and the well-being of grandchildren)?
What is really important to me is to find out when the Mother Ship is scheduled to arrive again, so I can book passage back to the Home Planet. It may be time to leave a solar system that has for some time now been cordoned off with yellow warning tape. The nostalgia of my youth arises within my consciousness as a recall a Broadway play entitled, “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off.� At the time I thought it was a joke!
Comments
I find myself longing for something intelligent and substantial on TV. There are TV shows that start with great promise, such as Boston Legal. It appeared that, in the first season, William Shatner had finally found the role he was born to play. I was heartened that this seemingly primadonna actor would actually take on a role of a seedy but lovable lawyer with "mad-cow" disease. And Spader was heartless and cold but gave us "secret" glimpses of an affection for Denny Crane. The show was a wonderful balance of intelligent courtroom drama with thoughtful and brilliant dialog coupled with ironic humor that was almost over the top, but titillating, nonetheless.
Okay, so now everyone is raving about Boston Legal, how clever and funny it is, so what did the writers do? They focused on making Denny Crane definitely over-the-top repulsive and Spader (can't remember what his character's name is) became soft and sentimental. And I'm sorry, but to make an elderly Candice Bergen a sought after sex icon is ludicrous, as well as an aged Tom Sellek who appears to only be lecherous. Who cares about their "affections" for each other? Throw in a dwarf to disrespect and you have completed this absurd circus!
Now, I could go on and on but I am really pissed that such a wonderful, balanced, and intelligent show would unravel before our very eyes. People watch shows about legal issues because they think they can get some insight into the mysterious world of law and the court system. They don't watch it to see some foolish writing for has-been actors that are cast as undignified characters. And personally, I am tired of all the drama programming centering on murder. Yawn! Are there no creative writers anymore??
So back to the issue of your "twilight-zone" experience with the "reality" TV you are commenting on, all the issues you bring up are about defying authority on some level, and with profound ignorance; the Mexican woman thinking all people in Mexico have the right to cross borders, the cop arresting someone for the sake of arresting him (or trying to find reasons to arrest him), and the dude with the pot in his pocket while in court. It appears that what people want to see is authority being defied, and they have a right to do stupid things, just like Denny Crane, to defy it rather than being intelligent, informed, and creative.
Personally, I think people right now feel downright helpless and the only way they can feel better is to see idiots do idiotic things so they can point and laugh, and say, "I am at least smarter than they are!" We have been made to feel powerless and duped. We have been made to feel that it is every man for himself, "me first", or get them before they get me. We are being taught by our government to be sneaky and paranoid. We are also being taught that we have no power over the powerful and those in authority.
Overall, I think there is some validity in the sentiment of defying authority, but just watching stupid things on TV doesn't accomplish anything other than perhaps stroking some egos. If what people really want to do is find their power, then they need to start acting in a powerful way by doing research, writing to people that count, and following through on their convictions. There is no room for mean-spiritedness among our ranks, we are all in the same boat, stupid or not. The common conclusion is that one person cannot make a difference. I am here to say that this is an incorrect conclusion. One person CAN make a difference, but many in authority would not like you to know this.
One thing, Stephen, as I was writing this I took some time to reflect on the type of programming on TV and tried to align it with times of various administrations and social consciousness, and it was quite telling.
Posted by: Al | October 29, 2006 02:25 PM
You make joke, earthling?
Posted by: dougt | October 30, 2006 07:32 AM
Doug, Clatoo barata nicto!
Posted by: Stephen | October 30, 2006 08:34 AM
More insanity:
The last time I flew, I got bored and actually read the instruction card in the seat back. In part, it read "please notify a flight attendant if you cannot read these instructions".
And when they passed out the bag of peanuts, I noticed a warning that read "This product was manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts".
Posted by: Nadrew | October 30, 2006 10:14 AM
Great Nadrew, you already know what I'm talking about. You didn't happen to see that funny little guy on the wings of the plane trying to take them apart did you?
Posted by: Stephen | October 30, 2006 10:21 AM
They unionized those creatures (you've heard of "The International Brotherhood Of Fully Little Guys Sitting On the Wing Of The Plane", haven't you?), and thanks to years of hard bargaining they get paid time and a half to be on the wings. With airlines cutting back, I almost never see that anymore.
Posted by: Nadrew | October 31, 2006 09:52 PM
Actually, I thought it was just me. Let me know when the mother ship lands. I hope there will be educational and uplifting TV on the flight home.
Posted by: anonymous | November 6, 2006 06:52 PM
"Is this the planet to be on?"
ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!! Only you,
my dear... only you. I could hear you saying that like you were
sitting next to me at the computer.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 6, 2006 06:56 PM