TV Themes
I'm a big fan of the show "The Shield" on FX which is basically a show about a group of cops that steal from criminals and occassionally commit crimes themselves to cover their ass or close a case. This show has been on for 5 whole seasons now and not until the 5th season did they start to pay morally and criminally for their actions. Should I feel bad that this is, in my opinion, my least favorite of all the seasons?
Our culture now loves games like GTA 1 through GTA Cleveland (or whatever they have out now). We watch movies that glorify violence and crime. The Sopranos has been one of the most popular non-network shows. Our culture glorifies crime and illegality plain and simple. My point is, in stories like The Shield, Sopranos, or the upcoming Theif (on FX tonight) why is it that the "good guy" always has to win? People watch hours of these shows and become connected to the characters only to see them ultimately lose in the end. I'll continue with the Shield since it just rapped it's 5th season. Basically, IAD brought a huge case against the main characters in the show led by actor Forrest Whittaker (IAD prick) who I now vehemently hate. The whole season involved the protagonists being hounded by IAD and totally ruined the feel of the show for me. So, I go on message boards and see opinions split 50/50. Some people can't believe they have a show where cops murder people and steal etc; whereas, other people are upset like me that the good guy motif always wins in the end. If they all get arrested and thrown in jail at the end, what was the point of the show? If I want to watch that moral shit I'll just go out and buy a freaking Care Bear movie. I am an adult and I can decide if I want to rob a drug dealer or not, and I don't think it makes me any less a moral person to enjoy watching other FICTIONAL people do that.
Look at movies. Ocean's 11 was amazing because the "bad guys" got away with it by just being plain smarter than their opponent. Hollywood can't have this so they make that trash rag that was Ocean's 12 to make the thieves at least give back what they owed so everything is fair and square. Why make me empathize with a character if you are constantly going to make them lose in the end. I watched the movie "The Jackle" with Bruce Willis and Richard Gere and I felt like we were suppossed to root for Bruce Willis only to have that pussy Richard Gere win out in the end.
The show Thief starts tonight staring Andre Braugher (the black guy from Law and Order) and I'm debating watching that. I'll find the show ultimately entertaining while they are robbing banks etc. but if I wanted to watch what will happen in the latter seasons, I can just go buy the god damn OZ dvd's.
posted by Sitting on Pineapples @ 1:01 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
andre braugher wasn't on Law and Order. You're confusing him with the black assistant DA who was on Law and Order for the first five seasons until they smartened up and said, "we should be hacing hot chciks" as our assistant DA's. andre Braugher did look a lot like that guy and braugher was on Homicide: Life on the Street, a Law and Order rip--off, so it's a very easy mistake to make, but I'm a Law and Order freak and watch waaaaay too much of it. Braugher may have starred in one or two L&O's....after all, what actor hasn't been on an episode of L&O.
But as to what you are saying, I tend to agree with you, but television and movies have a habit of making the bad guys into the good guys. In Ocean's 11, I didn't feel like Clooney and co. were bad guys at all. Tony Soprano isn't a bad guy at all in my opinion and they reiterate this in every episode showing him caring for his family. Just two ngihts ago on the new episode, Carmela was telling Tony's psychiatrist that, "There are much worse criminals than my husband." This is a true sentiment. In the end though, crime does have to catch up with criminals, it's a fact of television life. Imagine if the show The Fugitive ended without retribution towards the one-armed man?
Yeah... I meant homicide.
I used to watch "Without a Trace" a lot and I used to love when they couldn't solve the case. It was great. I liked those episodes more than the ones where they found the people.
It added a sense of reality that most cops shows don't have.
who the f$$$ is sean hannity.
Sean Hannity has mushroom shaped tattoos on his tonsils and butt cheeks... trust me
The Mission
Layer Cake
and others
The point is, why can't the "bad guy" win? The sopranos will ultimately end up with Tony getting shot (fatally) or him getting arrested.
Off topic but I love the deus ex machina in Donnie Darko simply because they blatantly tell everyone verbally that there is one. The writer acknowledged that they had a plot hole and couldn't figure out how to kill the chick.
Post a Comment
<< Home