The Enemy Of My Enemy...

There has been a lot of discussion recently regarding the merits of the hit show 24. The program has been described as propagandist and fear-mongering among other things, but has nevertheless retained a loyal fan-base.

In the past, I've considered myself a part of that fanbase but my loyalty is waning, and not because of those concerns. Although I can't say I'm able to determine exactly when, it seems as though the show "jumped the shark" at some point. 24 has a number of cookie-cutter elements in its style and plot that seem to be recycled year after year, and while that's obviously not an opinion that the show's producers are hoping other viewers share, it's also not necessarily the worst thing seeing as how you've always had to shut your brain off to enjoy the show anyways. I also understand that despite complaints that 24 has attempted to snowball the fear of terrorism–taking what exists in some natural and perhaps rational form and allegedly making it into something that causes both social prejudices and political biases–it remains a business enterprise that cares first and foremost about entertaining its audience. In order to do so, the show has had to broaden its scope–or up the ante, if you will–every year since its inception, building up to its recent nuclear detonation in Los Angeles. While the producers may or may not have ulterior motives, I abstain from judgment because of that single predominate fact.

Aside from the nuclear bombing, what I've noticed this season are the obvious links to the seemingly forgotten 1998 film, The Siege. Just as in 24, The Siege featured a heroic federal agent (played by Denzel Washington) doing his best to end a horrific string of terrorist attacks before an overzealous government can destroy what's left of the Constitution by interning Muslims in the name of national safety. It has been suggested from the first episode of this season's 24 that this will happen sometime over the course of the season's "day," so I'm sure that it will, as the show has always been anything but understated in its foreshadowing. However, just as in The Siege, there are a number of "good guys" campaigning against such an action, and so I'm equally certain that there will be a resolution by season's end in which racial profiling in its largest and most grotesque form is determined once and for all to be wholly un-American and against what our men and women have always fought for. Along with the excellent, excellent movie currently in theatres, Children of Men, and the classic novel 1984, both The Siege and this season's 24 begin by scaring you–or at least establishing a scared society–and then (in 24's case, hopefully) go on to show how dangerous that fear can become. This time, Jack Bauer won't save us from who we supposedly hate, but being the All-American that he is, will instead save us from becoming what we're supposed to hate. Of course if he has to torture a few dozen people along the way, oh well, because that is, after all, apparently what audiences want to see...and Dubya's already seen to it that it be allowed anyway.

Among the other dangers you'll find while patrolling the boob tube:

In regard to the NFL Playoffs, Colbert warned us and now it's happened: The number one threat to America, Bears, devoured Saints on Sunday, and not just any Saints, but New Orleans Saints. As if that's not enough, Patriots were also defeated, and by Peyton Manning of all people.

Grey's Anatomy continues to expose the truth that only the best HMO's offer doctors who are so attractive that they can't resist sleeping with each other before, after, and perhaps even during surgeries. Meanwhile, Ugly Betty reminds us that ugly people do indeed exist and that we have to tolerate them despite it, and perhaps even go so far as to look for this so-called "inner beauty" thing.

Perhaps no one watches it, but that doesn't change the fact that America's Funniest Videos is still on the air, which makes you wonder if the -est suffix has remained for too long. By this point, they must surely be reduced to "America's Funnier Videos Than Yours", or "America's Funny Videos of Cats Doing Silly Things," or perhaps "YouTube For People Without The Internet."

FOX News continues to prove that conservatives are funnier than liberals without even trying.

(Speaking of which, Colbert and O'Reilly recently exchanged appearances on each other's shows, and while I was expecting my head to blow up at some point, it sadly did not. If this had been a Pay-Per-View wrestling event and if I were a redneck or lived in my parents' basement, I totally would have asked for my $39.95 back. Stewart-Carlson II this was not.)

American Schadenfreude

No, this isn't an O'Reillian post about the "far left loons who put their ideology above the welfare of the country," "who want us to lose in Iraq." Rather, this concerns the opinion of an equally unparalleled pundit, Rosie O'Donnell.

Like so many others in the past days, O'Donnell reacted uproariously to the "meanness" exuded by judges Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul, and particularly, Simon Cowell in this week's season premiere of the juggernaut that is American Idol.

After showing a clip of Cowell telling the ocularly-challenged Kenneth Briggs, “Your dancing is terrible, the singing was horrendous, and you look like one of those creatures that live in the jungle with those massive eyes. What are they called? Bush baby,” O'Donnell responded, "Isn't that what America thinks is entertainment?"

To answer her rhetorical and facetious question, yes.

It's become part of our nature to enjoy the miserable failures of others. It begins in grade school, and though we claim to outgrow our immature mockery, a part of it remains with us forever, rearing its head with such innocent transgressions as snickering at a stranger as he trips on an unseen gap in the sidewalk.

Certainly there are lines to be drawn, but that doesn't stop us from overstepping them. Cowell's analysis would largely be considered such an overstep–if not an egregious one–but I would imagine the sad truth to be that Mr. Briggs has constant encounters with various Little Red Riding Hoods observing, "Oh, what large eyes you have!" We all have faults, some more obvious than others, and we all have to deal with them, some with more difficulty than others. To think that the outside world will soften the blow is to live in a world where husband and wife sleep side by side in separate beds, where good always conquers evil and everything happens for a reason. It's not that world anymore, and I don't know that it ever was.

Those who fight to keep our world "the way it was" often blame the violence found on television and in video games, but is the bigger worry that we're becoming increasingly immune to mayhem and bloodshed, or rather that we're devolving to a more apathetic state, numb to the misfortune and even misery of others be they real or imagined.

COPS has been on the air for nearly eighteen years and has been widely syndicated for much of that time. Do viewers keep tuning in to understand the inner workings of the police force and to monitor the efficiency of the justice system, or do they watch for the consistent entertainment of stereotypical antics followed by a suspect lying face down in the dirt? Are high-speed chases televised with the hope of a peaceful resolution? How many auto-racing fans wouldn't admit to hoping to witness a devastating crash? The popularity of Girls Gone Wild is obviously due to the girls' stripping of their clothing and the ensuing uninhibited "wildness," but I would also suggest that the stripping of their dignity and the loss of the respect of their friends and family is of additional appeal to some viewers, if only subconsciously.

Just like those who represent it, society doesn't need to be coddled, however it does need to be accepted for what it is, as well as what it isn't. A part of all of us wishes that we were the next American Idol, whether as a singer, dancer, athlete, artist, actor, or writer, or even as a doctor, lawyer, policeman, fireman, or soldier, and that part of us would bury its heels in the faces of those below us if it meant a step up.

I'm not saying it's right, but it's completely American.

(Television isn't all bad though, as evidenced just last night by NBC's The Office, 30 Rock, My Name Is Earl, and on this night, particularly Scrubs:)