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September 27, 2005

A false, flickering hope

Save me from television shows.

First we had the West Wing, and all I heard about was how wonderful whatshisname Bartlett was as President. We had a Black President whatshisname in the show 24. Now we've got Geena Davis as the new President whatshername on TV, and it's being touted as a beacon of hope for people who'd like to see a woman as President. Just like whatshisname provided hope and inspiration for a TV viewing audience, whatshername in Commander-in-Chief and whatshisname in 24 is supposed to be the bone we get for parity.

Well, count me out of this stupid hope frenzy. There are a couple of shows out there about aliens and another one about sea creatures that eat entire boats, and I'm not living in dread that either thing will actually turn out to be inhabiting this planet. There's a reason why these shows do well--it's called fantasy.

We barely have decent representation in Congress--actually, we don't. It's overwhelmingly white and male and "center-right" to "so far right it's off the edge of reality". And please, don't give me the malarkey that well we have four black people and three asians and twenty hispanics and fifteen women and how can I be so mean as to say that's no representation? Or that we could just vote in the people we want when we've got party machinery churning out manniquens that all stand for similar things. It's no secret that money counts for a lot in campaigns--you need money to get your message out and to run a campaign. The candidates we want don't get the dollars, period.

I mean, excuse me, I'm supposed to be dancing a jig of joy because a flipping TV show features a female President? It's television. And it's been done before, by the way. We had a show about the very same thing back in the seventies or eighties. Did anything change then? No, for Hades' sake, because it was a bleeding television show.

Who cares that the guy already in power lied to justify invading and occupying a sovereign nation, is covering for a traitor, and is in bed with Big Corporate America? Who cares that the Congress in power is not only doing everything they can to roll back worker's rights, civil rights and liberties, and individual rights, but that they are also going to bat for Big Daddy Corporate Suit whenever they can?

A television show is supposed to give me hope? Oh, that's rich. Go on, watch the show and stay still for these important messages from Target, Home Depot, Verizon, McDonalds, and Dove (the campaign for real beauty! Whoo hoo! Love that hope).

If I sound bitter, I'm not. I'm just irritated, and I get that way when people insult my intelligence. Television shows don't provide hope--they provide filler between commercials, product placement opportunities, and the equivalent of electronic Xanax for the population at large. Hey, I'm happy to watch a few shows (I rather like Lost) but I'm not going to fool myself that they are a reflection of real life, or that I have reason to hope because someone redid a show that's already been done.

This isn't hope. It's a bone to shut us up. How much hope should I have when anyone but the White guy in office is a twist, a novelty? It's 2005, people.

Posted by at September 27, 2005 08:01 AM