L&O:SVU vs. USAPATRIOT
Tuesday night on NBC's Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, babe-a-licious detective Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) committed a federal crime by leaking information about missing weapons-grade anthrax to a reporter after a Homeland Security agent prohibited our heroes from warning anyone about the danger because, "Well, you can't." This has gotten her boss, Capt. Donald Cragen (Dann Florek) in a heap of trouble because it's obvious one of his detectives leaked the story.
The reporter went to jail at the end of the episode after refusing to rat out Olivia as the source. Art imitates life, as the feds waste valuable resources on finding out who warned the public about the missing weapons-grade anthrax that they could be spending to find out who stole the missing weapons-grade anthrax.
It's an example of an ever-more-obvious trend with a long artistic tradition, as writers use their craft to dramatize what they see in real life and what they think could happen next. Another example: In "Battlestar Gallactica" and "Commander in Chief," we see women becoming president and challenging the old-boys network, while in real life Hillary Clinton vs. Condi Rice in 2008 doesn't seem so far-fetched.
And now Matt Drudge reports (and Claire W. picks up) the next apparent trend in TV prognostication: The End of America.
"ABC alone has at least two would-be shows set in post-apocalyptic America (Resistance and Red & Blue) while Gavin Polone and Bruce Wagner are teaming for the comfy-sounding plague drama Four Horsemen at CBS (which also is developing Jericho, about life in a small town after America is destroyed)."
Are TV writers finally picking up on the old saw that George W. Bush and friends see themselves as fighting the antichrist in the end times and aiming America toward that final battle between good and evil? Are they noticing the Free State Project and Vermont's secession movement and foreseeing a more conventional dissolution of the Union? Hard to say.
Skeptic that I am, I suspect the best we can expect is that these series are driven by folks who are justly alarmed by the actions of the Bush administration but will lose their interest in lost liberties once a Democrat is safely ensconced in the Oval Office. But it is nice to see the frightening trends displayed up there in lights in a popular TV series. Maybe a few heads will be turned ... and I'm not referring to the above photograph.
posted by B.W. Richardson at
9:42 PM
4 Comments:
In the shows I've seen, it is usually the cops or some government agency that ends up being the hero - enforcing the belief to the public that we should trust them and they know what is best.
i agree with john newman - we portray the government as our saviors in our popular entertainment far too often.
but how can you not love olivia benson?
"In the shows I've seen, it is usually the cops or some government agency that ends up being the hero - enforcing the belief to the public that we should trust them and they know what is best."
As Jodie Foster's screen dad says in "Contact," "Small steps, Ellie." At least it's the local government/cop and a -gasp- reporter who are the heroes and the Orwellian feds are the bad guys. That's important, methinks.
Sorry bwr, I have to disagree with you. Like ths local schools, the local cops are beholding to the feds. The feds supply military weapons, vehicles, and Homeland Security money to them. In addition, the local cops enforce federal drug laws that provide booty from the feds to their department thru asset forfeitures and seizures.
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