Basket-brawl, hunters shooting hunters, Desperate Wives: post-election USA

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 9:03am

This may provoke ire, but annyone else notice how ... strange ... things are getting, post-election? Forget all the Republican in-fighting (which has provoked conservative columnist David Brooks to wag his finger ominiously at the imploding Party of Power...)

The mood in the country after the W victory seems very tense. The phenomena I site is, admittedly, entirely unrelated. And I'm no anthropologist. But what a bizarre week. We learned that, despite the red state ranting about moral values, most of them watch DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, dare I say, religiously? And then everyone got ruffled and unruffled over the pre-game, towel dropping inter-racial locker room pas de deux. Fox, always offended by sex, showed it non-stop, just to make sure we understood how lurid and values-affronting it really was. You know, "Look how awful we are, America! Look at that towel! Look at her daring to jump in that man's arms! Oh! Oh!!!"

Then we see fans -- who should be content, basking in Bush-era American glow -- acting certifiably insane at a basketball game, and the players retaliating. And hunters are firing at each other, instead of bucks n'bambis. Maybe it's just me. But these feel like creepy times we'll look back on as,well, creepy. Even the Christmas ads are strangely un-Christmas-y. It's like they're already advertising January sales. Without Kerry and the wimp Dems to kick around, parts of middle America are on edge and don't know what to do with its rage. Talk about a phyrric victory. Maybe Dan Rather can explain it before he checks out.

Updated On: 11/24/04 at 09:03 AM

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 9:28am

And notice how all the "danger" messages have faded. Everyone's all stirred up, and the "poof". Which is not to say that I don't think that there is any danger...

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 9:54am

yep, i'd blame the republican party and those who voted for bush for all of that. let's see...

the hunters, yep, certifiable loons and obvious staunch bush voters since they had guns and were hunting: an asian american killing several white guys. i don't se what the problem is here. he killed white guys didn't he?

naked woman jumping into a football player's arms provoking controversy? now that could not have been intentional, could it? nah. the network would never use an idea that might cause controversy to promote a show in a post nipple-gate era, would they? i mean surely that was just an innocent attempt at crosss promotion gone horribly awry, right? nope, the blame for that lies completely at the feet of the letter writers and the hand wringers who as we all know are republicans, and because they are all republicans we can by extension just blame george bush, or better his brain, karl rove.

detroit fans riled up at a basketball game in which their team is down by 15 and all but the drunks have left? i mean obviously bush voters there, because no self respecting democrat would be at a basketball game, professional sports being far beneath those who can see how horrible this country really is. nevermind the fact that this incident took place in detroit which is in wayne county which went 69-30 for kerry, nope it was obviously those few bushies who were there causing all the trouble. and let's keep in mind that nothing like this has ever happened before at a professional sporting event. or that the week before spanish fans were taunting black english soccer players with racist chants and ape sounds (those supposedly superior europeans, huh? yes to gay marriage but no to black players? what a conundrum!). nope it's purely a red state phenomenon (oops except that michigan is a blue state!) and clear evidence why the east and west should secede leaving the center of the country and the suburbs to fend for themselves.

maybe it's not the country that's so creepy auggie, but your perspective. i like you, i always have, but you're never gonna make it through four years like this.

Updated On: 11/24/04 at 09:54 AM

[ckeaton]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 9:56am

When you write your novel papa, I'd like the first autographed copy.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 10:11am

You forgot that a rado DJ called Condoleeza Rice an Aunt Jemima and several racist cartoons were printed about her.

You dad nab Republicans! Can't wait until I'm rid of the lot of ya!

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 10:48am

Yes, Papa, you're right: My perspective is mega-creepy. I own that, 150%. I will admit that in creating this very thread, I may be part of the problem, not the solution. I feel creeped out by most of what I see on the 6 p.m. news, which stands out in bas relief now that those two men aren't after one another every day. If that makes me a creepy freak, I own it. As for making it through the next four years, there are plenty of others who have far greater problems than I. (Hey, I have this board to keep me from hanging myself in the basement.)

I bring up all of these disparate incidents as a snap-shot of our current culture -- but I in no way do I "blame" Republicans for the brawl or the sleaze-obsession or any of the rest of if. (Including video games for killing JFK and the rest ofthe ugliness out there.) I simply think these are dark, complicated, troubling times for a 200 year old country, worthy of more self-evaluation than characterized the simplistic good/bad red/blue with us/against us election climate. Nov.2 was widely discussed as a triumph of morality. Maybe it will prove to be. Much of this society is poorer than ever, and clearly unhappier than they'd like to be. As they said in the old AMERICAN BEAUTY ad campaign, I just think we need to "look closer."

Updated On: 11/24/04 at 10:48 AM

[ckeaton]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 11:02am

If we look at our entertainment of late, we see the media tends to "look closer". TV, news, movies... all of it.

Essentially what I am suggesting is that shows like Desperate Housewives and Six Feet Under tend to peel back a layer of our culture to show us what we never saw, or at least admitted, before. There is an unhealthy history where Ward may have been hitting on the Beav's friends, or Donna Reed was slipping Clorox in her husband's soup. We never publically acknowledged that part of our culture in the past. Now it's right on the surface, when Americans worship at the altar of television every night.

I challenge that technology (and to some extent, openmindedness) has enabled us to see and interact with these elements on a daily basis. It has not created them. They were there all along.

In 200 years, kids may be shooting up schools with laser guns the size of a tic-tac case...

Posted: 11/24/04 at 11:05am

"When you write your novel papa, I'd like the first autographed copy."

I agree with that

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 11:43am

I'm going to slap papa on the back of the hands with a ruler. Very flippant attitude for a very interesting topic, young man! I may make you get on my couch.

Interesting, Christopher, that you bring up Desperate Housewives and Six Feet Under. First, I'd like to point out that they were both created by out gay men. We just see that stuff a little clearer. But that's not the point I'm gonna try to make. Those shows allow us to safely view these issues because one employs the deliciousness of camp and the other employs the transporting techniques of fantasy. Both are very, very valid forms of storytelling, but, in the end, they don't go for the jugular. Except once.

Many people had a problem with the episode in which David was abducted and victimized by that psycho. And people were upset for many different reasons. Some people had a problem with the gay man as victim thing (a straight man actually said that to me, which was refreshing). Others hated the fact that David found the young man sexually enthralling, even during the victimization. Still others couldn't deal with the relentlessness of the violence, which I find MOST interesting because it, in reality, was minimal. The THREAT of violence, the danger of it all, was what was really unrelenting. In this culture in which violence is sexualized and sexuality can beget violence and everyone feels a little titallated by it, this remarkable episode showed us just how F*CKED UP that is. All of us were made uncomfortable because it held up a very clear mirror to who we have become as a culture. And we hated what we saw.

That is what art does. And that's why it's still relevant today, be it in the form of TV or film or theatre.

Yes...something is F*CKED UP in our world when mothers cut the arms off of their children, parents starve their 14-month old and folks can literally take a shot at JFK. And I would never blame the Republicans...or the Democrats. I think it's a deeper problem than politics that is actually coming to the fore because of politics. Rage is something both sides of the aisle have felt and it seeped completely into this campaign. Both sides are guilty of encouraging and capitalizing on that rage and everyone who thinks that it will just subside because the election is over are fools.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 11:44am

amen. Post election USA is going to hell and yes, all those terror warnings and fear tactics are suddenly GONE.. funny, huh?

[ckeaton]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 11:47am

Well put Robbie, sir.

[robbiej]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 11:49am

Merci.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 12:18pm

Thank you, Robbiej for powerfuly augmenting my musings. "...deeper than politics ... coming to the fore because of politics..." pretty much sums up my thesis here, such as it is. The infamous SIX FEET UNDER episode you deconstruct so tellingly illuminates many issues.

TV is a bizarre lightning rod, as always. Our airways are filled with (in addition to bug-eating and cut-throat competition on islands, boardrooms, everywhere) three CSIs, 4 Law and Orders, Cold Case, Missing, whatever, turn on prime time, you see latex-gloved cop hands picking over a cadavor; we are obsessed with our darkest nature. And our video games promise the ever more realistic thrill of approximating real-life violence. All of that disappearing isn't the answer. I'm not interested in banning or censoring, but in examining why we find so much relief from our complicated lives -- many of which ARE characterized by struggle -- in such odd places. And for better or worse, there is a distinct paradox at work here, when morality is trumped as our tastes reflect a 24/7 fascination with the ultimate immoral behavior.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 1:48pm

More simplistically, it's all about desensitization. Politics, news, corporate corruption, child abuse, prisoner abuse, kids shooting other kids in school....this is all stuff that has made us hardly bat an eyelash at things that would have been almost unimaginable 20 or 30 years ago. I don't mean that crazy stuff didn't happen back then. It is the response....our response...that troubles me. Scares me.

And yes, political maneuverings have played a major role in the phenomenon. I fear that as a nation we are becoming numb, and often only respond with any real feeling when we feel personally threatened. How odd, though, that despite the recent re-emergence of Osama with a menacing message, this is the first major holiday that I can recall since 9/11 that hasn't precipitated a heightened state of alert. Or at least a media blitz touting our vulnerability. Are we suddenly safer? I doubt it. The only conclusion that I can rationally arrive at, is that the fear factor is no longer necessary for re-election, and therefore isn't being hauled out quite as casually.

Updated On: 11/24/04 at 01:48 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/24/04 at 8:07pm

Amen, Iflit. The irony was reading about Patti LuPone being denied permission to board a plane because she wouldn't remove her blouse. (Did Ashcroft listen to EVITA one too many times? Hey, he should've loved it. "A New Argentina" was about a power-play by a right wing coup...) We've gone from All Fear, All The Time to no mention of terror as a threat whatsoever.

But you have provided us with the best word: numb.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 2:37pm

This country is headed downhill on a fast track. And it doesn't have anything to do with mildly suggestive T.V. shows or advertising. And yes, I do blame Bush and the Republicans for fostering a divisive, sanctimonious, holier than thou self-righteous attitude and climate. If you think it's scary now, just wait another four years.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 9:22pm

"I simply think these are dark, complicated, troubling times for a 200 year old country, worthy of more self-evaluation than characterized the simplistic good/bad red/blue with us/against us election climate."

Did you catch Obama when he was on Charlie Rose last night Auggie? He talked about that.



"This country is headed downhill on a fast track. And it doesn't have anything to do with mildly suggestive T.V. shows or advertising."

Are you saying you don't believe television has had an effect on the degredation of society today or are you saying Bush is the gtreater threat to society? I have to disagree vehemently if you think the former is not a big factor in the problems in our society today.

Updated On: 11/25/04 at 09:22 PM

[Auggie27]

Posted: 11/25/04 at 9:39pm

I missed Obama on Rose, alas. I'm glad he took on a big picture approach -- I suspect it's the only response Democrats can adopt right now, since most lost, seemingly, for a tunnel-vision focus on the minutiae of concerns, "small" issues, strung together unsucessfully.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 11/26/04 at 12:33am

"Are you saying you don't believe television has had an effect on the degredation of society today or are you saying Bush is the gtreater threat to society? I have to disagree vehemently if you think the former is not a big factor in the problems in our society today."

No. I don't think that television has played a part in the degredation of society. I believe that what you see on television is a reflection of society, not the cause of it. And yes, I feel that the Bush administration has played a significant role in the downward spiral this country is in, and has had a profound effect on the psyche of the American public in general.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 11/26/04 at 12:48am

Ok I see what you are saying. http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992109 You do say television is connected to a rise in aggresion in individuals, where we diverge is that I think it is possibly one of the causes. I still can't fathom that Spring Break would be the massive drinking, drug, and sex orgy that it has become for so many without the influence of MTV. I think I could strongly argue that MTV had a very VERY strong influence in the growth of that movement.

[CurtainUp2]

Posted: 11/26/04 at 12:52pm

Three Ugly Weeks: Second Bush Term Goes From Bad to Worse
by Molly Ivins

AUSTIN, Texas -- Dan Green of New York City says of the election results, "You can't be depressed now, the worst is yet to come." Following that good advice, I intended to keep my indignation dry and save the outrage for when it is really needed, kind of like saving room for the pumpkin pie after Thanksgiving dinner. If we're going to get through the next four years, we have to pace ourselves, I concluded.

But here it is, not even three weeks into the new Bush regime, and already I'm jaw-dropped, you've-got-to-be-kidding mad. Here's the record so far:


Republicans somehow managed to squirrel an obscure little provision into the appropriations bill that gives congressmen or their "agents" the right to look at your IRS return and make what use of it they will. This perverse item was apparently the brainchild of Rep. Ernie Istook of Oklahoma, who is such a hopeless chucklehead it's often hard to take him seriously as a menace. He's chair of the transportation subcommittee of the appropriations committee, and in that position clearly needs to see your tax return. He also voted for funding for light rail in Salt Lake City (he's Mormon), but against light rail funding for Oklahoma City.

What is it with Oklahoma? Even Istook is likely to be out-dumbed by Oklahoma's new senator, Tom Coburn, who believes "lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they'll only let one girl go the bathroom" at a time. No evidence could be found for this peculiar claim. He also described state legislators as "a bunch of crapheads." While I do not agree, I am sympathetic to the perspective.

Sen. Ted Stevens, who as usual has larded the appropriations bill with an outsize package of goodies for Alaska, assured the Senate that Istook's amendment would be deleted before the bill was sent to the president. He begged, he pleaded. "Do I have to get on my knees?" he asked.

Quick, someone check just how much more in federal spending the 250,000 citizens of Alaska are getting than the rest of us.

Also stashed away inside the appropriations bill was a provision imposing a domestic gag rule on abortion: no federal money to agencies that require doctors, hospitals or insurers to provide abortions, cover them OR give referrals to abortion providers. Sailed right through the House. Hey, why not put a new abortion restriction in the appropriations bill, along with the kitchen sink?

Republican House leaders rejected the 9-11 commission's bill on intelligence reform. Eighty percent of Americans want the intelligence reforms, and our safety is directly at stake. But hey, we're just chopped liver: The reforms would take power away from the Pentagon. And as we all know, we just can't have that.

The Senate voted 65 to 30 to set funds aside for a special category of "priorities," including a new presidential yacht.

It's really fascinating to watch the Republican slime machine at work on Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle. Earle is one of the longest-serving district attorneys in the entire country. His constituents have been re-electing him since 1976. He was one of the first prosecutors in Texas to create a victim assistance program and helped start the Austin Children's Advocacy Center to help abused kids.

He's pretty much a local hero around here, and no D.A. gets that way by being "soft on crime." Earle is death penalty advocate. He is also noted for going after corrupt Democratic politicians in this state, even though he's a Democrat himself. He was willing not only to take on the slam-dunk cases, but also some tough ones just to remind everybody that the law is to be obeyed.

Earle is such a careful craftsman of prosecution that Time magazine selected him as their main example for a major 2003 article to explain how DAs like Earle might bring some resolution to the death penalty debate. Earle has experienced both the good and bad of the death penalty -- consequently, he has a special review procedure for cases on which his office seeks capital punishment.
He is widely admired among his peers, and his innovations are often copied. This is the guy the Republicans are blithely dismissing as a "crackpot." Since Earle has been in office almost 30 years and has a fine national reputation, it's ludicrous to dismiss him as a "runaway district attorney." Does anyone at Fox News ever do any research?

As though things on the legislative side weren't bad enough, Bush and Cheney are moving to make the executive branch all-powerful. You can already see several of the unfortunate characteristics of the first term being intensified in the second. The emphasis on secrecy is already more pronounced, as is the selection of people for loyalty rather than competence.

But we have to save some room for when it gets worse, so I'd like wish absolutely everybody, including the Bush administration, a swell Thanksgiving.