Posted on 10/06/2006 10:55:35 AM PDT by EveningStar
Are television critics a menace to society? What do we do when our media tastemakers, the men and women entrusted to evaluate the artistic merit of Tinseltown offerings, exult in Hollywood's lack of taste? When perverse novelty and "edge" and complete moral confusion is what these critics live to watch and love to promote, they appear to be seeking to establish the polar opposite of a moral tone in our culture.
Take as an example the critics' views on the new Showtime drama "Dexter." Its sickening premise makes a hero out of a sadistic serial killer, because he kills only bad guys and does so in the dark of night. During the day, he helps the cops assess blood spatter patterns in murder investigations. He's a sociopathic killer-slash-hero, with the emphasis on the slash -- he carves his victims up to fit into Hefty bags.
Author Jeff Lindsay, whose gruesome novels inspired the series, joked to the TV critics this summer that, "As I looked out across the room, the idea just popped into my head that serial murder isn't always a bad thing." They laughed...
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Miscellaneous Ping List
Also: there is a widespread belief that our justice system is broken and that the guilty are not punished. Many folks wish that street justice would return so that right-minded people could just "take out the trash". Long-term, that lack of faith in the judicial system is quite damaging.
Yep. This is just a grisley version of Batman.
The Dexter books are clearly comedy, and I expect the series will lean more towards dark comedy than attempting to portray Dexter as a hero.
I've never heard of Dexter.
Much ado about nothing. This isn't on the public airwaves, no innocent children will stumble upon it: if you want to see it, you have to pay for the channel and bring it into your house.
Besides, vigilante stories are nothing new - even Batman used to kill criminals who fell through the cracks. Maybe this is a more gruesome treatment, but it's not a new idea.
The only real question is if the series is good or not. I don't have Showtime, so I can't speak to that.
But it would be a sold out stadium......
Damn. You beat me to it!
Or Jack Bauer killin' terrorists or John Wayne shootin' up the cowboys in black hats or...
Nothing new under the sun.
On the Cartoon Channel he has a laboratory.
I don't think either of the books were on any bestseller list, so most of the public probably hasn't heard of these books. I was surprised they were popular enough for Showtime to make a series based on the character.
The Romans has gladiators. We aren't there, but we do love blood and gore as entertainment.
______________
When I took my son to his first pro football game, as we entered the stadium, I told him that this is the closest he's likely to experience what the Roman masses saw when Christians were thrown to the lions.
Anyone remember Michael Douglas in the "Star Chamber"? Sounds pretty much like this, only as a solo gig.
It's common throughout human history. If gladiatorial contests were broadcast on TV today, is there any doubt they would be wildly popular?
That's just fricking insane.
I saw the series premier of Dexter over the weekend. Interesting show. The guy is hardly portrayed as a hero, and the point is made repeatedly that he's not a good guy.
I don't know if I'll watch it again, but it held my interest for an hour. At any rate it's on cable and easy to avoid if you don't like that sort of show.
We don't even git ta watch executins. :(
Shoot, they don't let us dew nuthin' no more.
We don't even git ta watch executins. :(
Shoot, they don't let us dew nuthin' no more.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.