I was watching the show and it was quite good, but when I heard them refer to the ring leader as “ Sarge”, it sent a signal to me that something was going to piss me off.
After the Rant, I turned it off after being proved right. Hollywood cant make a program anymore without having a message ingrained in it. The commies do the same thing. Every play, movie or TV show has to have a message. Cant we be entertained without being bombarded like this.
Short answer, NO.
I'm reading a book (textbook I guess but I found it at a used bookstore) on presentation of images.
There is a chapter that appears to have been borrowed (with attribution) from Adbusters magazine. I never read the magazine but am somewhat familiar with their gripes.
Typical liberal anti-capitalist, anti-consumerism claptrap.
Any valid points are generally to be lost in a swirl of partisan BS. The cited article was no exception.
The author made the point that advertising has had to use "shock" to sell their messages now (heroin chic, increasing porno traits in Calvin Klein ads, FCUK clothing...). However the lib plays his hand. He says that many Americans are so fearful of being labeled an NEA-opposing Republican that they will pretend that such outrages aren't really offensive or noticeable.
They suppress their outrage (as they did during Clinton's slimey terms, although the author won't mention it).
But it gets worse. The author went on at length about subliminal negative reinforcement experiments (by the same man behind MK-ULTRA). I suspect that the constant presentation of chaos in the media (serial killers as celebrity, attrocities on parade, et al) is there to dullen sensitivity and unlock the mind for "positive impression" when it comes time to "relax" watching "entertainment" on the same networks that have pummeled them with "bad news".
The political messages come in the entertainment shows. Your defenses are already down (maybe you even fall asleep at the tube with subliminal education going on listening as you sleep).
It may sound far fetched (and be a result more by effect, than design) but don't take it to be too paranoid. I certainly feel that late night infomercials are geared to be heard by those sleeping with the tv on. The messages are not being said to a conscious individual above the age of 5. Watch one sometime, they are all of the sort: "You can work from home. You choose which stocks you want to watch, the program finds the price points which will maximize your return and you can be your own boss! I love it! I can work from home! The program is so easy to use, I choose the stocks and it actually finds the price points that maximize my returns! I can finally be MY OWN BOSS! That's right, you can work from home..."