HBO’s ‘Perry Mason’ Is A Welcome Spiritual Allegory For Our Dark Times

The Federalist ^ | August 29, 2020 | Brian Dunigan

[BillyBoy]

>> The first Mason book was in 1933, so obviously he was not a World War 2 vet in that one <<

Interesting. So the "WWII vet" backstory is obviously a much later addition to the character bio. It makes even less sense to criticize the new show for making him a WWI vet instead.

I'm reading online that a MUCH bigger issue people have with the new HBO show is they "updated" it so that "Drake is now black and Della is now gay", which is very typical of modern entertainment shoehorning gays and "people of color" into everything to promote SJW politics. I bet they will retcon some character as Muslim in season 2, too. In the case of "Drake", its particularly jarring, since its extremely unlikely that there would be a high ranking police detective in the LAPD back in 1932.

And if HBO really wanted a "black detective" in a starring role, all they'd have to do is adapt the Easy Rawlings novels into a TV show, instead of trying to retcon Perry Mason.

[Impy]

See post 60, HTB says Mason was a young lawyer before joining the navy in WW2 in his 30s.

Shrug

[shotgun]

I watched it and it did have an occasional sex scene but nothing hardcore.

Mason is PI. After his boss lawyer dies he takes the bar exam with the help of ADA Hamilton Berger.

Della Street is a lesbian
Berger is gay
Drake is black

Also as a spoiler, Mason doesn’t get the guy on the witness stand to confess. According to an earlier scene, Berger tells him nobody ever confesses on the stand. It was still a good story, but I was disappointed in that as Mason is just starting to get his feet under him in his first trial the wouldn’t let him hammer the guy to confess as we all grew up watching him do that in the TV series.

[Impy]

It seems Della Street is a dyke in this.

[BillyBoy]

And that’s the problem with adding in SJW policies but making it a period piece...they wanna have their cake but eat it too. As I noted, a high ranking black police detective in the 1932 LAPD is a real stretch, and this Bella character being in a lezbo relationship in the early 30s is also unlikely unless she was closeted and married to a man on paper

[BillyBoy]

It’s true that in real life, almost nobody breaks down and confesses to a crime on the witness stand during a trial. There is some YouTube series where a real life attorney analyzes courtroom scenes from movies/TV, and he says that is one of the unbelievable moments when Jack Nicholson incrimidates himself in A Few Good Men (”Did you order a Code Red?” “You’re goddamned right I did!” ). The fact it apparently happened EVERY week in the old 50s TV show is a real eye roller for me

[Mr Rogers]

“A different perspective, so what? If I wanted the old Perry Mason I can still watch it today.”

So....if someone wants to tell the story of a WW1 vet who faces XYZ, let him tell that story. Just don’t PRETEND it is Perry Mason. Or Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade. Stealing Perry Mason’s name is borrowing a name for 80 novels and a great TV series to whip up an audience for your unrelated tale. It is dishonest.

[shotgun]

But that was the Perry Mason hook. You always knew that the real perp would confess at the end and justice would be served.

In this series, the perp got away with murder, and the trial for the accused ended in a hung jury and his client got off. Who wants to watch that?

[BillyBoy]

>> But that was the Perry Mason hook. You always knew that the real perp would confess at the end and justice would be served. <<

Well, too bad. That's not "complex, grounded, realistic legal drama" at all. That's ridiculous fantasy that is NOTHING like how real life court cases unfold.

If that was a huge hit in the 1950s, perhaps those audiences would go for a gritty medical drama about a talented brain surgeon who miraculously cures every brain tumor patient with his awesome lobotomy skills. Each week, the patients fully recover will no ill side effects whatever!

I guess I should be glad ER, House, Scrubs, etc., weren't made in the 1950s, or that would have been the "hook"

[shotgun]

Excuse the F#@k out me for liking something different than you!

[fieldmarshaldj]

Well, still had Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone.

Of course, remember that in the 1950s, standards & practices dictated that the bad guys HAD to be caught and punished, so that prevented what is so frequent in our present society amongst the leftist elites, that bad guys get away with murder.