I know that only a few days ago I told everyone to stay away from politics. However, and maybe I'm naïve on this subject, I don't consider this a post on politics - I consider it a post on how we've become a society of sniveling wimps who not only go and hide when something we find offensive comes along, but that we're so afraid of other things that we don't think those things should even be seen.
A couple of days ago, I came across an article for a new show on HBO entitled Confederate. It's set in an alternate reality where the southern states successfully seceded from the Union. I can imagine all kinds of cool plotlines coming from such a concept - the Underground Railroad still active, northern abolitionists encouraging rebellions in the Confederacy, international tensions over those who interfere in the affairs of another nation(even if that nation is a pariah), and so on.
Unfortunately, there are all kinds of folks who are pissed about the show even being countenanced. The creators - the same folks who are bringing us Game of Thrones - are involved and facing a backlash(to say the least). It's as if the very presence of a fictional show will make people think, "You know, that whole slavery thing was really a great idea." Re-read that sentence and tell me just how stupid it sounds when said out loud.
I will not be "unopinionated" on this - the folks feel this way about a show being made are morons. It's a goddamn TV show. It's entertainment. And does anyone think that the shows creators, in today's TV world, will even dare suggest that the Confederacy are the good guys here?!?! Or are they mad that we might use the show to both entertain and wonder about the horrors of what could've been? Alternate history and reality are a BIG part of stories. Are these same snowflakes mad about Fatherland, the series about a Nazi victory in World War Two and the dystopian world it produced? Or the acclaimed miniseries The Man in the High Castle? What about Bring the Jubilee or Guns of the South?
To all the gasping and whiny little weenies who would let their own sensitivities prevent the rest of us from daring to watch, much less enjoy, a show like this, I say "go fuck yourself." I mean that sincerely. Grow the hell up and remember that book burnings - which is what this is in a preemptive sense - are the hallmarks of backwards and primitive cultures that are afraid of ideas. That's right - IDEAS! For some reason, they think the position of racial equality and being opposed to slavery are so weak that a show set in an alternate but almost-happened reality will drag it down. Or they're so mad that folks could take enjoyment from it and not separate it from real life and current history.
I'm all for true social justice and the equality of opportunity that should be a hallmark of our society, but there's no way I will ever condone this kind of overblown sensitivity and political correctness. Those of you who are mad about the premise of this show need to get over yourselves. If it bothers you that much, then don't watch the damn thing.
I'm ashamed our society has gotten so wimpified that we cannot take TV show ideas on the value they are(entertainment) rather than having to turn it into a personal political screed and tantrum. I now hope this new show takes off out of sheer spite. The silliness of this whole episode makes me wonder how we got to the point of attempted censorship(and let's be honest - that's what this is). We have to fight back against these self-righteous and arrogant puritans of thought or they'll win by apathy. We need to sit them down and tell them just how dumb they're being and that we're tired of being bullied because they get upset about things they dislike. They are mental children, and it's high time we called them on that and stopped giving into the lunatic rantings.
A couple of days ago, I came across an article for a new show on HBO entitled Confederate. It's set in an alternate reality where the southern states successfully seceded from the Union. I can imagine all kinds of cool plotlines coming from such a concept - the Underground Railroad still active, northern abolitionists encouraging rebellions in the Confederacy, international tensions over those who interfere in the affairs of another nation(even if that nation is a pariah), and so on.
Unfortunately, there are all kinds of folks who are pissed about the show even being countenanced. The creators - the same folks who are bringing us Game of Thrones - are involved and facing a backlash(to say the least). It's as if the very presence of a fictional show will make people think, "You know, that whole slavery thing was really a great idea." Re-read that sentence and tell me just how stupid it sounds when said out loud.
I will not be "unopinionated" on this - the folks feel this way about a show being made are morons. It's a goddamn TV show. It's entertainment. And does anyone think that the shows creators, in today's TV world, will even dare suggest that the Confederacy are the good guys here?!?! Or are they mad that we might use the show to both entertain and wonder about the horrors of what could've been? Alternate history and reality are a BIG part of stories. Are these same snowflakes mad about Fatherland, the series about a Nazi victory in World War Two and the dystopian world it produced? Or the acclaimed miniseries The Man in the High Castle? What about Bring the Jubilee or Guns of the South?
To all the gasping and whiny little weenies who would let their own sensitivities prevent the rest of us from daring to watch, much less enjoy, a show like this, I say "go fuck yourself." I mean that sincerely. Grow the hell up and remember that book burnings - which is what this is in a preemptive sense - are the hallmarks of backwards and primitive cultures that are afraid of ideas. That's right - IDEAS! For some reason, they think the position of racial equality and being opposed to slavery are so weak that a show set in an alternate but almost-happened reality will drag it down. Or they're so mad that folks could take enjoyment from it and not separate it from real life and current history.
I'm all for true social justice and the equality of opportunity that should be a hallmark of our society, but there's no way I will ever condone this kind of overblown sensitivity and political correctness. Those of you who are mad about the premise of this show need to get over yourselves. If it bothers you that much, then don't watch the damn thing.
I'm ashamed our society has gotten so wimpified that we cannot take TV show ideas on the value they are(entertainment) rather than having to turn it into a personal political screed and tantrum. I now hope this new show takes off out of sheer spite. The silliness of this whole episode makes me wonder how we got to the point of attempted censorship(and let's be honest - that's what this is). We have to fight back against these self-righteous and arrogant puritans of thought or they'll win by apathy. We need to sit them down and tell them just how dumb they're being and that we're tired of being bullied because they get upset about things they dislike. They are mental children, and it's high time we called them on that and stopped giving into the lunatic rantings.
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