Sunday, February 24, 2008

Dexter, the Serial Killer Is Loose on Broadcast TV!!!

I took the following excerpts from a newsletter I receive. Now I'm not quoting the entire document because it was just too much of a harangue with which to burden y'all. But if you want to look it up, I got it either from Townhall.com, or from one of their Media and Culture issues. L.Brent Bozell III of the Media Research Center published the original article on February 8,2008.

Why would CBS dare put such a show on broadcast TV? Why would CBS affiliates who care for one minute about "community standards" saturate their community with it? Dexter is not an "antihero." He’s a complete psychopath, a negation of humanity, a walking black hole. But they find the whole specter to be an opportunity for cuteness: pin the phony smile on the killer. The viewer is encouraged to see the world through Dexter’s blank eyes; to share his smirky contempt for his clueless police co-workers as he buys the office donuts; to enjoy him playing a judgmental God as he saws into his guilty victims while they’re still alive.

Speaking as a loyal Dexter fan since it's [his?] debut on Showtime, I LOVE this series and its premise. Speaking as someone who has been involved with career criminals, though no serial killers [although there was that one I had my suspicions about], I applaud the fictional Dexter's work and wish there was a real Dexter in all of the hellholes we call our major cities. That way the toxic waste who are freed because of overzealous police officers, fruit of the poisonous tree evidentiary rulings, slick defense attorneys, and/or blindly ignorant juries or juries with an agenda would be punished in a manner commensurate with their crime. Hells Bells, I think he oughta be killin' child molesters and serial rapists, too!

Funny that Mr. Bozell held his contempt in check UNTIL Dex was going to be on CBS at 9 pm CST. Where was his outrage when it was airing on Showtime in the same time slot? He said elsewhere in that article his objection was that children would be exposed to a program that could warp their values. Does he think children don't watch Dex on Showtime?

Why is it when a nosy conservative get his Vickies in a twist and wants to control what everybody else is doing/ watching/ eating/ drinking/ smoking... it's always for the good of the children?

6 comments:

phlegmfatale said...

Society's little hall monitors are ever-ready to prevent us from making poor choices for ourselves. It's offensive whether the hall monitor is conservative or liberal.

Anonymous said...

Amen Phlegmmy!

g bro said...

What's "Showtime"? ;-)

Anonymous said...

Ugh, why do people seem to forget we already have 2 options when it comes to programming we do not care for: 1)change the channel, 2)turn the tv off.

I don't need someone deciding for me what to watch. That's why the majority of network tv is the pits

phlegmfatale said...

Another thing about the hall monitors - by virtue of woefully close association with one who constantly moralizes and finds humanity short of the glory of himself - I have learned they seem to get a chemical high off lambasting others for their moral shortcomings. I think they believe the world would be a better place if the only art and cinema were rated G. I agree that Finding Nemo is a superb film, but I think for those of us who are grown-up and live in the real world, art and entertainment which more frankly faces the complexities of life and relations with other people are edifying, educational and cathartic and not at all sinful to consider, in most cases. In some cases, I think porn is even appropriate. But then again, the same person would call me the Whore of Babylon, and I've decided I'm okay with being looked down upon by such a person.

If you wanna stick your head in the sand and pretend your body doesn't exist between the neck and the knee, well you may do so with my blessing. Just don't be telling me what I have to be doing with my neck-to-knee region, bub.

Anonymous said...

Speaking as a conservative grandpa, Bozell pisses me off with crap like this. TV monitor is the job of parents. And kimberly has it right. There are 2 knobs (usta be knobs, anyway) on the TV box that will take care of that.

And yeah, we needs us a few Dexters.