Some Favorite TV Series

"Justified"

A few posts ago I wrote about some popular shows here that I’d given up on after a few episodes or a season or so. There have been some that kept me intrigued and entertained.

“Longmire”, a Netflix series, has been thoroughly engaging from season one, and the beginning of season four, just released, is no different. Modern day Wyoming, rural, rugged plain spoken cowboy sheriff and a great cast of characters. There’s several murders to be solved, and the show is strung together with the mystery of who killed Longmire’s wife. The maid evil character is bad, smart and smooth, a deadly combination. Constant conflict between him and Longmire.

“White Collar” is smart, clever, entertaining. World class con artist working with world class white collar FBI special agent. The FBI agent is the one who finally caught the con artist. They make a deal and get other world class white collar criminals. A couple of those guys are especially evil, so there’s good conflict. Lots of interesting characters. What makes them who they are is revealed a little at a time, which keeps the interest going. There’s a lot of art history here too, which is fascinating and draws one into the story even more. It’s well written and takes the guessing and wondering up to the last scene of the last show of the final season. Just well done and classy.

“Continuum” is a Sci-Fi time jumping thriller. High tech, a terrorist movement to bring down the government, a dystopic government and culture, some really bad and really good guys on both sides.

Another Sci-Fi I like is “Defiance”. Several races of aliens attacked Earth, but we fought back and were much tougher than they expected. The invasion fails, much of earth is destroyed, and the grounded aliens and humans have to work together on the altered planet to survive and start rebuilding civilization. This isn’t a good good show, but entertaining and creative enough to follow.

I think far and away the best of the best of my favorite shows is “Justified” Every episode kept me riveted, happy, enthralled, entertained and fulfilled. Amazing characters, stories, top flight acting and storytelling. Based on an Elmore Leonard short story. He was executive producer and a few other things until his death. It was so good I went and spent a small fortune the main character’s hat as a tribute. (I started wearing fedoras in the early 1980’s when I rented all the VHS Humphrey Bogart movies. A tribute.)

“Vikings” is three seasons in, and is interesting and reasonably realistic. Don’t know if it’s going to continue, but I like it.

“The Glades” was fun. A tough sarcastic yet humorous Chicago detective has to leave the Windy City when he brings down some top brass, wins a huge amount of money in a law suit, and goes to work as a detective in Florida. Romance too, which I usually yawn through or get irritated with, but I found myself totally engaged with and actually rooting for when it looked like they would part ways. Good grief Steven I said to myself. At the end of season four, the detective goes to a house to check something, is shot by someone lying in wait. Massive blood is flowing from him. A and E canceled the show! What! aaaaarrrrrrhhhhhggggggg! he screamed!

“Suits” is high stakes legal drama. Very wealthy and uber successful lawyers, corporate takeovers and mergers, interesting characters. Thoroughly enjoyable entertainment.

“Arrow” is costumed heroes and villains, lots of action, intrigue, good story line and lots of fun.

Of all of these, “Justified” is my favorite, from opening scene of season one to final scene of last episode of final season. “White Collar” is my second favorite.

All of these are good story telling, good characters, creative, and just bring me a general sense of pleasure. None of them hold graphic gore and sex. I watch shows or movies with those elements, and some are good, but usually it’s not necessary. Sometimes it’s a distraction for me from the story. For example, “Spartacus” is a good story, but I could have done without the stop action blood spurting.

There are good stories/series on TV, and I think they have surpassed movies in the art of visual storytelling. Good grief, how many comic books are going to be brought to life with how many “Spiderman” reboots? Guys, we know, he was bitten by a spider. Enough already! I’m getting into pet peeve here; that’ll be another blog.

“Justified”. Nuff said.

Movies, TV, Novel - Messed Up Characters and Storylines

I've just finished reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. There's much to recommend it. It won the Pulitzer Prize, which usually drives me away from reading something. They're so politically correct, so 'European', so pretentious, and not usually well written. They're usually supportive of the radical Left social and cultural mores. This was an exception. Just lovely writing. Craftsmanship. For as long as it was at over seven hundred pages, it had few lapses; kept the interest going. With a couple exceptions though, the characters, especially the protagonist, were severely messed up. Treating their most loved ones horribly, psychopathic behaviors and bad, horrible decisions with devastating results.

I thought about what some of the most popular shows have been, and what I experienced in The Goldfinch reminded me of them. The first that came to mind was the wildly popular "Dexter", exalting a serial killer that was okay because he only tortured other serial killers. Justified torture and murder. I watched much of the first season, couldn't take it, the horribleness of it, so stopped watching.  Then there was "Breaking Bad", a chemist using his knowledge to manufacture a seriously good product. It devolved, as it should have, into the most horrid storyline and monstrous people. I lasted through season one a couple more episodes. Had to stop, couldn't take it.

There was "Sons of Anarchy", so good. Even wrote about it here when it first started. It was brilliant. It too generated into horribleness. Bad people making worse decisions, bad treatment of loved ones, murder, betrayal. There were no good people, no good actions in the end, unless it was the worse of the worse getting murdered. I hung out to the end of this series, hoping some good resolution would happen. Based on "Hamlet" I knew all would die, but good grief, how they got there was appalling. Then in the end (spoiler alert), Jax, a torturer, betrayer, liar, the leader of the Sons, the worst kind of human being, is presented as a Christ archetype sacrificing himself for the group. Good grief.

"House of Cards" I gave up on after about two shows into season three. It devolved into the worst kinds of behavior, even for politicians. Every kind of human decency was violated. I just became disgusted by the whole thing. Speaking of which, "House" was the same. House was an amoral jerk that was a force of destruction. He hurt everyone, was a psychopath, plus the storyline of every episode was the same. Someone dying, someone lying, "everyone lies", and then the truth comes out and the patient (victim) is saved. Both horrible and predictable.

I came away from these shows wondering what the point was. (The Goldfinch wasn't pointless by the way.) "The Unforgiven" by Clint Eastwood at least had a point. All the bad things that happened there is what happens when there isn't forgiveness. Great point. That other stuff mentioned here is just dwelling on the dark heart of people just for the sake of the dwelling. Just can't stand it. These were hugely popular and celebrated shows. Just a reflection, I guess, of how much of our culture is dwelling on the worst, dark hearts of our spirit. A sad reflection of where we are. 

Do read though, if you're so inclined, The Goldfinch. Sad story, exquisitely told.

My 2013 Year in Review

I haven't posted or written much in 2013. Much of it I think, is that I look at the social, religious, economic, political, cultural, foreign policy morass and have been in despair. How many times and how many ways can it be said that everything that works, that is good, that's beneficial, that benefits the most amount of people with liberty, wealth, goodness, has been rejected for things that demean, steal, hurt, impoverishes, insults, and diminishes liberty, is accepted.

I was talking to a friend at our choir Christmas party, and as often happens, when things are vocalized fresh thoughts, ideas, come to the fore. I think the process had already begun to make some changes in approach to what I think and write about, and that conversation shed some light on the direction.

I had, back before the personal computer age, pretty much ignored newspapers and the nightly news, because it was surface stuff, of the moment, and the stories had to be constantly changed and updated as new information came out.

With the internet, I've found myself reading news sites and news blogs that are like newspapers and news shows. Good for headlines, but nothing of depth. I was an avid magazine reader pre-internet, for awhile getting maybe nine or ten magazines, and reading most of them cover to cover. This year I've gone back to that. On a Kindle though. It's less expensive, more environmentally friendly (printing, paper, shipping all gone), and I don't have stacks of mags piled up behind my recliner. It gives easy access to magazines already read, 'saved' in the "Newsstand" section. I've been reading "National Review" for decades. Even when I was a Marxist. I strived (and still do) to be informed of all points of view. My magazine list, in addition to "National Review" now include "Commentary", "First Things" and "World". I subscribe to those, and get an occasional issue of "Science News", the only science magazine that doesn't have a Leftist political agenda that I could find. A little leaks in, but it's just the zeitgeist now.

I was stunned to find out, while searching for a science magazine, that all of them directly, or infer, a political agenda that matches the political Left and tailor not only editorials but even "science" articles to fit the agenda. Part of the view is that science should be the result of "consensus", not facts. The magazines I listed above that I subscribe to now are all conservative and Christian/Jewish essays, editorials, and news. All the other stuff is the meme of what's defined as "news" is Leftist, so we are immersed in it, that no additional reading is needed to know that viewpoint. In my paper magazine reading days, I read the Leftist "New Republic" and "Utne", "Atlantic Monthly", and "Harpers". There may be more, but that's all I can remember right now. The Left "news" outlets have been saying that same things on the same issues in pretty much the same way since I started paying attention to them in the 1970's. I was one of them. Now though, they're all screechy and preachy. Dull, boring, lying, insipid.   

Anyway, all that is to the purpose of changing how I view, think and write of things. Going forward by going back I guess.

Continuing on with reading, read a lot of books this year. List in the right column will stay up a few days. Standouts: A Traveler's Guide to the Kingdom:  Journeying Through the Christian Life by James Emery White, Exposing Myths About Christianity by Jeffrey Burton Russell, Introduction to the Devout Life by St Francis de Sales, Socrates in the City: Conversations on Life, God, and Other Small Topics by Eric Metaxas (Editor),  The Searcher by Joseph Loconte (This book a revelation about what happened on the road to Emmaus, the story of the two men that met Jesus after His crucifixion.) and Rebuilding the Real You by Jack Hayford. For fiction I enjoyed the Great North Road by Peter Hamilton, Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig (Doig one of my all time fav writers for many years), The Corpse Reader by Antonio Garrido, and lastly, I think my fav of the year, In Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark Helprin. Helprin's book got panned by a lot of snobby critics. It was poetic and romantic, not Helprin's usual steady on crafted novel. If you're looking for good fiction these days, look to the Spanish. Great stuff there.

Staying with the culture, movies, despite high sales this year, have pretty much sucked. Cartoons played by actors in front of blue and green screens. Great special effects, some decent story lines. Enjoyable but not challenging or fulfilling. Best movie may have been "Silver Linings Playbook", best cartoon movie "Superman". "Beasts Of The Southern Wild" was really good, but I have no idea why I liked it so much. Lots of worst movies ever this year including "Pain and Gain" with Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson, and "The Great Gatsby", arguably the worst movie ever made; ranks way down there with a couple movies in years gone by whose names I've forgotten. "Gatsby" was so bad I walked out, couldn't stand it any more. Bleh.

Television on the other hand is better and better. Cable shows mostly, that I binge view on Netflix. I'll just list a few here; "Burn Notice", "Justified" (my fav), "Glades", "Foyer's War", "Continuum", "Borgia", "Doc Martin", "Heat of the Sun", "Hell on Wheels", "Damages", "Doctor Who", "White Collar", any of the "Mystery Theater" stuff mostly presented by the BBC. Then there's some documentaries and of course the "Ted Talks" series. Of the live series "Blue Bloods" (astonishing it's lasting because it's revolves around a practicing Christian family, with traditional family values, service and sacrifice, and they pray together!). Then there's "Person of Interest", and of course both "NICIS" shows. I was a big fan of "The Voice" and "Singoff", but think these have run the course for me. Not lacking in talented singers, but the song selection is starting to sound the same and the audience instead of actually listening to the music, seem to think these are audience participation shows, and clapping, whistling, screaming and yelling are appropriate. Well, it's not.

Last but certainly not least, Church and Religion. I love my church with all my heart. Just amazing people, with amazing talents. Love and charity abounds. The conversations, the music, are all beyond extraordinary. I'm going to be rude here; if you "dis" Christianity and people that go to church, that serve, love, are charitable, then you're stupid and a bigot. You guys have to go back hundreds of years to find something to bitch about and use that to try and kill Christianity and replace it with the State. I don't have much truck with the anti-Semitism linked to the hatred of Christianity either. Scripture, Old and New Testaments are the most proven and effective guides to good living ever. Churches are the best organizations and institutions to benefit humanity, ever. Period.

There's my year in review. This much longer than intended, and I have more to say. But days, years, months to follow. We wish all a wonderful New Year, full of Faith, Hope, Love, Charity. 

Sometimes Cheering Failure is a Good Thing

Glad to see this didn’t last the season out, and has been canceled. ABC has a horrible line up and this was one of the latest. A show insulting and demeaning Christians, GCB, which changed from the original title “Good Christian Bitches” to “Good Christian Belles”, was supposed to be what? Satirical, humorous, intentionally insulting? Given the anti-Christian bigotry and religious intolerance of the secularist entertainment industry, who knows? Maybe all the above?

I of course haven’t bothered to watch the show, and one’s open to criticism for criticizing that which was not read or viewed. I have read the promos and story line, and ABC producers and writers make it clear this was a program to show the hypocrisy of Christians. This no doubt was viewed as an act of bravery on their part. Of course it isn’t brave when attacking a group that for the most part doesn’t even defend itself. Do the same with Muslims and see what happens. GMB, Good Muslim Bitches.

And of course they all get to keep their money for failure and continue on in their jobs creating and producing yet more horrible shows. 

Another disturbing part of this is some Christians watched this. A woman in our Bible study group watches it and finds it entertaining. I bit my tongue when she said so. I make every attempt to keep to the subject when at Bible study, and given that I’m a Christian Zealot, it’s tough; need to take the long view and let God’s teaching, scripture, do the mind and soul changing.

Learning what Christianity is takes years. Living by it is a huge lifelong challenge. A main challenge is once you make an affirmation of what you are, and fall short, you’re a hypocrite. One of the stars of the show, Kristin Chenoweth, proclaims herself a Christian. She’s defended the show. I can’t imagine how she’s reconciling and justifying a show that bashes her Faith, let alone participate in it.

Good riddance.

Wasted in a Sea of Vids

This weekend I read. A lot. All day Saturday and all day Sunday I read the history of Christianity. In the evening I read a novel. There was a time when I would sit for hours, barely moving, and read. I would forget to eat. All that existed was what was on the page.

Now it’s become more difficult. Part of it is I can't sit still for as long a stretch at a time. My attention drifts. I go through periods of massive TV viewing, yet still manage to read a bit more than most. I’ve gone through periods when I banned TV all together. One of those periods was right after I read Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television.  (I recommend to anyone also interested in classic argument essay construction.) This weekend though, I wanted a break, so checked out the movies, and nothing there worth the time, effort, or money. Went to the vid store, and nothing worth renting. Tried watching a basketball game, which has gotten an air of silliness about it now; I just see giant wanna be gangstas in pants skirts running around bouncing a ball. No interest there. So I went back to reading.

Most people, I think, would have just continued to flounder around the visual media. I remember Pastor Jack Hayford saying one night he was exhausted and wanted to just be entertained, fill the void, and he channeled surfed. I don’t remember how long he said he did this for, but he realized how much precious time he had wasted, and got down on his knees and asked God’s forgiveness for wasting so much precious God given time. We do have a finite existence after all.

Edward Abby said television is based on the principle of the vacuum tube, and that’s exactly what it does to the mind. There was a study done last year, published in the “Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine” about the physical and intellectual effects of massive TV viewing. The more TV the lower the scores in class and the less physically able the viewers became. There was a definite increase in the consumption of junk food. The BMI goes up correlated to the number of hours watched.

Kids with TV’s in their bedrooms watch 56% more TV than kids without. I’ve always been of a mind that no TV should be in any bedroom. Bedrooms are made for sleeping, making love, and reading. Why should the vid set trump those marvelous activities?

What we’re ending up with are quick discussions lacking analysis and depth, by a growing number of people with increasing physical heft and diminishing intellectual heft. That imperials freedom and liberty. It imperials personal health. It imperials free minds.

Too many are shutting out the world, not living, experiencing, getting involved, learning new stuff, and being attentive to others and the world around us.