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Popular Culture Addressing the News

Started by phantom_power, May 14, 2021, 10:27:55 AM

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phantom_power

I am a sucker for dumb but fun Nathan Fillion vehicle The Rookie. It is pretty trashy but I like the characters and Fillion carries the show well

Obviously a show about the police has a choice to make at the moment. I believe Brooklyn 99 scrapped their next (and final) season because making a comedy about cops didn't seem right

The Rookie has just started its third season and has gone in hard on BLM and police brutality. It is pretty ham-fisted but seems genuine and not just cynical lip service. One main plot thread concerns a racist cop who escalates situations with black suspects to the point where things might get violent. One episode concerned an outreach programme in a black community getting short shrift because it is papering over systemic issues.

It does seem like it is actually trying to tackle these issues while still being an enjoyable crime drama. It isn't perfect obviously. For one thing the racist cop is so obviously bad that it removes any sort of nuance or idea that subtle racism can be just as dangerous as the overt kind, though to give them their due it does have seasoned cop realise they were making excuses to make their life easier, and his black rookie telling him that silence is complicity. Time will tell whether it will see it through and fundamentally change or if it is just a bit of zeitgeist following and will revert to type once the racist cop has been dealt with.

Have their been other lightweight entertainment shows that have tried to wrestle with thorny issues of the day? How successful were they?

Thomas

I've just gone through all six series of Line of Duty. It's entertaining, occasionally silly, compelling throughout, and a lot of the storylines are familiar - there are arcs clearly based on Yewtree, Elm Guest House, Jill Dando, Stephen Lawrence. Looking forward to the series where a light entertainment star finds a body in his moat.

It's fascinating to witness, in real-time, pop culture contending with the grim controversies of the day, but it does unfortunately verge on black comedy every time you see a photoshopped image of the actual Jimmy Savile shaking hands with one of the characters.

Sherlock also had an episode based on the idea of a charitable celebrity getting away with murder (literally, in the episode's case). It featured a memorable exchange:

QuoteSMITH: Now, imagine if the Queen wanted to kill some people. What would happen then? All that power, all that money. Sweet little government dancing attendance. A whole country just to keep her warm and fat. We all love the Queen, don't we? And I bet she'd love you lot!

WATSON: Uh, it-it's all right, everyone. I can personally assure you that Sherlock Holmes is not about to arrest the Queen.

SMITH: Well, of course not! Not Her Majesty! Money, power, fame. Some things make you untouchable. God save the Queen! She could open a slaughterhouse and we'd all probably pay the entrance fee.

Neomod


phantom_power

Quote from: Neomod on May 14, 2021, 11:12:26 AM
Elementary did this all the time.

Do you have examples? I have watched it all over the years and don't recall a specific examples? Was it just in the crimes of the week or the season arcs?

Glebe

Doctor Who having a pop at Amazon warehouses.

Neomod

Quote from: phantom_power on May 14, 2021, 11:15:00 AM
Do you have examples? I have watched it all over the years and don't recall a specific examples? Was it just in the crimes of the week or the season arcs?

Crimes of the week in the latter seasons. Can't remember specific episodes cos well, it's Elementary[nb]and therefore enjoyable yet forgettable fluff[/nb].

phantom_power

Fair enough. I feel the same. I watched them years after they went out though so might have missed any relevancy to issue of he day, or that day

DrGreggles

Prisoner Cell Block H (#bestshowever) had a storyline that so closely resembled a real case in Australia it was banned from being repeated over there for YEARS, so they edited that character and references out. It was finally restored for the DVD release.
I won't give the specifics in case anyone is currently embarking on a full re-watch, but just search for 'Edna Pearson' and I'm sure all the details are out there

petril

Quote from: DrGreggles on May 14, 2021, 02:35:44 PM
Prisoner Cell Block H (#bestshowever) had a storyline that so closely resembled a real case in Australia it was banned from being repeated over there for YEARS, so they edited that character and references out. It was finally restored for the DVD release.
I won't give the specifics in case anyone is currently embarking on a full re-watch, but just search for 'Edna Pearson' and I'm sure all the details are out there

like that contestant off 15-1

chveik

Quote from: phantom_power on May 14, 2021, 10:27:55 AM
Obviously a show about the police has a choice to make at the moment. I believe Brooklyn 99 scrapped their next (and final) season because making a comedy about cops didn't seem right

glad that shite was cancelled

buttgammon

The Sopranos obviously edited the Twin Towers out of the title sequence after September 11th, but they also made some references to how the new focus on counterterrorism would affect the way the FBI dealt with the mafia. That worked well, as it just added a bit more colour and richness to the programme rather than crowbarring something in, but that's not surprising considering few TV programmes have been better at adding richness and colour.

Quote from: petrilTanaka on May 14, 2021, 05:06:56 PM
like that contestant off 15-1

Does anybody know what the story was there? I was obsessed with this case a while ago but never properly figured out what had happened. I saw a rumour suggesting the contestant simply couldn't attend the final because they were away on holiday or something, but surely it was something more serious.

petril

yeah, the biggest mystery is the lack of clues. there must be a copy somewhere in the wild of the original or something