saturday night on tv; law and order. just what nixon said we needed. yeah, let's clear the streets of those long hairs and black militants. on this particular show, a confession is gained by a member of the police force grabbing a suspect by the neck and threatening to break it. understandably, the suspect confesses. the police man than walks away in a fury. no one is there to tell us that the cop just committed an act of torture, and that the confession is therefore useless. right now, someone is being tortured in a similar way, except it is for real. it may be a young black man in a prison in chicago, or an iraqi in baghdad. shows like this make such treatment seem normal, acceptable, a part of what is. once something is seen as a part of the culture, whether it is thought of as good or not, it is that much harder to question and therefore, to remove from our culture. hence a society that emphasizes violence, torture, and general brutality will have a culture that normalizes these behaviors. it almost doesn't even matter whether the actions are criticized, for they have been made normal, and are now with us, like breathing.
this man will not be fired from the police staff. the next show will not start with a long explanation of how deplorable his behavior was. on the contrary, the man "did what he had to do." he didn't fight "with one hand tied behind his back." a nation of rambos has no time for decency, for restraint, for true law and order. true law and order would apply to the police too. it would apply to the military too. aren't the nuremberg laws "law and order?" law and order was never meant to restrain the power structure. they are allowed to act in a state of complete lawlessness. and we know that tv will be there, every step of the way, to make all of this seem right. and we will be watching.
it's not real, is it? it's real to the people being tortured into confessions. it's real to mumia and leonard peltier and the jena 6 and the surviving move members and the panthers still in prison and to those who lost loved ones in waco. power without restraint is all too real for iraqi children. everything that permeates the culture is real, for once an image exists, it is a part of the totality of possible behaviors and responses that make up our world. a german movie during the 1930's filled with anti-semitism and anti-socialism would be "real", would it not? it would be real for what it says about nazi germany, just like the products of our cinema and television speak to what our society is about. but alas, we are always one step behind. we can clearly see the horrors of the past, while we busily create their modern equivalents.
later, on mad tv, a black slave run away slave with one leg missing has been added to "the wizard of oz." a funny spoof perhaps? well, maybe you would find this funny; an imprisoned jew from a german concentration camp has been added to a spoof of the wizard of oz. he is emaciated, skin sunk into his chest, bones protruding, and singing. the tune? "if i only had some food." is this funny? if not, i ask this; why do we as a culture feel comfortable to joke about the heinous crimes within our own past? i realize there was an element in the sketch where they were mocking the racist portrayals of the past, but are we really so advanced that we can sit back and serenely mock past cultural manifestations? look around. we ain't doing so great.
a quick word on sports. i am tired of the national fixed league and the national bullshit association. did anyone see that pats game last night? defensive holding? please. we all know these games are fixed, and yet we tune in, night after night. we give up thousands of hours from our life for this crap. at least the harlem globetrotters and the wwf are honest about being dishonest. bad calls come back to me, inundate me. game six, lakers-kings. bibby fouls koby's elbow with his face. robert horry flops, and a webber hook shot is erased. or how about jabbar missing a hook shot in 1988 that would have sealed the title for the pistons, only to be put on the line, keeping the lakers alive? need we speak of the "tuck rule," allowing the pats to move on and eventually capture their 1st title? or what of the superbowl a couple of years ago between the seahawks and the steelers, where everything possible was done to make sure the steelers won? and how about a little history. the year is 1962, and it is game seven between the celtics and the then philadelphia warriors. late in the game, wilt blocks a heinsohn hook shot at least 10 feet (some have said even 15 feet) away from the basket. no matter, goaltending is called. the celtics go on to win by 2 points, and win yet another title when they beat the lakers in the next round. or, how about game five of the mavs-heat a couple of years ago, where wade missed a shot that would have sealed a crucial victory for the mavs. instead, he receives a phantom call, and the heat win. or, how about robert parish punching bill lambeer to the floor? no foul is called, no ejection is made. the ref "didn't see it." it is game 5. later, bird will go on to steal the ball and dj will score the winning bucket. the c's win by one point, and win the series in 7 games. parish is suspended for the following game, but not before the three blind mice (or was it still two then) have yet again impacted a series.
believe me, i could go and on. from pop warner to high school to the pros, games are routinely rigged. sometimes it is because of the spread, sometimes because "they" (the league, the "system", the individual ref,) just want one team to beat another, and sometimes they just don't want individual players to do well. does anyone remember how darryl dawkins was never allowed to play, often getting 3 fouls in a matter of a couple of minutes? meanwhile, moses malone would man handle the league, and never foul out of a game. dawkins could seemingly do nothing right, according to the zebras. his career was like the cuban revolution; we will never know how great he could have been because of his treatment by those in power. even so, he made some noise.
everything is bullshit in this culture.
even sports.
and we keep watching, because there ain't nothing else to do.
life can really suck.
peace.
1 comment:
just want one team to beat another, and sometimes they just don't want individual players to do well. does anyone remember how darryl dawkins was never allowed to play, often getting 3 fouls in a matter of a couple of minutes? meanwhile, moses wizardry gold malone would man handle the league, and never foul out of a game. dawkins could seemingly do nothing right, according to the zebras. his career was like the cuban revolution; we will never know how great he could have been buy wizardry gold because of his treatment by those in power. even so, he made some noise.
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