Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Should TV be left to liberals? Plus: Is "snacking" less fun for the "snackee"? Holocaust survivor says he owes his life to "sheer luck."
May 4, 2000 | CORRECTION
Salon's story "The last supper" incorrectly stated that a character in author Carl Hiassen's novel "Strip Tease" was based on attorney Kendall Coffey. The character was based on former Florida Rep. J. Herbert Burke. Salon regrets the error. The story has been corrected.
"The West Wing" could only be left wing
BY JONATHAN V. LAST
(05/01/00)
I agree with Jonathan V. Last that "The West Wing" is an excellent show. However, I don't agree that its liberal tone contributes to its success.
The success of "The West Wing" is due to the creative talent of those involved in bringing each episode to the screen. That they happen to be liberal is no surprise considering that members of the entertainment industry are overwhelmingly so.
I'm certain that a conservative show of similar quality could be made by the same, or another equally talented, group of writers, producers and actors if they put their minds to it. They won't put their minds to it, though, because a show of the same quality, with a conservative theme, would face an uphill battle surviving the political prejudice of those in the position of choosing whether the show makes it to our living rooms.
Finally, saying "When conservatives do drama it comes out as 'The A-Team' or 'Red Dawn'" is no more fair than saying "When liberals do drama it comes out as 'Baywatch Nights.'"
-- Scott Jones
How can Last argue that "The Simpsons" is right-wing? The whole show is based on the premise that Homer, an idiot, is right-wing. I can't count the number of times that Homer has been made to look like a fool because of his siding with the right wingers (the NRA for one). And who is it that usually convinces him that he is wrong to be on the right? Why it's little Lisa Simpson, their brainy, socially conscious daughter, who has marched in gay rights parades and sang union songs to the workers when there was a strike at the nuclear power plant.
-- Josh Cuppage
Whatever the merits of "The West Wing," Last's arbitrary poo-pooing of conservative-powered drama noticeably neglects to mention a certain David Lynch. "Twin Peaks" was probably the most exciting and interesting television program in the past 20 or 30 years, and Lynch, the producer, writer and director of that show, happens to be a member of the Republican Party. David Lynch is smart enough to realize that, to paraphrase his character Sailor in "Wild at Heart," there are a lot of bad ideas out there.
-- John R. Parker, Jr.
I believe there is a distinct difference between what Last calls "conservatism" and the right wing. Unfortunately the two have been so lumped together they are thought of as the same thing.
For example, Last mentioned school vouchers. Vouchers are not the status quo -- there have never been vouchers in the United States. So based on Last's argument, left wingers are practicing "conservatism" by opposing vouchers and trying to preserve the status quo and right wingers are really "liberal" on the issue. And we will eventually have vouchers because they are not the status quo. This, of course, is ridiculous.
-- Brian Ellenberger
Last makes some excellent observations in "Why The West Wing Could Only Be Left Wing." Might I add that perhaps there are a couple of underlying characteristics among most liberals that enable them to make for better drama: They can be ironic and self-deprecating. Ronald Reagan's deceptive "Aw shucks" style aside, conservatives seem much too unsubtle to recognize irony and too thickly serious for self-deprecation.
-- Rik Jespersen
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