Wednesday, October 11, 2006

"Loonatics," propaganda, and other TV wonders


Do the images to the left look familiar? Take a closer look. Yep, they're the Loony Toons, jazzed up and given the "Batman Beyond" treatment. Complete with powers, secret base, toy ready vehicles and a futuristic city to protect, these aren't the Loony Toons I remember, nor are they the Toons my little brother remembers from "Space Jam" either.
Following my last blog I did indeed get a cable hook-up (I am now media compatible, now boasting a whopping 15 channels). and I've noticed some odd things in my absence from TV, the "Loonatics Unleashed" not being the least of them. Now, don't get me wrong, I have no real problems with the new Loony Toons, but I was surprised at the reinvention.
There are alot of things that I find surprising with TV currently, especially the commercials. In a history class I took a couple years ago, we were shown some propaganda films that were made during WWII to gain the public's support for the war. These films inc;uded several stretches of the truth and many manipulative phrases that would inspire hate against the nations "enemies," in some ways creating enemies where there were none. Current political commercials are very much the same. I've been troubled by the recent commercials (sponsered by pres. Bush) that hate filled words and images to paint the picture of a world that we can't face without our current government. It frightens me becuase I wonder what the next step is, and if anything it makes me distrustful of a leader that needs to manipulate my emotions in order to garner my support.
Aside from the few scares and surprises, I have been delighted with some of our TV discoveries- Heroes is an interesting new show; I can't wait to see what happens next. Jerihco is also worth a look. Rarely has a show been so genuine and real. Veronica Mars is as smart as ever, and Lost is just as puzziling and infuriating as I was afraid it would be. Smallville is staying fun, thoug, with the introduction of Green Arrow and the first use of "Super breath," I'm getting stoked for the rest of the year.