Saturday, August 23, 2008

Law & Order - Propagandistic Intent

A Law & Order - Criminal Intent rerun I saw recently reminded me that along with its well produced and well acted shows that have kept L&O on the air for many years and have spawned three different and seasonally-simultaneously broadcast versions, L&O has all along been a forum for its secular/liberal writers to propagandize against their favorite conservative and/or Christian targets.

This particular episode featured a twenty-something woman, cohabiting with a similarly aged man in a New York City apartment, both acting school dropouts, where the two of them, mostly she, ran a somewhat voyeuristic-oriented web-cam-site. The main plot revolves around a fake kidnapping they stage and play out over theirs and other web-cams.

During the investigation, the police find out that she is from what they term a small town (Elmira), and that she was home schooled there. One of the investigators then remarks that her small town home schooled background explains her current abnormal social behavior.

The investigators travel to her home town to interview the home schooling parents, who they find to be marginally intelligent, clueless parents who think their daughter is in Africa doing good works as she has told them she is doing. The parents show the investigators what they say is an African musical instrument sent to them from Africa by their daughter. One investigator tells the parents that the instrument is actually Australian, and shows "mom" the wood-burned image of a kangaroo on the side of the instrument. Sub-tle...

Another L&O episode featured a rural, Christian, foster family who punished one of the children by locking him in a cage in a barn. The plot line revolved around a secretive organization that rescues children from these types of abusive situations. One of the young girls being rescued was singing a metrical psalm as she was being driven away from the abusers. Even sub-tle-er...

Other episodes have depicted pro-life activists as assassins of abortion doctors and "right-wing" radio personalities as reactionary racists. Sort of reminds you of the current political campaign.

Doink-Doink.