The Borders of Things

Mainstream Detritus Vs. Great Art

So last night I tried to unwind by watching the CSI:Miami finale. Big mistake. It was such a disappointment when compared with CSI's finale, directed by Tarentino. That was a lot of fun. It's amazing what a good director and writer can do to a so-so show.

But Miami. The low point in the show, for me, was when Horatio (who tries to make every line sound like a dramatic monologue. I wanted to shoot him by the end) is interviewing one of the terrorist suspects. "So," he says in his tough-cop manner, "you dropped out of college. Spent a lot of time overseas. Now, you're building bombs. You've got a grudge against this country?"

The young, white, middle-class suspect replies: "This isn't a country. It's a corporation, that goes to war to make money."

But of course! Anyone critical of America's corporate culture is on the road to terrorism. Half of them are probably carrying dirty bombs right now and are just dying to expose millions of people to deadly radiation in the name of humanitarianism. I wanted to throw things at the screen.

Of course, H, our hero, is not anti-corporation. The man lives in Miami and drives a silver Humvee. But did you know that, besides his heart being in the right place, he is a crime scene investigator, a detective, a narcotics agent, a homeland security member, AND part of the bomb squad? In appropriate slow motion fashion, he walks up to the ticking dirty bomb, pulls the trigger wire, the beeping stops, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. That Horatio. He must have had MacGyver as a teacher.

Sorry. I don't watch a whole lot of TV. So I get fed up with it pretty easily. On a more enjoyable note, I watched Fellini's La Dolce Vita the other night. Such a contrast. I've been really getting into Italian directors over the last year, particularly the stuff that was coming out in the 60s. Very cool. Anyway, I apologize for this stupid post. Back to work!

Posted by pjaussen at May 24, 2005 10:14 AM | TrackBack