Sometimes, during the
summers, I like to stay up late. When not reading or writing, I will
usually resort to watching a series on television. I enjoy series because
the character development and storylines are far more in-depth than what is
viewed in a mere two-hour movie; although I do watch them as well. On
HBO, I have experienced The Sopranos, The Wire, Boardwalk
Empire, Deadwood, True Blood, and a few
others. On AMC, it was Breaking Bad and I still
watch The Walking Dead. What I like about Netflix, however, is the
ability to access a virtual cornucopia of diverse programming on any device; at
home, on the road, and easily “un-paused” with the flick-of-a-finger anytime,
anywhere, within the matrix.
The word “programming”
implies that those who watch are being “programmed” and this is what I find
most interesting: What is being sold, and why.
As red-pilled as I am, I find myself immune for the most part; yet, as the word
“programming” indicates, I often wonder if these shows are affecting my overall
worldview. In other words, because I have a dim view of the future, is
this why I gravitate towards watching darkly disturbing television
programming? Or, do these shows actually contribute to
me seeing the world, and the future, as inevitably dystopian?
All throughout the
entertainment universe there seems to be a certain tragic fatalism at
play. Look at any summer blockbuster going back for decades, and if it
wasn’t sharks or dinosaurs wreaking havoc in the lives of humanity, it was
alien attacks, or meteorites, or mummies, or Harrison Ford fighting both the
Nazis and the Galactic Empire. During previous summers, both youth and adults
alike witnessed Katniss Everdeen fighting the forces of President Coriolanus
Snow in The Hunger Games; or violent robots terrorizing the earth
in Transformers. And, this summer, the big Hollywood hit
is Wonderwoman fighting Aries, the mythological Greek God of
War, who placed mankind under his evil spell.
On television, the
dystopian shows have become pandemic. Some of the most recent programs
from the past several years included: Colony (alien
tyranny upon mankind), The Handmaid’s Tale (totalitarian
theocracy), Revolution (post-apocalyptic America), Jericho (post-nuclear
war), Between (mass disease & quarantine), The
Shannara Chronicles (post-apocalyptic earth), 3% (dystopian
segregated society), Attack on Titan(man-eating giants), and too
many others to mention here.
When considering all that
dystopia I am reminded of a line from the 2008 film, “The Day the Earth
Stood Still” where an alien spy in a McDonalds restaurant tells the alien
destructor (played by Keanu Reeves), the following regarding humanity:
I’m afraid they are not a reasonable race. I’ve been
living amongst them for seventy years now. I know them well. Any attempt to
intercede with them would be futile. They are destructive, and they won’t change.
The tragedy is, they know what’s going to become of them.
Do you have that feeling as
well? Like you know what is going to happen, and that it won’t be good?
Like watching a slow motion car wreck, a train derailment, a distant tsunami,
or a mushroom cloud before the shockwave hits? I have that feeling and I
don’t believe it’s from the fictional shows that I watch on TV or in the movie
theater. Instead, I get that feeling just by reading and watching the news
every day.
Here is the truth:
The mainstream media is an alien monster, operating in collusion with
multifarious political minions, at the behest of their mutual masters:
the Dark Lords of the Galactic Empire. Aliens have overtaken the nation’s
capital and they are now broadcasting their mind-meld over the
earth.
See for yourself. The
real action begins at the :52 second mark of this video:
We know what is about to
happen to us: chaos, civil war, financial armageddon, and world war. A
brash and bawdy Bruce Wayne billionaire, disguised as the Joker, has overtaken
the Zombie Queen and now the aliens have engaged their warped drive to seduce
the masses with a phony Russian election hacking narrative. Somehow, I
don’t think this story will have a happy ending.
Perhaps because so many
people, all throughout the land, can feel the bad mojo in the
air; and this is why they are turning to apocalyptical entertainment: To
see and understand the future. Or, it could be the Dark Powers
That Be are simply programming the masses for imminent violence,
destruction, and death.
In my own case, however, I
like to watch these shows to see what is being programmed,
speculate as to the reasons “why” and, at the same time, try to learn some new
perspectives on human nature operating under duress, and in dire
circumstances. When viewing all the vampire shows over the past several
decades, I wonder if these were to prepare the masses for the bloodsucking Fabian
Socialists, and financial establishment leeches, draining the life from those
working to sustain society; and now that the zombie craze has swept America, it
seems as if we are being prepared to war against not only each other, but while
destroying the flesh-eating people of Walmart; the dead men
walking in the great and forthcoming culling soon to take place.
With these thoughts in
mind, I have been watching a series on Netflix entitled “The 100” which originally premiered
on The CW Network in 2014. I am only a few episodes into the second
season and initially started watching it for the reasons as previously
stated: Knowing it was marketed to young people, I wanted see what was
being programmed; I desired to speculate as to the reasons “why” and,
simultaneously, learn some new angles on humanity operating under extreme
stress in difficult situations.
As one would expect from a
juvenile dystopian television show targeting the younger generation; all of the
main characters are very good-looking, the dialogue is somewhat snappily
stunted, and the sub-plot denouements are often unrealistic. Nonetheless,
the overall production, set and costume design, and special effects, are pretty
stellar. Moreover, unlike The Walking Dead and other
adult fare where there can be slow episodes and lulls between cataclysmic
events, “The 100” rocks from one disaster to the next with no
respite; most likely to satisfy the morbidly infinitesimal attention span of
the Selfie Generation.
In short, the show takes
place 97 years after a nuclear war that has wiped out most life on earth.
A group of 2,500 survivors circle the earth in a space station called “The Ark”
waiting for the radioactive blue marble below them to normalize again in order
to sustain life and allow for healthy genetic perpetuity. Just as Noah of
the Bible released a dove to find dry land, so did the leaders on the Ark as
they sent a group of 100 juvenile delinquents to the earth as guinea pigs to
see if they could survive. Chaos, hard-choices, violence, betrayal,
honor, sacrifice, courage, love and sex ensue. I realize, the way this is
written, it all sounds trite, but actually, so far, it has been a fairly
interesting series. Although I will, most likely, not watch all four
seasons of “The 100”, here are just a few human perspectives that
could be gleaned from the show thus far:
·
Groups with no code, or law, descend into anarchy
·
Coalitions are formed by the like-minded
·
Politics are always at play within any group
·
Politics are always at play in the relations between groups
·
Allegiances change based upon circumstances
·
In matters of survival, expediency reigns supreme
·
Some leaders value the group over the individual
·
Some leaders value individuals over the group
·
Once trust has been established in a group, it becomes that
group against all others
·
Groups and individuals who desire similar outcomes will form
temporary alliances
·
Leaders emerge, as do traitors
·
By their actions, they are known
In real life, just as in
fictional stories, cowards will lie to survive, heroes will take risks to save
those whom they love, and leaders will lie to those whom they serve, while
telling themselves it’s for the best. Above all, the stated goals of the
group define the coward, the hero, and the leader, in any circumstance. And,
more often than not, the greatest violence perpetuated upon mankind come from
those who are simply following orders.
In the end, everyone must choose
this day whom they will serve. Our focus determines our reality. If
two groups don’t agree, then they will fight; and, only the winners will remain
relevant and viable.
As for me, I have come here
to chew some bubblegum and kick ass. I’m all out of bubblegum.
