The Four Color Media Monitor

Alas, even the comic-based TV serials can fall victim to time-wasting leftist propaganda, and as this Big Hollywood entry reports, Smallville, the Superman-in-youth series that's run a long time, is doing something not many TV programs of yore intentionally did decades ago: it's sold out to left-wing nonsense. For example:

...now, in its 10th and what is supposed to be final season, a definite political agenda has crept into the show. It started out fine with the season premiere episode, but in the second episode (entitled “Shield“) they introduced a character from the comics named Cat Grant. Here she was portrayed as a typical Conservative woman as seen through the distorted glasses worn by a Liberal: She was naive, arrogant, judgmental, and annoying as hell in a squeaky clean way. She referred to the fact that superheroes should “come out of the shadows (i.e. closet)” even though she thought they were obviously “bad.”

I was annoyed but thought, eh, maybe I’m reading to much into it.

The following episode, entitled “Supergirl” opened with an obviously “bad” radio talk show host (made to seem like Michael Savage, Glenn Beck, etc.) talking about the evils of these super-powered vigilantes (read: illegal immigrants) and how they must be stopped, etc., etc. He’s taken over by a super-baddie and fans the flames of fear and hatred against super-vigilantes. Oh, he’s religious, too.

Second episode in a row… maybe it’s NOT just my imagination.

Now we’re onto the next: “Homecoming.” In this episode, four minutes from the end, Oliver Queen (aka Green Arrow) goes off full-on into a liberal talking points speech – talking about oil money greed and putting up a barbed wire fence to keep out people that just want a better life. Granted, the comic book character has always been portrayed as a Liberal, but he’s been on the show for 3 1/2 years and this is the first I’ve noticed it.

Yeah. Something is definitely up.

And last week’s episode, “Isis” – where I cringed at the return of Cat Grant who was her pleasant self once again. I suppose the writers figured that they were being too subtle for the typical Smallville fan, so in this episode they actually had her say “I will never understand liberals.”

Of course I’ve gotten into arguments with readers on my own site over this – but even some of those who at first were saying “aw, come on, you’re reading too much into this” are starting to say “What the hell – can they knock this political crap off?”

Luckily, the series is coming to an end this year. Yet it's very, very sad that as they near the end of the run, they stoop to this kind of rotten contempt. What is the use of deliberately making a show awful on its way out? I don't think it'll help the series long-term if they're hoping to sell it on DVD and other recorded formats in the video libraries. All it does it leave the series with a very bad afterstench, as it could be remembered as a series that sold itself out to political sewage water.

Labels: dc comics, politics, Superman