Tuesday, January 4, 2011

America the Purtanical

And it is, too! If you don't believe me, consider this story. The new edition of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn will no longer contain the "n-word" in the text nor the word "injun."

Clearly, Alan Gribben the "Twain expert" is full of crap when he claims it's about race conversations in the 21st century. I call it revisionist history!!!

I believe I've written on this before but it deserves to be repeated: don't fucking revise history, numbskulls!!! Anyone who supports neutering classic works may as well join the Holocaust deniers & Disney, who have created an awesome new Wii game in "Epic Mickey" but are long time pros at changing the content of their classic films to appeal to modern, crybaby sensibilities.

Yes, I'm calling YOU a crybaby if you get whiny about the use of offensive terms. Generations before you saw these offensive terms in their literature, their cartoons, etc. and didn't turn to acid. The world didn't stop turning, Jesus didn't send down fiery lightening and no one collapsed from the trauma of it all. As long as there's a little something called HOME TRAINING to educate children on why particular terms or comments are offensive to particular ethnic groups, then no one has anything to say about it.

How's about we stop allowing shitheads like this to play brother's keeper and tell the crybabies that if they don't like reading the "n-word" in Huckleberry Finn to not read the book??? Go back to watching "Jersey Shore" and continue being ignorant! Now, we just need a little Darwinian intervention to wipe out the morons who refuse to instill home training or act their ages instead of their shoe sizes.

When I was taking Latin in high school, my teacher said we would NOT violate the masculine & feminine use of words. He said point blank that contrary to today's time, women were NOT equal to men back in the days of Latin so we could not bastardize the entire language to accommodate changed societal standards (I don't think he used the term "bastardize" but you get the idea). Doing so would be denying the past & engaging in revisionist history.

For those not clear on this, revisionist history is a fairy tale. The Bible is more accurate & you know how many people claim that is a work of fiction.

So, if Americans can't handle reading the "n-word" or "injun" in print, how can they watch television shows about teenagers taking drugs, sleeping with most of their circle, harassing mobsters & other scary types or experiencing culture clashes? How can it handle evolved gay characters who don't fit a stereotype & casts that aren't all one color?

My firm belief is that the Americanized version of most British TV SUCKS!!!!!! My mother has been a long time fan of British television. I grew up watching shows like Fawlty Towers, Doctor Who, even Absolutely Fabulous. My mom usually found the British shows & introduced us to them. She also watched Keeping Up Apperances, Eastenders, Are You Being Served, etc.

When I first saw Skins, I was impressed by a number of things. Nudity, well developed story lines, a racially + culturally diverse cast, 3-D characters (including a gay character), and a feeling that nothing was taboo or forbidden. The 2nd season of the 1st series even featured an offensive musical about 9/11!!

More recently, I saw Being Human and Pulling. Both great shows though about entirely different things. They went places I could never see American TV going, including a desire not to glamorize the world around them. Americans do nothing BUT glamorize particular things (hello, parenthood & lawyers). If you aren't watching shows on HBO/Showtime or with some kind of indie backing, you're going to see a lot of fluff (Breaking Bad notwithstanding). Funny part is, I know industry insiders who think network television is badly written, badly conceived, etc.

My husband told me of the depressing news that all these shows are getting Americanized. What do I think?

Well, since Pulling is an anti-Friends/Sex & the City/any show glamorizing the single life it will be ruined. If you watch the British version, you're not going to see the fun side of being single.

MTV has also pissed me off by Americanizing Skins. I know the American version will suck since this country is never going to tolerate the things that are commonplace on the British version. However, I'm not shocked by this since I've come to expect this kind of thing from MTV. Seems I'm not the only one who thinks this will crash & burn.

The Americanization of Being Human takes the cake for me, though. The Sci-Fi network (I'm not engaging in their cruddy revisionist spelling) decided to do this one & the casting downright STINKS. First, no diversity at ALL. Second, they couldn't even bother to costume their ghost character differently than the one in the British version. Third, the guy who is supposed to be nerdy is too cute & the guy who's supposed to be brooding looks like anything but.

What really ticks me off is the channel has the nerve to act like THEIR concept is original. It's not!!!

If they Americanize The IT Crowd or Black Books, I may have to write some nasty letters. Heck, I probably won't be nice to you if you tell me you're responsible for the American travesties of these other shows.

Do yourself a favor: check out the BRITISH versions of these shows. Ideally, catch it uncensored. If you have a brain in your head, you'll thank me. Otherwise, be prepared for a vigorous debate justifying your position.

Major networks: get your own damn concepts!!! Leave British shows alone & try looking for new writers/producers/people capable of putting out a great product instead of showing the same old crap that thinking people hate.

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