Statistics
Jul
17
Warehouse 13-or why Johnny and Sally hate and fear guns
July 17, 2009 | Tagged hoplophobia, irrational fear of guns, Media Bias | 2 Comments
“When ‘Omer smote ‘is bloomin’ lyre, he’d ‘eard men sing by land an’ sea, an’ what ‘e thought ‘e might require, ‘e went an’ took, the same as me.” (Rudyard Kipling)
Sometimes, when someone asks me why otherwise intelligent people hate and fear guns, I find myself talking about psychological defense mechanisms, such as displacement, denial, and reaction formation, among others. While these processes, in my opinion, play a definite role, I believe it is dangerous to overlook the active propaganda campaigns promulgated by TV and movie producers, directors, and others in the media to promote a fear of weapons. This fear is known in some circles as hoplophobia. (See my post, “Displacement as a defense mechanism in the irrational fear of guns, (08-17-08) tagged, “hoplophobia.”)
We must remember the role that the North Vietnamese Dich Van propaganda program, along with left-wing professors and college students, media pundits, and TV and movie producers played in destroying America’s will to resist the Communist aggression in Southeast Asia that resulted in the deaths of over two million people. (Read the book, Unheralded Victory, the defeat of the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army, 1961-1973, by Mark W. Woodruff, Presidio Press/Random House, NY,NY, 2005, pages 231-235.
MASH, Platoon, The Deer Hunter, and Apocalypse Now are examples of the Vietnam Era propaganda war and the revisionist historical view of that battle for the hearts and minds of the American People that the Communists ultimately won. The fight for the hearts and minds of the American People continues with regard to liberty in this country.
It’s not as though we haven’t seen anti-gun messages embedded in TV and movies. Spielberg took the guns out of ET and didn’t mention in Schindler’s List that Schindler armed “his” Jewish workers near the end of the war to give them a last ditch chance to defend themselves from the Final Solution. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers was morphed from a story about human self-defense against alien aggression to an anti-war parable about human aggression directed toward an apparently otherwise peaceful race of beings that just happened to be naturally well-equipped for mayhem.
Picket Fences, Alf, MASH, All in the Family, and Carole Burnett’s Little Murders to a greater or lesser degree decried the “evil” of guns on TV. Even Chuck Norris’ Walker, Texas Ranger often made a keen distinction between “anointed” law enforcement officers versus bumbling, common citizen “vigilantes.”
In the movie, Clear and Present Danger, Harrison Ford’s character, Jack Ryan, refuses to pick up a weapon to defend himself on at least three occasions, choosing a piece of firewood over a submachine gun in the climactic fight scene with the antagonist. In the book, Jack Ryan operates a mini-gun from a helicopter, spraying hundreds of rounds of death and destruction at the minions of the drug cartel that had captured US special operations soldiers.
In the movie, Signs, we have aliens who can’t get out of locked pantries defeated worldwide by baseball bats and clubs. Given the number of shotguns and hunting rifles in farmhouses, how long do you think that these aliens would terrorize the Midwest depicted in the movie? “Hi! I’m an alien. I want to kill you. No I don’t have any weapons. Yeah, I have to get really close to hurt you. What’s that tube in your hands?” Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! End of Alien. End of story.
And, who can forget Leslie Neilson’s Agent WD 40, who explicitly delivers a vitriolic diatribe against handguns during the climactic fight scene of the movie, Spy Hard? Not that the lines had much to do with the plot, but you know, those handguns “kill” people. (See my post, “Has your gun caused ‘personal injuries or property damage?’ (11-19-08) tagged, “Irrational fear of guns.”
I believe that it is useful to remember that everything in a movie or TV show is under the control of the director and producer. If they don’t want it in the finished product, it isn’t there. If something is in the show or movie, the people who produced and directed made it so.
Keep in mind that it is legal (and moral in the minds of the media folk) to bring out productions that promote civilian disarmament. Look at the plethora of TV shows and movies that portray properly “blessed” police officials using guns to take out bad guys?” How often do you see a movie that promotes the idea that ordinary citizens have a right to use armed force to defend themselves and their families without being horribly scarred by the soul searing knowledge that they had to kill or wound another human being in order to do so?
How often have you seen a portrayal of a family in a movie or on TV that goes to a range and spends an enjoyable afternoon punching holes in paper? Not often, I’ll wager. More often, we see a bias against guns and the people who own them.
The opening quotation by Rudyard Kipling seems somehow appropriate as we discuss the new series on the Sy Fy Channel, which supposedly changed its name to appeal to females, instead of its usual male “geek” audience. (See The Denver Post article, “New ‘Warehouse 13’ has promising twists in store,” by Joanne Ostrow in the 07-07-09 issue on page 4D.
Let’s discuss Kipling! Of course, “There is nothing new under the Sun,” not even this Biblical adage. There is no sin in paying homage to previous successful movies and TV series. But, come on!
In my opinion, Warehouse 13 pretty shamelessly knocks off The Librarian, Raiders of the Lost Arc, National Treasure, Men in Black, and The X Files. The idea of a national repository, a national “attic,” of valuable/magical objects smacks of The Librarian, Men in Black, and National Treasure. Warehouse 13 is the Library. As pointed out in the Post article, the agents are Mulder and Scully reprised. The balcony scene, when the agents first see the warehouse is a ringer for the National Treasure balcony scene in the Treasure Room. The warehouse is the Treasure Room or the government warehouse in Raiders… The character of the “curator” of the warehouse, Artie, owes a lot to Zed in Men in Black and probably more to Newhart’s character in The Librarian.
The special effects, when the bad vibes, psychic energy, or whatever, are sucked into the containment vessel hark back to the scene in Raiders, when the Nazis open the Ark. Come to think of it, the “neutralizer” in the containment vessel could be slime borrowed from Ghostbusters or possibly Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Anti-gun propaganda in Warehouse 13 doesn’t take long to rear its head. In about the first scene of the first show of the series, a little girl sees a gun in the waistband of the female agent protagonist. Not understanding that the agent is chosen, anointed, special, and otherwise authorized by the proper authorities to be armed, the little girl glares angrily at the adult, because why? Well, you know, because, guns are bad! Anyone carrying a gun must be a bad person. We must hate and fear them and the guns they carry.
In the climax of the series opener, the male agent (Think Mulder.) takes his gun into a party dominated by the antagonist, a woman pretty much channeling Lucretia Borgia. The agent is disarmed by one of her brainwashed minions and threatened with his own gun. The magically deranged young man pulls the trigger of the semi-auto pistol. “Click!”
The agent (Think Mulder.) pulls the magazine of the empty pistol out of his pocket and says, “No one dies here tonight,” or words to that effect.
Sarcasm Alert!
For those of you recently educated in public schools dominated by teachers’ unions, the conscious explication of the message here is that even chosen, anointed, special, people authorized by the government to carry guns may have those guns taken away by bad people. You see, bad people are so much faster, more dexterous, and more competent than the rest of us. There is no use trying to defend yourself, because they will just take your gun. (They probably wouldn’t try to hurt you, in the first place, if you didn’t threaten them with a gun.)
Sarcasm All Clear! (For now.)
Martial arts are OK, however, especially when practiced by women. The female agent (Think Scully.) has some nifty moves, including a leg sweep take down that is almost literally to die for. She also throws a mean punch.
Martial Arts Students, don’t get cocky! Most authoritarian regimes eventually get around to banning the civilian practice of effective unarmed methods of self-defense, once they have disarmed their populations. The Japanese occupation of Korea comes to mind.
(Disclaimer! The following statement is an example of hyperbole, sarcasm, exaggeration, and over-the-top humor. Do not under any circumstances actually try to do this. I assume no responsibility, if you get stopped by the police, arrested, maced, tasered, or shot. It’s a joke. Get it! A joke! Ha! Ha! I just put it in here to make a point. Excuse me. I have to call my lawyer.)
If you don’t think that TV and movie propaganda is effective, try open carry in a major city in most states. (No! Don’t! Don’t even think about it. You will be fingered by an “alert” civilian, stopped by the police, and probably arrested.) (We won’t even discuss taking a picture of a gun to a public school or university. Zero Tolerance, you know!)
Having said all that. I may actually tune into Warehouse 13 from time to time, even though that probably puts me in the male “geek” demographic apparently now despised by the Sy Fy Channel. The danger inherent in propaganda embedded in “entertainment” is that the actors, directors, and producers are generally pretty good at creating a “willing suspension of disbelief” and getting the public involved with the characters and the plot lines.
Even though Warehouse 13 may be a kind of “Frankenstein’s Monster” made up of parts from other movies and series, who doesn’t empathize with Curator Artie, portly, middle-aged and woefully out of shape, when he zip lines down the rows of weird and dangerous treasures stored in the cavernous vault? Who can’t relate to the female agent (Think Scully.) when she eats comfort food (No sugar!) to relieve stress? Details like these help flesh out characters and make us care about what happens to them as they expose themselves to danger to protect the public (us) in their fictional world.
The sad fact is, in my opinion, that these fictional characters are more real for most of us than our neighbors. If you run into someone who hates guns and the people who own them, consider the possibility that the person has been brainwashed by, among other things, anti-gun messages carefully embedded in “entertainment.”
You can enjoy the shows. Just be aware of the propaganda that is sent through the media of TV and movies. Think about the backers who sponsor these shows and movies. Do they sponsor them to make money in what’s left of the free market, or do they sponsor them, because hidden messages promote a Hard Left agenda.
“Eternal Vigilance…”
Def Mech
Comments
2 Comments so far
[...] about the Drug Cartels as of July 18, 2009 Saturday, July 18, 2009 Warehouse 13-or why Johnny and Sally hate and fear guns – defmech.blogivists.com 07/18/2009 “When ‘Omer smote ‘is bloomin’ lyre, he’d [...]
[...] is the original: Warehouse 13-or why Johnny and Sally hate and fear guns Tags: government, hunting-issues, media-bias, opinion, people, police, propaganda, [...]