# Preachy TV Shows



## deadhand31 (Nov 2, 2005)

I saw this last night, and I gotta rant. I was watching Law & Order SVU. In the episode, a sniper pegs off kids while they're inside the school room. When they find the rifle, it has a folding stock, extended clip, and a flash surpressor. These were characteristics of what was considered an assault rifle under the now expired ban. The gun is then traced to a gun store named "Gun Ho!. where it turns out is also a headquarters for a neo-nazi hate group. 

This, really really irks me. First off, it tries to show that the assault weapon ban being reinstated would have saved lives. Now, this is a horribly ignorant assumption in the context of the episode. 3 and a half feet long sniper rifles DON'T HAVE FOLDING STOCKS. Sure, it could be made, but the length of the barrel itself makes the folding stock thing rather pointless. Second, a flash surpressor would NOT have prevented anyone from seeing the muzzle flash. Flash surpressors have only 1 function: to keep someone from being temporarily blinded in night shooting. You CANNOT get rid of a flash. Third, and extended clip isn't very useful for a bolt action rifle, especially when there were only 3 SHOTS FIRED. 

Next, it promotes the idea of gun shop owners as nazis. I always hear about how gun shows have copies of "The Turner Diaries" (McVeys Manifesto) and "Mein Kampf". I can't speak for every gun show, but I've been to many and have yet to see a single racially biased peice of literature. 

Just had to get my two cents worth in here. All comments are welcome.


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## JAMJTX (Nov 2, 2005)

Get used to it.
Hollywood is mostly controlled by leftists/democrats who hate our Constitution.  
Sure, it's "only a TV show", but TV is a powerful tool and strongly influences people.  This type of left-wing propoganda has been spread on TV shoes for some time and will only get worse.
You can see it on both West Wing and the new Gena Davis show which I can't think of the name of - she plays the first female president.  I happened to watch this last week and was not surprised to learn later on that it is written/produced by clinton's people.


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## Bigshadow (Nov 2, 2005)

I think that is called "propaganda". The media-meisters know they can influence public opinion by showing something like that. As much as people know those shows are NOT real, they identify with those shows. Even though they know it isn't real, they unconsciously believe that the opinions and thoughts that are represented are indeed a reflection of society. This is the trap, for even the ideas and thoughts are most often not a reflection of society and reality.

This is one of the reasons I will not watch those sorts of shows. Even though I know what to look for, it is far too easy to relax and succomb to the propaganda.

As much as the U.S. Population think they are free, they are not.  It is the subtle influences such as this that controls the masses.  Don't think for a minute the Government does not take advantage of this.


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## Brother John (Nov 2, 2005)

Bigshadow said:
			
		

> I think that is called "propaganda". The media-meisters know they can influence public opinion by showing something like that. As much as people know those shows are NOT real, they identify with those shows. Even though they know it isn't real, they unconsciously believe that the opinions and thoughts that are represented are indeed a reflection of society. This is the trap, for even the ideas and thoughts are most often not a reflection of society and reality..


 
That's happening A LOT now. Left wing Propaganda being folded into sitcoms, dramas like this one, pop music....etc. etc.

on the other side, lots of times Sermons in all kinds of faiths are becoming propaganda dispensers instead of leading a spiritual celebration or lesson...we get political ideology dressed up in it's "Sunday best".
Also: We get the reverse of this: polititians giving us mandated morality.
THing is: the propaganda from the left is probably much more effective at diffusing out through the population.... because in church the message is really "Preaching to the choir".

Your Brother
John


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## arnisador (Nov 2, 2005)

I think they think it's a public service.


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## Flatlander (Nov 2, 2005)

JAMJTX said:
			
		

> Hollywood is mostly controlled by leftists/democrats who hate our Constitution.


That's fairly inflammatory.  Would you care to support this statement?  First, are you able to provide a reference to your claim that Hollywood is mostly controlled by "leftists/democrats", and secondly, would you please demonstrate how it is that they "hate" your constitution?  Thanks.


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## michaeledward (Nov 2, 2005)

Hey ... from my point of view (very limited concerning firearms) ....

It was a gun.

It projects small peices of lead at very high velocities.

When those pieces of lead interact with human flesh .... the human flesh loses, every time. (Even with the Hand-gun used on the witness, judge, Eliot, Munch, and the kid).

folding stock ? Flash suppression ? Who knew ?

I'm glad you know these things, but in the art of story telling, probably don't mean anything. They just wanted a mean looking gun to go with the mean looking people.

Do you suppose all those bald basketball players are White Supremists?


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## andy (Nov 2, 2005)

welcome to the world of social re-engineering


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## Andrew Green (Nov 2, 2005)

JAMJTX said:
			
		

> Get used to it.
> Hollywood is mostly controlled by leftists/democrats who hate our Constitution.



The left blames the right, the right blames the left.  Everyone agrees the whole industry has gone to poo.

Saying they hate the constitiution?  Can you support that?  Or do you just mean "They interpret it differently"

But, as was stated, it is a story.  Storytelling isn't about accuracy on details .5% of viewers will pick up on.  It's about getting people to enjoy themselves and relax, otherwise no one watches it, and if no one watches it, it gets cancelled.

Either that or the industry just blames people downloading it for the lack of viewers...

Bottomline, if you think it is too left wing for your tastes, don't watch it.  Send a letter to the studio stating why you're not watching it anymore if you like.

But yes, there are shows that have a left-wing slant, there are also shows that have a right-wing slant.  Sometimes it's big, sometimes it's small.  Same for any other form of media since media began.


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## Phoenix44 (Nov 2, 2005)

Oh please, it's a TV SHOW, for cryin' out loud!  As a matter of fact, most prosecutors in Manhattan DO BELIEVE in tougher gun control.

If you want a different viewpoint, watch reruns of Dark Justice.  Or South Park.  If you're really looking for preachy shows, how about Touched By An Angel?  You can find whatever you want on TV.


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## Bigshadow (Nov 2, 2005)

Phoenix44 said:
			
		

> Oh please, it's a TV SHOW, for cryin' out loud!


Pick your poison.    One thing is clear, what you see on TV fits snugly inside the sandbox or the permissible spectrum of public opinion.  

It is always easier to digest a poison in a sweet treat.   It is just a show, afterall.


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## Makalakumu (Nov 2, 2005)

Whether you are liberal or conservative, the best thing that one can do for one's intelligence, ones health, ones MA training, and ones family is TURN OFF THE DAMNED TV!!!!!!  Or at least limit it.

People on both sides of the fence complain about the crap that they see...turn it off and one will no longer see it.  

Have a great day!  

upnorthkyosa


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## Cryozombie (Nov 2, 2005)

Phoenix44 said:
			
		

> Oh please, it's a TV SHOW, for cryin' out loud!



Tell that to real life jurors who watch too much CSI.

Same/same.

Or maybe tell that to the fairly signifgant number of people who think that Violence on TV or in Videogames makes kids Killers.

*I* agree, its just TV... but it SEEMS the majority of the "cult of the Television God" cant seem to tell that the message isnt REAL.


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## shesulsa (Nov 2, 2005)

I talk to my kids about the shows and what's real and what's not, the artistry behind television and movies, what artistic license is really all about.  Their biological father also works entertainment, so they've been backstage at Universal Studios during a taping and on sets so they have a good idea that TV and movies are FANTASY.

I think the key is to keep the discussion with your kids alive.


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## Andrew Green (Nov 2, 2005)

Not too long ago I was at a presentation by a Native American speaker, he said a few things about story telling, and one of them was that until fairly recently stories had a much stronger disconnect from reality.  

In the west this was often in the form of "A long time ago in a land far away..." or "Once upon a time..."

This gave the story teller more freedom to impart the lesson, and the story without being restricted by believability and the current cultural state.  So Coyote could serve as a character to teach a lesson and tell a story.  But no one would reject the story based on minor details like a folding stock on a sniper rifle and stereotyping gun owners...

The characters and the events where not "real" in the sense that they are now, but the stories and the meanings behind them where.

ok, so there is a lot of my interpretation in there, but the basic sense is the same.  The subject matter of the presentation was not Law and Order 

And it does make sense.  If I write a story about the Evil Orcs attacking the Elves that is fine.  If I write a story about the evil "insert nationality/race here" attacking "insert another one here" it's going to ruffle some feathers.


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## Bigshadow (Nov 3, 2005)

upnorthkyosa said:
			
		

> Whether you are liberal or conservative, the best thing that one can do for one's intelligence, ones health, ones MA training, and ones family is TURN OFF THE DAMNED TV!!!!!! Or at least limit it.
> 
> People on both sides of the fence complain about the crap that they see...turn it off and one will no longer see it.


Exactly! That is why I said I don't watch those sorts of shows. I am not WATCHING them and pointing out the problems, I choose to NOT watch them because I know how easy it is to identify with their carefully crafted reality.

If people like to watch them, I don't care.  I am glad they find them entertaining.


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## Bigshadow (Nov 3, 2005)

shesulsa said:
			
		

> I talk to my kids about the shows and what's real and what's not, the artistry behind television and movies, what artistic license is really all about.
> 
> I think the key is to keep the discussion with your kids alive.



I agree!  I do the same.


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## FearlessFreep (Nov 3, 2005)

I decided a long time ago that I really didn't like show that tried to be too serious or too 'real'.  Mostly it was the dialog, people just don't talk like that in real life so it was hard for me to take the show as being 'real, griity, drama'.  Also it seemed like a lot of the plots only really worked if the people wer actling like selfish jerks, or worse.

That's why my movie tastes tend to run to the pretty bad, mostly sci-fi, anime, horror, action, etc....Once I suspend disbelief long enough to accept time travelling androids in a post-apocalyptic future of mutant monsters, I can put up with a lot.


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## Andrew Green (Nov 3, 2005)

FearlessFreep said:
			
		

> That's why my movie tastes tend to run to the pretty bad, mostly sci-fi, anime, horror, action, etc....Once I suspend disbelief long enough to accept time travelling androids in a post-apocalyptic future of mutant monsters, I can put up with a lot.



I'll second that 

Flying kung fu masters!

Demon battling heros!

Gernades creating giant fireballs!

Space ships blowing the crap out of each other!

Hacking people (or orcs) up with swords!

That's fun stuff, "real" tv is nonsense 

never could find a taste for anime though...


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## sgtmac_46 (Nov 6, 2005)

deadhand31 said:
			
		

> I saw this last night, and I gotta rant. I was watching Law & Order SVU. In the episode, a sniper pegs off kids while they're inside the school room. When they find the rifle, it has a folding stock, extended clip, and a flash surpressor. These were characteristics of what was considered an assault rifle under the now expired ban. The gun is then traced to a gun store named "Gun Ho!. where it turns out is also a headquarters for a neo-nazi hate group.
> 
> This, really really irks me. First off, it tries to show that the assault weapon ban being reinstated would have saved lives. Now, this is a horribly ignorant assumption in the context of the episode. 3 and a half feet long sniper rifles DON'T HAVE FOLDING STOCKS. Sure, it could be made, but the length of the barrel itself makes the folding stock thing rather pointless. Second, a flash surpressor would NOT have prevented anyone from seeing the muzzle flash. Flash surpressors have only 1 function: to keep someone from being temporarily blinded in night shooting. You CANNOT get rid of a flash. Third, and extended clip isn't very useful for a bolt action rifle, especially when there were only 3 SHOTS FIRED.
> 
> ...


 Wow, you've just realized that network TV shows sometimes function as political indoctrination tools?  Welcome to reality, man.  I've always found Law and Order asinine in the extreme.  

What that show tries to do is anchor and demonize certain political issues.  It's not just an "assault weapon" it's a Nazi assault weapon, only used by wackos.  :erg:  

It just goes to show how ignorant and emotion driven many on that side of the gun control debate truly are.  

This is all rooted in Hollywoods attempt to influence a reengineering of the recently expired assault weapons band.  Everyone say it with me "Nazi assault rifles with flash suppressors and extended magazines 'BAAAAHHHHH......DDDDD!', Gun shows 'BAAAAAHHHHH.....DDDDD!'"

It's all about the target audience for these shows.  The people that watch these shows expect it to have something to do with reality.  They become "Experts" about law enforcement and topics by watching CSI and Law and Order.  I've noticed that the majority of Law and Order show's have a theme, many of which seem heavy handedly designed to influence the audience.  I find myself feeling rather patronized the few times i've watched.  

Hollywood's doesn't have an agenda? hahahahahaha  They won't dramatize an islamic terrorists blowing people up because it isn't PC, but they'll show every gun owner as a Nazi kook.  

All that having been said, anyone that gets their political directions off the cheap dramas that play on network TV are clowns anyway.  Most people are capable of taking it for what it is....cheap entertainment.   

The irony of anti-gun TV cops is that most REAL cops are pro-private ownership of firearms.  It's mostly just fake "I'm not a cop, but I play one on TV" types who preach the anti-gun line.  Real cops know the problem is criminals, not inanimate objects.  "Fear of inanimate objects"...you'd think that would be a psychological disorder.


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## Nightingale (Nov 7, 2005)

Write a letter to the TV show.  Unfortunately, a lot of stuff gets filmed just because people don't know any better.


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