Great read here. I must say, few things have turned me away from the Left more than the politicization of entertainment, particularly the shows my wife and I used to watch. The token identity characters is bad enough, especially when they are anachronistic, but the blunt political messaging that is basically propaganda makes me irate. Nothing like watching the hero white British homicide detective instruct the bigoted witness blaming the Somali Muslim for starting a fire that “Our country was built by immigrants.”
I don't think the girl who bit her tongue would get that much consideration in a real ED, especially one as beleaguered as that.
I'm pretty progressive and I don't think most progressives realize how pervasive progressive messaging is in culture. It's like the old saying about how the fish doesn't know it's in water. It really stands out in The Pitt where the characters turn to the camera and spout progressive talking points because the show is very well made otherwise.
I kind of hate how media deals with "incels" and the show is definitely guilty of that, although it's hard not to feel contempt for someone who writes down how they want to kill women
I’ll admit that I identified with the incel kid character perhaps more than was intended, having been a lonely and isolated person at one point in my life (though not a dangerous one). So maybe I took the wrong angle on that. As you said it felt all very familiar and for a show that comes from a progressive pov (and therefore a thoughtful and empathetic one), the familiarity felt especially un-inquisitive and annoying. I’ll have to rewatch the scenes and see if I’m being reductive.
I think it’s important to note as you do that the show is well made, and even if you disagree with the odd point (even in terms of emphasis) there’s lots to enjoy. I’m recommending it to lots of people
Small point, but it's entirely conceivable to me that women worry more about stranger violence even though men indisputably are at greater risk (perhaps because the worry leads to more behaviour that successfully reduces said risk).
You’re right of course, I wasn’t trying to address the point in the show that nerdy, isolated young man with no friends wouldn’t know what it’s like to fear violence from the people he meets which is just obviously not true if you think about it for 10 seconds. I’ll have a think if I could have made that point better
Oh I think the point was fine, just that it's probably true women are more anxious about their physical safety, perhaps mostly because they are more anxious. That part of the show sounds overwrought in any case.
Do you think there’s a possible synthesis on positive and broadly appealing masculinity offered by an Abbot-type character, maybe framed differently/in a less overtly progressive way than it is on the show? It seems like “tough, capable, strong man who is capable of protective violence but emotionally well-regulated” is an archetype that appeals to a lot of people, both men and women, and even if you’re thinking about just the usefulness of the toughness etc it seems like you’d rather have a well-regulated guy with some of the loose cannon or hothead edges sanded off on the battlefield, the police force, etc not because that makes your guy seem “safer” but rather because a guy who’s got a lid on it is just actually going to be better at handling high pressure situations, being part of a team etc.
I was going to say that this sounds like a right wing parody of Woke, but these kind of shows can't be parodied as no plotline or character is ever too 'on the nose' for modern leftist writers.
You are quite right that a fear of violence and victimization would likely have been a factor in the life of a slightly built, nerdy young white man, and so the question he is asked is absurd. To the writers a straight white man is an oppressor (unless he is a performative 'ally') and so can never be a victim.
And there is no way the writers would have a white lady doctor ask a young black man "Do you know what it’s like to be afraid? ". Not because they would acknowledge he would likely have been threatened by other young black men, but because in their parallel universe black men are walking around in constant fear of 'white violence'.
Great read here. I must say, few things have turned me away from the Left more than the politicization of entertainment, particularly the shows my wife and I used to watch. The token identity characters is bad enough, especially when they are anachronistic, but the blunt political messaging that is basically propaganda makes me irate. Nothing like watching the hero white British homicide detective instruct the bigoted witness blaming the Somali Muslim for starting a fire that “Our country was built by immigrants.”
I don't think the girl who bit her tongue would get that much consideration in a real ED, especially one as beleaguered as that.
I'm pretty progressive and I don't think most progressives realize how pervasive progressive messaging is in culture. It's like the old saying about how the fish doesn't know it's in water. It really stands out in The Pitt where the characters turn to the camera and spout progressive talking points because the show is very well made otherwise.
I kind of hate how media deals with "incels" and the show is definitely guilty of that, although it's hard not to feel contempt for someone who writes down how they want to kill women
I’ll admit that I identified with the incel kid character perhaps more than was intended, having been a lonely and isolated person at one point in my life (though not a dangerous one). So maybe I took the wrong angle on that. As you said it felt all very familiar and for a show that comes from a progressive pov (and therefore a thoughtful and empathetic one), the familiarity felt especially un-inquisitive and annoying. I’ll have to rewatch the scenes and see if I’m being reductive.
I think it’s important to note as you do that the show is well made, and even if you disagree with the odd point (even in terms of emphasis) there’s lots to enjoy. I’m recommending it to lots of people
Small point, but it's entirely conceivable to me that women worry more about stranger violence even though men indisputably are at greater risk (perhaps because the worry leads to more behaviour that successfully reduces said risk).
You’re right of course, I wasn’t trying to address the point in the show that nerdy, isolated young man with no friends wouldn’t know what it’s like to fear violence from the people he meets which is just obviously not true if you think about it for 10 seconds. I’ll have a think if I could have made that point better
Oh I think the point was fine, just that it's probably true women are more anxious about their physical safety, perhaps mostly because they are more anxious. That part of the show sounds overwrought in any case.
Do you think there’s a possible synthesis on positive and broadly appealing masculinity offered by an Abbot-type character, maybe framed differently/in a less overtly progressive way than it is on the show? It seems like “tough, capable, strong man who is capable of protective violence but emotionally well-regulated” is an archetype that appeals to a lot of people, both men and women, and even if you’re thinking about just the usefulness of the toughness etc it seems like you’d rather have a well-regulated guy with some of the loose cannon or hothead edges sanded off on the battlefield, the police force, etc not because that makes your guy seem “safer” but rather because a guy who’s got a lid on it is just actually going to be better at handling high pressure situations, being part of a team etc.
I was going to say that this sounds like a right wing parody of Woke, but these kind of shows can't be parodied as no plotline or character is ever too 'on the nose' for modern leftist writers.
You are quite right that a fear of violence and victimization would likely have been a factor in the life of a slightly built, nerdy young white man, and so the question he is asked is absurd. To the writers a straight white man is an oppressor (unless he is a performative 'ally') and so can never be a victim.
And there is no way the writers would have a white lady doctor ask a young black man "Do you know what it’s like to be afraid? ". Not because they would acknowledge he would likely have been threatened by other young black men, but because in their parallel universe black men are walking around in constant fear of 'white violence'.