NCIS:LA has managed it again. I am pretty much speechless with what's been said in the past two episodes. In my opinion it goes well beyond all boundaries of decency into being despicable.
In the last episode 5x08 the NCIS:LA characters threatened a suspect with possibly sending him to Guantanamo. They speculated they would need to send him there for his own protection. And then there came the ultimate kicker line: "I hear force feeding is fascinating!" in a sarcastic tone
I am at a loss here. Guantanamo bay as a prison is a serious human rights violations. Deathly, utterly serious violation. Force feeding is a form of despicable torture.
These are serious matters that need to be discussed, people need to be aware of. Many people are campaigning against Gitmo and this use of torture and actively fighting against it.
So why on earth did NCIS:LA decide it was okay to reference it in this way? No one would dream of calling the gas chambers in Bergen-Belsen 'fascinating' or slavery 'an interesting experience'. Because doing so is highly disrespectful, indecent and insensitive. It would be beyond any boundaries of civility. So why on earth is it then okay that force feeding referred to as fascinating, even if it is in a sarcastic tone?
I love sarcasm, I really do but there are boundaries to the ways in which it can be used - and in this case it did not work. It was just despicable and a low for the show.
And today's episode did not improve on anything. Russia was yet again the enemy and they breezily broke into the house of a Russian consulate as if it's the easiest thing in the world to do and even if, according to Granger, it damaged the already precarious relationship between US and Russia. And there was of course a reference to the Cold War being far from over apparently. And it seems Russians are still obsessed with using nuclear weapons on USA. And NCIS:LA gets less than zero points in managing international relations.
I am starting to debate whether the NCIS:LA universe is still stuck in the eighties while the rest of the world (Europe at least) has long since moved on. The Cold War ended in 1989, there was a historic meeting in the 1980's in Reykjavik between Reagan and Gorbachev which change the course of the war. It's been 24 years since it ended and yet, the powers that be NCIS:LA continue using it as a plot point, recycling over and over again the plot of Russians trying to get their hands on nuclear weapons and wanting to attack USA. It gets old, stereotypical and displays a serious lack of creativity.
And the kicker was that when they decided to infiltrate the Russian consulate they discussed they might face criminal charges or be expedited. And then there came two of the quite possibly worst lines ever to be heard on the show:
"I have never been to Russia"
"I hear the gulags are lovely this time of year"
Gulags are not something to joke about. Never ever. They were prison labour camps during Stalin's reign. These were terrible, horrible camps akin to the Holocaust camps were people were systematically tortured and killed. Millions of people were wiped out in these camps, millions were sent to them for no other cause than being Jewish, being educated, being from the Baltic country, even just being alive was a sin. They were used as a serious form of political oppression. I have read stories from these camps on my own and it left me shivering, sad, terrified. It is a tragic and horrible part of Russian and Eastern-European history.
So I have to ask? Why on earth does NCIS:LA then think it's okay to reference those things as being lovely, even if it's sarcastic. I've said it once and I am saying it again: No one refers to the Holocaust in this way, or slavery, or genocide. So why is it then okay to refer to the Gulags? There was practiced a form of genocide, systematic killing of people. It is estimated that over 20 million people were killed there. Let it sink in, over 20 million. And yet it is used flippantly.
What I am questioning here is the way in which serious human rights violations both contemporary and historical are treated and referenced on TV. There have got to be some boundaries to this and in my opinion NCIS:LA as a show has overstepped it. I firmly believe that historical events such as the gulags need to be dealt with, discussed, taught about, learned from. But they should never ever be referenced lightly or be joked about. Never. It is as simple as that.
And I hope I'll never hear things like this on NCIS:LA again.
(If people want to learn about the gulags, my favorite fictional book about is 'Between shades of grey' - it's a book that changed my life.)
In the last episode 5x08 the NCIS:LA characters threatened a suspect with possibly sending him to Guantanamo. They speculated they would need to send him there for his own protection. And then there came the ultimate kicker line: "I hear force feeding is fascinating!" in a sarcastic tone
I am at a loss here. Guantanamo bay as a prison is a serious human rights violations. Deathly, utterly serious violation. Force feeding is a form of despicable torture.
These are serious matters that need to be discussed, people need to be aware of. Many people are campaigning against Gitmo and this use of torture and actively fighting against it.
So why on earth did NCIS:LA decide it was okay to reference it in this way? No one would dream of calling the gas chambers in Bergen-Belsen 'fascinating' or slavery 'an interesting experience'. Because doing so is highly disrespectful, indecent and insensitive. It would be beyond any boundaries of civility. So why on earth is it then okay that force feeding referred to as fascinating, even if it is in a sarcastic tone?
I love sarcasm, I really do but there are boundaries to the ways in which it can be used - and in this case it did not work. It was just despicable and a low for the show.
And today's episode did not improve on anything. Russia was yet again the enemy and they breezily broke into the house of a Russian consulate as if it's the easiest thing in the world to do and even if, according to Granger, it damaged the already precarious relationship between US and Russia. And there was of course a reference to the Cold War being far from over apparently. And it seems Russians are still obsessed with using nuclear weapons on USA. And NCIS:LA gets less than zero points in managing international relations.
I am starting to debate whether the NCIS:LA universe is still stuck in the eighties while the rest of the world (Europe at least) has long since moved on. The Cold War ended in 1989, there was a historic meeting in the 1980's in Reykjavik between Reagan and Gorbachev which change the course of the war. It's been 24 years since it ended and yet, the powers that be NCIS:LA continue using it as a plot point, recycling over and over again the plot of Russians trying to get their hands on nuclear weapons and wanting to attack USA. It gets old, stereotypical and displays a serious lack of creativity.
And the kicker was that when they decided to infiltrate the Russian consulate they discussed they might face criminal charges or be expedited. And then there came two of the quite possibly worst lines ever to be heard on the show:
"I have never been to Russia"
"I hear the gulags are lovely this time of year"
Gulags are not something to joke about. Never ever. They were prison labour camps during Stalin's reign. These were terrible, horrible camps akin to the Holocaust camps were people were systematically tortured and killed. Millions of people were wiped out in these camps, millions were sent to them for no other cause than being Jewish, being educated, being from the Baltic country, even just being alive was a sin. They were used as a serious form of political oppression. I have read stories from these camps on my own and it left me shivering, sad, terrified. It is a tragic and horrible part of Russian and Eastern-European history.
So I have to ask? Why on earth does NCIS:LA then think it's okay to reference those things as being lovely, even if it's sarcastic. I've said it once and I am saying it again: No one refers to the Holocaust in this way, or slavery, or genocide. So why is it then okay to refer to the Gulags? There was practiced a form of genocide, systematic killing of people. It is estimated that over 20 million people were killed there. Let it sink in, over 20 million. And yet it is used flippantly.
What I am questioning here is the way in which serious human rights violations both contemporary and historical are treated and referenced on TV. There have got to be some boundaries to this and in my opinion NCIS:LA as a show has overstepped it. I firmly believe that historical events such as the gulags need to be dealt with, discussed, taught about, learned from. But they should never ever be referenced lightly or be joked about. Never. It is as simple as that.
And I hope I'll never hear things like this on NCIS:LA again.
(If people want to learn about the gulags, my favorite fictional book about is 'Between shades of grey' - it's a book that changed my life.)
NCIS LA 5x08 Fallout was disappointing to me too, as I couldn't make out where the story was trending to. And finally when the summit shows up its the ludicrous reference to Russia and Cold War. Honestly I did not enjoy the episode, but sadly I seemed the only negative reviewer on NCIS LA magazine and some other places.
ReplyDeleteI missed reading your post here. Wow! you brought out issues more succintly about the episode material. Wonderful read it was. I got all those references when watching the episode and my husband (who is a Russian also) was sitting besides me, so I had to be silent so that he doesn't start off with his criticism. But when Russia and Cold war came, I couldn't stop and I blurted out in exasperation...now that's not warranted....He ended up laughing and said....Okay I leave you to your woes as I know you are not getting caught in the web of US Entertaiment who state their FICTION as if it is a REALITY. He is wary of American TV.