PBS Drama Episode Centers on Evils of Communism
by S.T. Karnick
The latest episode of PBS’s Masterpiece Mystery includes a surprise: criticism of communism.
The U.S. TV network PBS and the British Broadcasting Corporation, both government-owned, tend to soft-pedal the evils of communism while placing every imperfection of life in the United States under a microscope. Hence it’s rather noteworthy when those organizations air a program in which the central problems are traceable to communism. That’s what happened in last week’s episode of Masterpiece Mystery.
[Mild plot spoiler warning--'mild' because it won't fully identify the murderer.]
In “Music to Die For,” the latest episode of the smart and interesting British mystery series Inspector Lewis, coproduced by PBS and BBC, the killer turns out to have been an informer for the East German secret police, the Stasi, two decades earlier, who is trying to keep that past hidden.
Moreover, that is not merely an incidental aspect of the episode but in fact central to it. The evils of the Communist system, including the scarcity of material goods, the dreariness of life without hope of personal advancement and opportunities to use one’s talents to their fullest, and, in particular, the paranoia and personal corruption induced by the police-state government’s cultivation of a huge network of informers to identify alleged subversives are made quite clear and in fact set in motion the plot element that drives the entire story forward.
In addition to all of that, the episode, like the show in general, is intelligent, sophisticated, and morally sound, and it has an excellent plot and story line and strong central and supporting characters alike. Mixing Wagner, boxing, politics, boating, murder, and a police investigation, “Music to Die For” is entertaining while informing viewers about a subject not sufficiently often considered on U.S. television.
Inspector Lewis continues on Sunday nights through October 19, and is well worth watching.
It won’t make up for years of political bias, of course, but it’s a start.
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48 Comments
Perhaps PBS is picking up on the sentiment of a majority of Americans. Quit bashing the country from which you receive the money to operate your propaganda outlet. For the first time in a long time the prospect of becoming unfunded by the US tax payer might be setting in.
For the Old Media – We know who you are, we know what you think and we will not waste another penny to support your propaganda. We've found the New Media and it's been an eye opening experience for many in this country.
Perhaps PBS is picking up on the sentiment of a majority of Americans. Quit bashing the country from which you receive the money to operate your propaganda outlet. For the first time in a long time the prospect of becoming unfunded by the US tax payer might be setting in.
For the Old Media – We know who you are, we know what you think and we will not waste another penny to support your propaganda either. We've found the New Media and it's been an eye opening experience for many in this country.
I had gone back to occasionally watching PBS (no cable or need for it) until I happen to catch Bill Moyer's diatribe about health care, no more.
PBS will also air new science shows informing us that fish swim, the sky is blue, and which way is up. After 100M deaths under Communism, they finally figure it out.
Yippee.
I had to read the title and first sentence twice, those words used together didn't make sense, PBS criticism of communism.
I remember LOVING PBS. And then I stopped watching Sesame Street. If PBS stops implying that I'm a moron/jerk for being conservative, perhaps my love will be renewed. In the meantime, I'll stick with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksL_7WrhWOc (If you think Cookie Monster mocking "Waiting for Godot" is a good time, click the link.)
I remember LOVING PBS. And then I stopped watching Sesame Street. If PBS stops implying that I'm a moron/jerk for being conservative, perhaps my love will be renewed. In the meantime, I'll stick with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksL_7WrhWOc (If you think Cookie Monster mocking "Waiting for Godot" is a good time, click the link.)
I remember LOVING PBS. And then I stopped watching Sesame Street. If PBS stops implying that I'm a moron/jerk for being conservative, perhaps my love will be renewed. In the meantime, I'll stick with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksL_7WrhWOc (If you think Cookie Monster mocking "Waiting for Godot" is a good time, click the link.)
The show was co-produced for the privately-owned ITV network by the equally privately-owned Granada Television. It was co-produced with PBS, but has absolutely nothing at all to do with the BBC.
By the way, am I the only one who suddenly can't log in to my intensedebate account?
I usually use firefox, but that browser has been hit and miss with bighollywood and biggovernment. Sometimes I have to use IE, errrrr.
A couple of weeks ago, believe it or not, PBS pretty much ripped communism a new one in a WW2 documentary about how Hitler and Stalin both screwed each other. They talked all about what they (the RUSSIANS that is, not the Nazis) were doing to all the Polish jews in these secret prisons. Hundreds of them were just disappearing because of the secret police. Things I never really knew anything about. Can't remember the name of the doc, but I also remember being surprised about it then.
Occasionally, PBS gets something right.
I'm using IE 8. I had to reset my password and then change it back to the one I'd been using, so I think the problem was probably at their end, not the browser.
I'm sure Democrats in Congress are hard at work this very minute drafting legilslation to have all government funding for PBS halted immediately!
The show was really good – I was surprised .
I remember all the Dr Who episodes.
All the Inspector Lewis shows are excellent. I too stopped watching PBS years ago, and happened to catch part of an episode several weeks ago by accident. I 've been hooked ever since. It's based on the Inspector Morse series (which I never could get into), and the Lewis character was his sergeant. I would guess that the writers have some real police officers friends, judging by some of the dialog.
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I shut out PBS over a decade ago………………………………….it's now the Public Bull Shit network.
It's usually around the Pledge season…
It is amazing to me that any leftist person in this country could think there was anything to admire in Communism.
Two things I wish for: 1. Drivers on our Interstates drive for a week on German Autobahns. The survivors learn lane discipline.
2. Al,l those who think Communism is great should live – not visit – one of the last vestiges of Communism – Cuba. Live like an ordinary citizen. Michael Moore could sure shed some lbs. I'd like to see, for example, Danny Glover emerge from a year in the worker's paradise – and what he would have to say.
I remember visiting St Petersburg just 5 years ago and seeing what was the KGB headquarters. What a dark, foreboding building that took up over a city block.
You made a very common error in thinking that all the shows on PBS from England are BBC productions. If you check you will find most of the biggest hits on Masterpiece and Mystery were done by the independent producers for ITV and Channel 4.
Amen Bill! I can't understand how ANYONE could think that Cuba or venezuela are paradises for the people that live there. If you want to get a real clear idea on Cuba then watch this movie. It's free. It's actually a documentary. It's called "The Buena Vista Social Club".
Seeing how those people live under that fooking dictator Castro just about made me cry. The lousy Son of a beetch anyway.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/62618/buena-vista-socia...
Anti-Totalitarian Literature: books to help illustrate the evils of totalitarianism
Give every young person on your Christmas list a copy of Orwell's "Animal Farm" and discuss it with them!
Some other great reads:
* Nineteen Eighty-Four
* The Telling
* The Giver
* Brave New World
* Darkness at Noon
Any other suggestions?
I always watch the mystery series on PBS. Nearly all the other shows, even History Detectives, clearly have a left bias. I've quit watching all of them except for an occasional Antiques Roadshow.
The Inspector Lewis program mentioned here which aired last weekend was excellent. Very intelligent drama and suspense. It also had the issue of gays so well written into the story as to be believable, not like the propaganda story lines in so many shows. Instead, it made one think, analyze and empathize with some deeper understanding.
Until PBS repeats or shows an equivalent to Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose", they're just another leftist mouthpiece supported in part by taxpayer funds like the NEA. After years of Republican bashing, left wing "documentaries" advocating socialism and propaganda at all levers -partly with my money – I'm not running up and down the wall because they put on a show or two which (how daring!) criticizes communism.
It should also be noted that many British libertarians think the BBC, which is totally funded by a "license fee" should be burned to the ground and the earth salted. It's mutated into what is in effect the ministry of truth for the government. It's well past time we did the same thing to PBS before the same thing happens here.
The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich von Hayek
Who else has heard (repeatedly) that communism has never worked simply because it was never implemented properly?
This always ignores the basic flaw, communism will work for robots but not for humans. And even that will only last until true artificial intelligence emerges. The moment one robot figures out how to get another to do its work while stealing from that one's resource allotments, there goes paradise.
this is their once a year program with truth
now pbs is done with factual reporting regarding the obama ideology
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Zounds! A PBS program that drifts towards the political center??? Their gyro must have malfunctioned. They'll be OK as soon as they repair it and resume navigating towards the workers paradise.
Did you watch the "Inspector Morse" series finale? I cried. It was so sad to see a brilliantly written series ride off into the sunset…..
And then I heard that Lewis was getting a series of his own! I haven't been disappointed!
(I'm also a huge fan of the Inspector Lynley series)
It is amazing to me that any leftist person in this country could think there was anything to admire in Communism.
Two things I wish for: 1. Drivers on our Interstates drive for a week on German Autobahns. The survivors learn lane discipline.
2. All those who think Communism is great should live – not visit – one of the last vestiges of Communism – Cuba. Live like an ordinary citizen. Michael Moore could sure shed some lbs. I'd like to see, for example, Danny Glover emerge from a year in the worker's paradise – and what he would have to say.
I remember visiting St Petersburg just 5 years ago and seeing what was the KGB headquarters. What a dark, foreboding building that took up over a city block.
"It should also be noted that many British libertarians think the BBC, which is totally funded by a "license fee" should be burned to the ground and the earth salted."
That about sums it up, unfortunately if British libertarians held a national conference we could probably all fit in a largish cloakroom. Anyone expecting the present Tory party to do anything about the BBC will be very disappointed.
"It's mutated into what is in effect the ministry of truth for the government."
Only partly true, they regularly attack any policy seen as insufficiently leftist.
You can pretty much rely on any worthwhile recent British detective show being an ITV production: Morse/Lewis; Poirot; and the truly excellent Foyle's War for starters. After a dismal run of Marple adaptations in the last year or two, they've just bounced back after recasting Julia McKenzie in place of the utterly unsuitable Geraldine McEwan.
BBC detective shows suffer very badly from the Law & Order problem of middle-aged rich white men being the only criminals in the world.
Your giving them a lot of credit to think they can notice or act.
Me too. I watch the Thursday night mystery and the Masterpiece Mystery on Sunday. My husband watches Antiques Roadshow. That is the extent of our PBS viewing. Pretty much everything else is some form of boring propaganda.
The Inspector Lewis series is, to me, surprising in that it's better, in my opinion, than the Inspector Morse programs. I like it very much.
Atlas Shrugged
Another MUST read is "tragedy and hope" by Carrol Quigley, it's a LONG read and hard to muddle through but boy is it enlightening. I mean REALLY enlightening. It's not exactly based on the evils of totalitarianism but everyone NEEDS to read this book.
"We the Living" by Ayn Rand. Fictional tale of the early years of Commie rule in Russia.
Agreed, Mr. Karnick. That was a wonderful episode for all the reasons you so eloquently listed. I sat slack-jawed as my tea grew cold and my cake stale, when glimpses of these deliciously wicked images of the Kafka-esque nightmare that was East Germany unfolded throughout this episode. Courtesy of those central planners at the BBC!
(Oh. Those snarky asides about 80's fashion sense was a nice touch, too.)
I did not think 'Inspector Morse' could be topped, but 'Lewis' has filled the shoes very nicely.
Damn… I forgot this was on last night.. (I almost never miss an episode of "Mystery".. and like Locomotive, I didn't think Morse was gonna get beat, but Lewis has slowy been working it's way up there in terms of one of their better series.)
and now, I have an uncontrollable craving for cookies…
Reports of PBS/BBC/Masterpiece Theater's conservative turn may be a bit premature.
The most recent inspector Lewis that I saw — this week in Richmond — compensated greatly
(SLIGHT SPOILER, CAN'T BE HELPED)
…by having the poor homosexual guy's suicide (and a bloodbath of revenge killings by his SO) brought about by one of those Evil Judgmental Christian types who had suggested that homosexuality was wrong. There's "redemption" at the end — the Christian repents of his judgmentalism.
To make sure we know that the Church is totally hollow, we also get to see a cathedral-mockingly-turned-into-a bar, with of semi-clad girls in priest collars, as well as plenty of flamboyant gay hookups under the crucifixes.
Every time I've watched Inspector Lewis, I've found the show quite interesting. The only problem is by 10 P.M., I start to doze off after being awake most of the day, and I end up missing the ending.
I cannot speak for millions of leftist but as a moderate, the left is not promoting communism nor do they glow over its worth. can we stop labeling people commies to feel superior? everytime we buy something made in china, we support communism… we support their religious persecution… we support their government forced birth control. Chinese are communist NOT our neighbors — with our dollars we all support communism.
I learned all that on PBS
Good examples Bill and I do refute a claim that some idolize communism, I'm just making sure we do not assert that 38% of this country (who claim to be left) are communist. Just as I tell those on the left that not ALL on the right want to set up a theocracy and establish an American vatican. To do either dismisses legitimate opinions on both sides. For our democracy we need opposing views… even if it is students harvesting sugar in Cuba or people doing business with Chinese communists. alas, i would prefer that neither happen(ed) but if we can get the right and left to work together neither communism or theocracy would look appealing to those disillusioned by the promise of America.
I'd have to disgree with your on the left's idolizing communism. In 1932 the NYT writer Walter Duranty was awarded the Pulizer Prize for his articles on the greatness of Stalin's communism, at the same time millions were starving in the Ukraine.
Why do you think all these movie celebrities make their pilgrimages to Cuba even today?"
Or Michael Moore's extolling Cuba as a model?
Don't know if you are around my age from the Vietnam era but in the 1960s the left had the Venceremos Brigade, which were a group of students who went to Cuba to harvest the sugar cane.
There are plenty of examples of the Left's idolizing Communism…
I do not believe that most people on the conservative side of the spectrum consider anyone on the left to be communist sympathizers but I would also say that more on the left sympathize with Marxism – look at the professors teaching in universities – look at the atomic spies at Los Alamos – spying for the Soviet Union. Can you cite any such pervasiveness on the right?
Certainly left and right is more of a spectrum but I think it is also true that there more more on the left spectrum that are in the hard left side – look at this current administration – think Van Jones was an aberration?
For rational people on both ends it would be irrational to lump everyone with one political tendency or the other to all hold certain beliefs.
BTW do you know how the terms of political left and right came into being?
Tom,
That was the episode I saw too, and that one soured me on watching any others.
Cliche, Cliche, Cliche
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