In the 20th season premiere,“Survivor”nice guy Colby Donaldson is literally dragged through the sand by a member of the opposing team. Colby’s face is covered in sand as his opponent drags his body to help his own team win the challenge. After the challenge, Colby looks embarrassed and defeated. Thus, the battle between heroes and villains began on the fun and entertaining new season of the long-running CBS program.

When “Survivor” premiered a decade ago it was a hugely popular show celebrated on magazine covers across the country. EW.com even noted that the first season finale of the program was  the second highest-rated show of the last decade. Since that time the series has continued to do well in the ratings for CBS and has helped spawn numerous other reality shows. Although I watched the earliest seasons of the program and the “All Stars” season, I have not been a devout fan.

Because the 20th season includes some of the most high-profile players from past seasons, I decided to watch again to see if the show was still as entertaining as I remembered. This season the contestants have been divided into two groups: heroes and villains. (more…)

Watching “24″ this week, I realized that our number one threat is multi-national corporations with battalions of hired killers on the payroll.  Similarly, “Michael Clayton,” “The International,” the new “State of Play” and many others have taught me that big companies assassinate their rivals, whistleblowers, policemen and random passersby with astonishing regularity.

I wish.  But then, I’m a trial lawyer and I could use a new house.

Sadly, the real world is much more esoteric than the portrait Hollywood paints, and the real threat is not quite so picturesque.  Instead of corporate death squads composed of hardboiled mercenaries with high tech assault rifles, the real killers are boring jihadi doofuses with dusty AKs, booby-trapped Fiats and the occasional boxcutter.   

Let’s stop and check the numbers.  Real terrorists, counting the victims of 9/11 and American losses in Iraq and Afghanistan: Over 7900 murdered. Victims of corporate murder: Zero. Nada. Zip. I would add in the number of Iraqis and Afghanis murdered by these folks, except that toll is beyond counting.  And to many liberals, their lives don’t seem to count anyway. (more…)

The new Stephen Sommers-directed G.I. Joe movie headed to theaters this summer kicked the U.S.A. out of the bunker and put “The Real American Hero” under international command. The thinking at the time by Hollywood execs held that the U.S. was hated by the rest of the world and could no longer be seen as heroic.

Superman Returns screenwriters Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris shortened Superman’s call to arms to just “Truth and Justice” because “The American Way” was supposedly not worth fighting for anymore. They then proceeded to transform The Man of Steel into a simpering, self-absorbed drama queen.

Why has Hollywood worked so diligently to remove well-focused, admirable heroes from American movies? The primary reason was George W. Bush’s presence in the White House and the primary focus of his administration — the war against Islamic militants. (more…)