JMS has outliberaled me

I'm pretty liberal. Sometimes, I will dislike a television show or book simply on the grounds that its message was not liberal enough. I like my media to push agendas I agree with. Otherwise I feel like I'm having an argument with my entertainment.

Here's an example: I disliked the pilot for that new tv show V because it was too xenophobic. It praises those who are fearful and doubtful of people (aliens, visitors, whatever) who are different. It's also interesting how they positioned the aliens as "visitors." As in they quickly outstay their welcome and have to leave. It's interesting actually- the very word alien has come to mean creatures from space, but in reality, the word means different or strange. It's like calling other life "differents." I find it even more odd that immigrants have been branded with that title as well. Of course, I'm not the one in charge of the propaganda machines, and if I was, I think I'd be plugging a different message.

Which brings me back to JMS. I just finished volume 3 of his Rising Stars. A more liberal piece of work I have not seen in a while. Comic books in general (particularly the popular ones) seem to have a tendency towards leftist politics. Take Watchmen, for instance. The republican government is portrayed as manipulative, immoral, and uncaring, as well as strongly implicated in the assassination of JFK. Despite Alan Moore's unflattering portrayal of the republican party, they still look like saints in comparison to JMS's portrayal of them. I appreciate liberal propaganda as much as the next person, but even I can suspend disbelief only so far.

*SPOILER ALERT*

It was interesting to see a vision of a liberal utopia and how such a utopia could be created given our starting materials, but I doubt we'd be seeing an end to drug wars, nuclear armament, or war in the middle east even with a group of super powered folk being total do gooders. Frankly, each step in the progression was totally understandable. JMS even thought of a shockingly plausible solution to ending war in the Middle East (plausible assuming you could telekinetically manipulate small things). Sure it was a beautiful vision and sentiment, but the changes were so sweeping and grandiose that it made it hard for me to really get into it. I mean, solving everything that's wrong with the world? In the span of a lifetime? That's some pretty hardcore suspension of disbelief, even if you do go along with the whole super powers theme. Everything just ended up too perfect, albeit in a very bittersweet way for our main characters.

*END SPOILER ALERT*

This makes me think of an earlier point I made about comics being somewhat left leaning. Rising Stars couldn't be made into a movie or a tv show. I just don't think we could see it in the mainstream. I think it's just too liberal for that. In a sense, that makes me proud, that I'm a fan of a genre that's above average liberal. I didn't even think that was true until recently, and even now, it's a hunch and not something I know. But still, I was naturally drawn to the more liberal media. I believe nerdy material (and nerds in general) tend to be a somewhat liberal bunch. This realization just makes me thing nerds are even cooler than I already believed. Hurrah!