JAG political climate

Cafe Society
1

I just finished watching the season finale of JAG (“The #1 action drama on television”, although I hope later episodes emphasize a little more of the “drama” part).

I’m not going to ask about the plot, or the chance events, or the marksmanship, or Admiral Chegwidden’s attitude (this has got to be the snippiest TV flag officer I’ve seen in my life). I think the overall unlikeliness of nearly everything about this show is unarguable. What I want to know is what kind of sociopolitical image it’s trying to present.

Okay, I know that CBS is ferociously pro-military; note that nearly everyone on JAG who ever speaks out against our military’s shortcomings (many of them were right on target, BTW) is one of the bad guys. Or seriously deluded. Let’s not forget The Agency, and I can’t imagine the balls it took to start a show favorable toward the CIA.

The season finale, however, raised a few issues. To wit:

  • Hadid or however you spell the terrorist leader’s name. I’m not sure where he’s from (he’s wtih Al Quaeda, but that doesn’t really help much). He’s fiercely antisemetic, even spelling out his grievances, and follows Islam, but only to the point where it’s convenient for him. Here’s the kicker, though…not only does he feel justified in killing Americans as part of jihad, he also despises “free countries”. (This sounds suspiciously like dubious “terorrists hate freedom” line I heard shortly after That Date.) And he’s planning a huge attack on an American target with Stinger missiles. Stolen Stinger missiles. Oh, right, he also mentions that Americans are occupying his country.

Okay…some people have really complex personalities, I understand, but what the hell kind of point is CBS trying to make with him? More to the point, how can anyone even tell with such an impossible mishmash of a character? Al Quaeda is a terrorist network headquartered in Saudi Arabia, one of our allies, so of course Americans can’t be occupying this country. If he’s from Afghanistan, that would make more sense (and certainly explain his rabid anti-American sentiment), but I think he’d be far more concerned about his own country than any Israeli occupation. Of course, he CAN’T be from secular Iraq. So, other than “terrorists that attack America with stolen weaponry are really, really bad”, I don’t know what the heck to make of him.

  • The missionaries, who are also pretty critical of American policy (to the point where Mac shouts them down), conspire with Hadid in the hopes of winning their freedom (the church can’t afford to pay their ransom), and get killed in the end.

Oh-kay…I’m assuming that they represent the “Blame America First” contingent, who secretly want the terrorists to win and are basically clueless dolts. And they get what all traitorious terrorist-loving dogs deserve in the end. (“In your religion, there is Jesus, and there is Judas. You followed the wrong one.”)

Except that, um, these are Christians. And they’re innocent victims in all this, even more than Mac and Clay. Did I mention that they’re Christians? Part of the religion that overwhelmingly dominates our political landscape?

  • And of course, there’s Harm, who’s supposed to represent all that’s good on this show via always finding a way to win. The Admiral won’t let him jet off to Paraguay just because a fellow officer is in danger, so he resigns his commission. (He did this stunt before, but it was just a symbolic gesture…he didn’t fill out the paperwork in triplicate, so it didn’t count. This time he’s serious.)

So apparently this show’s even taking a jab at the military establishment itself for not doing what it takes to stop terrorism. Well, that’s certainly a valid claim…and completely unlike anything I’d ever expect to see on JAG. Maybe it’s something they wanted to do for some time but couldn’t because of constant need to alwasy be pro-military. So they put it in, but made it subtle so the network wouldn’t notice.

Or maybe I’m just reading too much into this. But with Harm involved, you really have to wonder.

So…I’m confused. Anyone care to discuss?

[P.S.: While I’m at it…can someone please explain to me why, despite the fact that Clay and Harm have cooperated, collaborated, and co-conspired on countless occasions, often unwittingly, why does Clay always get so indignant whenever Harm asks him for help? Has he ever said no to this guy? Ever?]

2

The Hadid guy, yeah, he bugged me. He just didn’t seem…realistic. Of course, I don’t exactly know many terrorist guys in real life, but still. He was all over the map, contradicting himself every second. (Then again…he’s supposed to be crazy, isn’t he?)

I don’t like it when JAG delves into the political stuff. Their individual cases are almost always more interesting, but their ULTRA-COOL-SPECIAL-EFFECTS-SEASON-FINALES are always pretty silly.

Clay…Clay is cool, but also weird. I think Clay is jealous of Harm because he gets to see Mac on a daily basis.

Oh, and I didn’t see any of that lady who was in last week’s episode, the one Harm had to “marry” to appease her then-dying mother. I wonder if she was at all worried about Harm.

3

Well, frankly, I think you’re reading FAR too much into the characters and the show in general. I don’t watch it, though, so I’m not going to comment on it except for the above quote.

Why couldn’t the Islamic terrorist be from Iraq? Iraq is not just some giant, monotonous sack of secularism. There are people who are more religious than others, and there are certainly sects of extreme Islamicism in there. Let’s try not to stereotype.

4

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by DKW *
**Okay, I know that CBS is ferociously pro-military; note that nearly everyone on JAG who ever speaks out against our military’s shortcomings (many of them were right on target, BTW) is one of the bad guys. Or seriously deluded.
**

Not really. That female congressperson was a favorable character and she had some criticisms of the military that were admitted to.

**

  • Hadid or however you spell the terrorist leader’s name. I’m not sure where he’s from (he’s wtih Al Quaeda, but that doesn’t really help much). He’s fiercely antisemetic, even spelling out his grievances, and follows Islam, but only to the point where it’s convenient for him. Here’s the kicker, though…not only does he feel justified in killing Americans as part of jihad, he also despises “free countries”. (This sounds suspiciously like dubious “terorrists hate freedom” line I heard shortly after That Date.)
    **

Given the fact that Al Quaeda was set up in a country where people were very very strictly controlled I think saying that “terrorists hate freedom” is a fair thing to say.

**
And he’s planning a huge attack on an American target with Stinger missiles. Stolen Stinger missiles. Oh, right, he also mentions that Americans are occupying his country.

Okay…some people have really complex personalities, I understand, but what the hell kind of point is CBS trying to make with him? More to the point, how can anyone even tell with such an impossible mishmash of a character? Al Quaeda is a terrorist network headquartered in Saudi Arabia, one of our allies, so of course Americans can’t be occupying this country.
**

Wrong. That is the key gripe that Al Quaeda has. All this stuff with the Palestinians is a late comer to get support across the Arab world. What pissed Bin Laden off more than anything was the fact that the US had military bases on the “holy ground” of Saudi Arabia. The terrorists consider it occupation and blame the US and the royal family.
**
So apparently this show’s even taking a jab at the military establishment itself for not doing what it takes to stop terrorism. Well, that’s certainly a valid claim…and completely unlike anything I’d ever expect to see on JAG. Maybe it’s something they wanted to do for some time but couldn’t because of constant need to alwasy be pro-military. So they put it in, but made it subtle so the network wouldn’t notice.

Or maybe I’m just reading too much into this.
**

That would be my guess. In fact, I think Chegwidden is conspiring to try to help them as best he can, and we will find this out next season.

5

RikWriter - Okay, I guess I’m reading a little too much into this, but JAG is immensely pro-military…anyone who’s seen half a season can attest to this.

I’m actually more confused by how they handled the missionaires than anything else. I figured that we’re supposed to sympathize with them, since they were working to improve the lives of others and are innocent victims in this whole deal. But the things I heard from them sound like the “Blame America First” contingent’s arguments (what I’ve heard about it; I seriously doubt something like this actually exists), and the whole bit with appeasing the terrorist only to get killed by him in the end struck me as…eerily familiar. So are they the good guys? Bad guys? Neutral? Just doin’ the work of God and don’t care nuthin’ about anything else? I’ve never known JAG to have morally ambiguous guest stars.

Of course, if CBS really believes that our national security depends on a pair of lawyers dropping dynamite out of a crop duster, that’s a far more scathing indictment of our military than anything those missionaries could’ve come up with. :smiley:

6

I think the man missionary was to be seen as a sympathetic figure, while his wife was to be seen as a victim who had been brainwashed by Sadik.

7

I don’t really follow the plot line. I’m too busy staring at Mac’s boobs.

8

Well, I’m guessing the real JAG is pretty pro-military, so what do you expect? Usually it’s just good guys vs. bad guys, so take any nuances from this as bright points.

The “terrorists hate freedom” line is b.s. public relations jargon, but it’s hardly unconventional, since our own president repeats it on several occasions. In short, I don’t think CBS is doing anything too extreme here. Who is JAG’s audience? All my military and ex-military friends watch it religiously. I myself am trying to join the real life JAG. That’s their audience. They play to it, and frankly those are the opinions of alot of their viewing audience.

And don’t read too much into it. A real JAG officer doesn’t see combat unless he’s on a tour with a carrier, doing taxes and divorces and stuff like that for the enlisted folk, and they happen upon some bad guys at sea, which will pretty much never happen. So they have artistic license up the wazzoo with this show to begin with.