TV Review: The Morning Show

During the lock-down, my wife and I wanted to sample some new shows.  Particularly we were interested in checking out the flagship show on Apple TV: The Morning Show.  The first two episodes were free.  After that, you had to sign up for a subscription trial.

We only made it to the first 10 minutes of the 4th episode.

The show was much ballyhooed as Jennifer Aniston's return to television.  And to be fair, her performance as well as all of the actors involved is actually quite good.  The problem is that they are giving their time to a show that is flawed down to its core.

Aniston plays Alex Levy, the co-host of a network news morning show.  The show begins with the breaking news that her longtime partner Mitch Kessler (Steve Carell) has just been accused of sexual harassment.  This throws the show completely for a loop as executive producer Chip Black (Mark Duplass) tries to hold everything together while the head of the news division Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup), the slick entertainment-minded executive, pushes him to shake things up.  Levy is being boxed into a corner while her own job is on the line.  Meanwhile, a low-level reporter Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) goes viral as she screeches at a man at a coal protest.  Ellison likes her no-nonsense style and brings her to The Morning Show.  Through circumstances that I will not spoil here, Jackson ends up as Mitch Kessler's replacement.

You can tell that a lot of care was given in the creation of the show.  All of the performances are good or at least interesting.  The filming makes the production of the news show and the behind-the-scenes an interesting affair.  The plot itself was interesting enough to keep us coming back to find out what happened next, even though the characters were incredibly flawed and difficult to like.  All of these things, while not great, was good enough.

Where the show failed was in the writing.

It isn't that there wasn't great skill evident in the writing, it was the strange, illogical fantasy element that takes you completely out of the story.  When I wrote my review for the Mindy Kaling movie Late Night, I noted that the filmmakers stray from reality by having their leads lean heavily into very divisive politics like abortion and coming out more popular on the other side.  As I've written before, the more politically divisive the entertainment becomes, the more accolades it receives from critics while audiences bleed away.  If you set out to insult half of your audience, why would they stay?  You can see this especially in comic books as well, where creators seem to actively hate their customers.  But in the realm of fiction, you can write things so that they go the way you want and not as they believably would.

This brings me to the character of Bradley Jackson.  She is so abrasive that I do not understand why she becomes so popular.  Her rant against the man in the viral video comes off a an unhinged screed rather than an explosion of righteous wisdom.  Later on, I began to give the character the benefit of the doubt because she said that she is apolitical and is only interested in the truth.  So she is set up as the inexperieneced idealist in the cynical world of broadcast news.

Then she says on live TV that she had an abortion at 15.

Now, I must place up front my perspective and you can judge if I am overreacting or not.  As a Catholic, I hold abortion to be one of the most horrific evils visited upon the world.  The killing of unborn children in such mass numbers in the name of emotional or material needs seems an unconscionable thing to do.  A number of years ago, movies like Juno and Knocked Up were attacked critics because the characters did not abort their unplanned pregnancies.  I remember reading an article which lamented the fact that studios were worried that audiences would lose sympathy for a character who has an elective abortion.

The thing is that this fear is well-founded.  I remember reading a comic series called Invincible, where I had gone back and collected the entire run of the series.  But then one of the main characters has an abortion and I could bring myself to buy another issue.  The same thing happened with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic (though I believe it turned out later that things weren't exactly as they seemed).  But many in the entertainment industry don't WANT this to be the case.  This is why a number of TV shows depict women having abortions with no negative consequences.  Even in real life, celebrities like Alyssa Milano and Michelle Williams proudly proclaimed their abortions.

I could follow The Morning Show if it took a more realistic, even if sympathetic, view of Bradley's abortion.  But the entire issue is couched in her horrible home life and how brave she is to speak out.  On the show, high school girls march in protest in support for Bradley.  She becomes held up for her bravery and strength. 

But I just cannot buy it.

I'm sure that there would be some part of the population that would applaud Bradley.  It is probably the same group that is producing this show.  But outside of true believers, a character getting an abortion does much more to alienate rather than endear people in the audience, myself included.  Again, it isn't that a character who gets an abortion is irredeemable or uninteresting.  It is how the abortion is used in the story.  What galls me isn't even so much the abortion as it is the desire to mold this into some kind of heroic action that strikes a chord with millions of Americans.  It feels so fundamentally untruthful and ugly that I didn't care about the show anymore. 

And this is supposed to be the main attraction for purchasing an Apple TV subscription: a show that wallows in narcissism and celebrates the killing of unborn babies.  The makers of The Morning Show did the one thing that no show should ever do: it made me not want to watch it.

Someone tell me again how popular Apple TV is now?

Wednesday Comics: DC Universe App

Many months ago, DC Comics launched an app.  It was a subscription service that would have a catalogue of older DC TV shows, digital comics, and new productions like Titans and Swamp Thing.

Being the DC fanboy that I am, I paid for the subscription right away.  But honestly... I was unimpressed. 

The new shows really did not appeal to me.  I didn't understand the super dark tone of Titans, especially in how they portray Dick Grayson.  The older shows were interesting, but sampling them did not reignite nostalgia the way I wanted.  And their catalogue of digital comics seemed sparse and ti was difficult to navigate.

To tell the truth, after a few weeks, I forgot I paid for a subscription.

Cut to the current lockdown.

Now I am on the app daily.

For me, the biggest improvement has been their comic book catalogue.  During the lockdown, I began to re-visit the entire Geoff Johns run of Green Lantern.  This included all of the ancillary stories in Blackest Night and Brightest Day.  I have all of the comics bagged and boarded in my collection.  But there is such a convenience to having the entire storyline available in the app.  The navigation is much smoother and easier to read.  Not only that, but with the app on the TV, I can read comics from my television.  The app allows you to go through the comic panel by panel, which gives it a nice sequential tension to the stories.  They even have access to some stories that have come out only in the last few months like Doomsday Clock and Batman: White Knight.

Another wonderful re-discovery is the show Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.  I was in high school when the show came out and I was so happy that the focus was on the interpersonal relationships between the leads.  Watching it again, there are many things that do not hold up.  But looking at it as a product of its day, much can be forgiven.  What makes this especially fun is that my wife had never seen the series before and it is all brand new to her.  The show is basically a rom-com dressed up in a super hero costume.  And that is when the show works best.  When it focuses on the super-heroics, it really shows its age.  Years later I read the comic Mary Jane written by the great Sean McKeever.  It was a comic focused on the high school drama of Mary Jane Watson where Spider-Man was only in the background.  That comic blew me away because it showed me that compelling characters could be a bigger draw to me than explosive action.  And that is what my wife and I are seeing with this show.

But the happiest thing for me is now that they have expanded their comic library.  There are a lot of classic storylines I have read throughout my life.  Now that they are up there, I have been able to read them with my wife.  Trying to go through something as complex as No Man's Land would have been difficult to do together.  But now it can be a shared experience.  Not only has my wife loved them, but there is now a greater joy in the stories for me because they are shared with someone I love.

Even though things are hopefully going to loosen up soon, if you are someone who would get several hours of enjoyment from everything this app has to offer, it is a good investment.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have return to that comic book universe that I love so much.

Film Flash: Gemini Man

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

Enjoyable action film if you turn off your brain to the sci-fi plot.

Charity of the Month: American Red Cross and Local Food Banks

I know that I have often championed the Red Cross here on this blog.  One of the things I like about them is that they get a good percentage of the funds raised to people who need it.  And because their organization has such a large reach, many people can be affected. 

Another thing I like about them is that you can earmark where you want your donations to go.  For example, if you want the money to help with relief for the current pandemic, you can direct your donation there.

You can donate here. 

And since all charity should begin locally, I would encourage you to make a donation to your local food bank.  Many people are feeling food insecurity and could use our help.  At my local food bank, they say that every dollar can provide 4 nutritious meals.  Even giving $10 would mean that you have fed the poor 40 times, and that is a beautiful thing.

Please consider giving something.  Even though money is tight for many of us, there is always someone who is in greater poverty.  Remember the poor widow who have only two pennies.  Christ said that she gave more than all the ones who have from their surplus, because she gave from her need. 

As always, I will never ask anyone to do anything I am not willing to do myself.

Film Flash: Onward

15 words or less film review (full review to follow soon)

Clever take on family and fantasy.  Too melancholy for kids, but okay for adults.

New Evangelizers Post: 40 Days After Easter

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com.  

We are in the Easter Season.

It always struck me as a strange quirk of our modern society that we have such a hard time keeping track of the liturgical seasons. All throughout Advent, people say that we are in the Christmas season. And then once we enter the actual Christmas season, all displays of Christmas vanish as we focus on New Year’s and Valentine’s. This is partly a result of business trying to influence our shopping patterns, but we can also see the same thing occur with Easter.

We spent 40 days of Lent preparing our hearts for the greatest day of the liturgical year. But as soon as Easter is over, all of that joy and anticipation subsides. This is a problem because we have to remember something important:

There are another 40 days after Easter.

The Bible tells us that after the Resurrection, Christ spent 40 days with His disciples before he Ascended into heaven. The number 40 is an important one throughout the Bible. “40” represents a complete amount. It rained for 40 days and nights for Noah to describe the complete amount of time it would take to flood the earth. The Hebrews wandered for 40 years in the desert for the complete amount of time it would take for the wicked generation to die out. King David reigned for 40 years, showing how God gave Him a complete reign and did not cut it short despite his sins. And Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, representing the complete amount of time He needed to prepare for His mission.

As a side note, it is important to remember that just because we say something is symbolic, it does not stop it from also being literal. Things can be literal and symbolic at the same time. The Eucharist is the ultimate example of this, where it is what we call an “efficacious sign.” This means that it brings about that which it signifies. I only bring up this point because sometimes Catholics become a bit trepidation when told that things like the 40 days and night of Noah have a symbolic meaning. Too often Bible scholars try to demythologize the Word of God and reduce it all to mere symbolism. But the Bible is profoundly a book to be reduced in this way. The point is that I am not trying to say in this article that these “40’s” are only symbolic and not a literal count of time.

Returning to the Easter story, we Jesus slowly reveal His presence to the disciples in the Gospel of John. The Gospel reading from this past Sunday tells the story of Mary Magdalene informing Peter and John about the empty tomb. The two Apostles run to the tomb and find it empty along with the burial clothes. When John sees this, he believes. Why did Jesus arrange things to happen this way instead of boldly manifesting His glory to them right away. Because He is trying to teach us the first lesson of the Easter season:

Easter is an invitation to faith.

None of the four Gospels describe the actual moment of Resurrection. In all of them, the disciples find the tomb empty. At this evidence, they have a choice: believe or doubt. As I wrote last week, it is not as black and white as this, but they have the opportunity to believe before they see Him. This is the opportunity that Thomas is given.

After Christ appears to the 10, Thomas refuses to believe until he sees. Jesus was actually giving Thomas a great gift in giving Him an opportunity to believe. Once Thomas sees Christ, He has no room for doubt. He no longer works off of just faith. He now has knowledge of the Risen Lord in a way that we don’t. And this knowledge will compel Him to leave the land of his birth and walk all the way to India where he will be martyred. Jesus famously says to him, ““Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” (John 20:29)

Why does Jesus call us, who haven’t seen Him, more blessed than Thomas, who has seen Him? 

Because we must rely on faith and not our sight. In a sense, our faith must be stronger because we do not have the benefit of Thomas’s experience. So how do we strengthen this faith? There are many ways, but one of them coincides with a second lesson of the Easter season:

Time with Christ.

As Christians, we should always spend time with our Lord. During the Lenten season, we imitate Christ’s preparation in the desert. In a sense we entered spiritual boot camp. But the Easter season is a bit different in tone.

We have very few stories during the 40 days after Easter. We have the above-mentioned appearances, the story of the road to Emmaus, Jesus having breakfast with the Apostles after they spent all night fishing, and that is about it. So what was Jesus doing with them the rest of the time. I do not know for sure, but let me hazard a speculation.

A student once asked me how anyone could know what Jesus prayed during the Agony in the Garden if all of the Apostles were asleep. I said, “Jesus told them.”

“When,” responded the student, “they arrested Him immediately and killed Him the next day.”

“And,” I returned, “He rose again. What do you think He was doing during those 40 days before He Ascended?”

You can read the whole article here.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Easter 2020

There is darkness and gloom in this fallen world, but Christ has conquered the world.

It is the most audacious thing in the world to believe the Easter message.  And that message is this: death is temporary.  When we encounter death, it feels like a permanent separation, an ending of our relationships.  But because Jesus rose from the dead, He has conquered death.  Now, death is "falling asleep" and we are all waiting for the new day to dawn!

While we have been sheltered in place, many of us feel, in a small way, that we have been inside of the tomb.  The analogy is not perfect by any means, but there is a a sense of confinement.  I remember feeling this way when I had to spend a month in the hospital with a broken back.  I was cut off from normal life and shut away.  But what got me through that time, among many things, was the hope that all of this darkness would end.

And it did.

All of this darkness we are experiencing now will end.

I am reminded of the words of the great Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings.  When he saw a star shining above the mirky clouds of Mordor he said:  "There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

This day is that white star that rekindles hope in a land that feels forsaken.

Today is about hope beyond hope.  Today we commit ourselves to the belief that light has triumphed over darkness and life has triumphed over death.

He is Risen.

Alleluia!