Ellen Leventry: October 2006 Archives

The "Show Me" state's airwaves have been overrun with showmen these past two weeks, leading up to a hotly contested Senate race between incumbent between Republican Sen. Jim Talent, who opposes an embryonic stem cell initiative, and Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill, who supports it. Celebrities including Michael J. Fox, Sheryl Crow, Particia Heaton, and Jim Caviezel have all participated in campaign ads, creating a Battle of the Network Stars: The Left Team vs. The Right Team.

The showdown began with Michael J. Fox--actor, Parkinson's activist, and a member of the NBC Battle for the Network stars team--stomping for McCaskill and the stem cell initiative in ads that the Associated Press has called "powerfully vulnerable" and Rush Limbaugh decried as Fox just "acting" and "off his medication." In the ads, Fox is visibly sufferring from the effects of his Parkinson's, swerving and bobbing back and forth. Maybe Fox wasn't on his medication serving to dramatically illustrate--critics would say exploit--the plight of Parkinson's sufferers. But campaign ads are manipulative by nature; think Dukakis and Willie Horton. (Fox has also taped ads for Representative Benjamin L. Cardin, running for the Senate in Maryland, and Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle.)

Not to be outdone by The Left Team, self-professed conservative celebrities attempted a counter-play by releasing ads opposing the stem cell initiative ballot. "Everybody Loves Raymond" star Patricia Heaton, actor Jim Caviezel (Jesus from "The Passion of the Christ"), and football great Kurt Warner are hoping to energize opponents of embryonic stem cell research.

When Ronald Reagan was elected to the presidency in 1980, his acting past was fodder for stand-up comedians and political enemies alike. Now, with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the California governor's office, Sean Penn reporting from Iraq, and celebrity after celebrity testifying before Congress, we don't blink twice when personalities morph into our politicians, and vice versa; think former President Clinton on "Arsenio" and MTV. But do these talking heads really make us vote for the issues, turn us off completely, or just serve to create name recognition? All of the above.

All political leanings aside, and even with the man who played Jesus as his competition, I would give Fox the victory in this Battle. It's hard not to be affected by his plea and his presence; besides, who could say no to Marty McFly?

Watch Michael J. Fox's ad here, and the right-wing response ad here.

Readers of Entertainment Weekly's cover story on Battlestar Galactica's third season premiere probably weren't shocked to read that this year's series would be colored with shades of occupied Iraq. President Gaius Baltar's surrrender of New Caprica to the Cylons and collaboration with the man-made robots set up the perfect lead-in to a modern morality tale, reflecting not only current events in the Middle East, but Nazi Germany and Serbia as well.

Science fiction shows have always tackled important topics of the day, cloaked in the safety of events occurring in a galaxy far, far away. "Star Trek" tackled racism in one of its most famous episodes--featuring the Cherons with faces that were half black and half white--and even showed the first interracial kiss on television. But "Battlestar Galactica" is moving light years beyond other shows--such as "Doctor Who," with it's wink to fictional "Mass Weapons of Destruction"--by creating confrontational, and at times uncomfortable, viewing.

Horace Newcomb, director of the Peabody Awards, told E!Online, when Battlestar Galactica won that award, that "it treats contemporary issues from an angle that really make you think about those issues... issues of race, gender, all those things are dealt with in that context."

Having found an inhabitable planet, the newly elected President Baltar leads most of the remaining human race down to settle New Caprica. However, Captain Adama and much of the fleet remain abord ship, circling the planet for fear of a Cylon attack. For one year, all is peaceful, and then the Cylons appear, wrangling the humans on the planet into shanty towns and zones, creating an occupied New Caprica. The fleet, ill-prepared after a year of lazing around, and having lost much of its crew, retreats in order to regroup and retrain those still aboard.

The season opener features scenes of prisoners being kept in Guantanamo-like conditions, intimations of horrific tortures, random detentions, mass executions, and secret police made up of humans working with the Cylons. The human resistance retaliates with a coordinated series of suicide bombings--a practice most viewers find abhorrent, having seen casualty counts rising from these type attacks on the evening news. But, these are the "good guys" carrying out the attacks; the type of underhanded attacks politicians and pundits ascribe to cowards.

As a whole, the Cylons remain unambiguously the "bad guys," with the marvelously malevolent Dean Stockwell Brother Cavil forcing Baltar to sign an order of mass execution for anyone suspected of helping the underground. The picture being painted is not subtle, and the strokes are broad--no more so than 2005's FX cinema verite-shot Iraq War drama "Over There," but again, this is all taking place in a galaxy far, far, away.

Apparently Scientology has just zoomed by Kabbalah in the race to be crowned most scandalously hip belief. Sure, there was the Tom Cruise show of last year, but that was only leading up to the coronation. Having a Scientology storyline included in television's most scandalous show, "Nip/Tuck"--now that's a crowning achievement.

Centering on the Miami plastic surgery office of Drs. Sean McNamara and Christian Troy, "Nip/Tuck" is the kind of show where a story arch about Sean and Christian just doing a simple nose job would be shocking, simply shocking, to the show's viewers, who expect the salacious and scandalous, which are the norm for this FX network hit: Serial killers with no penises, mother-daughter threesomes, face cream made out of sperm, human organ trafficking, and lots and lots of nudity.

The Scientology subplot is sandwiched in and given much less airtime than the others. (Is Christian really gay and in love with Sean? And, if so why is he having sex with his married boss who's being blackmailed?) But it is just as tasty.

This season, Kimber--Christian's ex-fiance and and an ex-porn star--has discovered Scientology and is bringing Matt McNamara into the fold. Matt is Sean's adopted son, but his biological father is actually Christian Troy.

While we've been getting hints and glimmers of the Scientology storyline, last night's episode was a reward for those patiently waiting for something to develop. It was sprinkled with Scientology speak--Kimber mentions Thetans at one point, and the episode also references the "Detox," a combination of large doses of vitamins and sauna done to rid bodies of toxins and other chemicals, such as the anti-depressants Matt was on last season.

Even though Matt's grades are up since joining the Church of Scientology, Sean and Julia (his mother) and Christian, are deeply worried. And superficial Christian doesn't fail to come through by saying: "It's humiliating for him, for us." Of course, he may simply be reacting to the fact that Matt has already told Christian that he must cut him out of his life, since Christian is a "Suppressive Person"--according to Scientology, a person who impedes the progress of a practitioner.

Sean and Christian try to bribe Matt into returning to the family fold with a shiny black Porsche. And while he has dreams of the very sexy Kimber, whom he has a crush on, being impressed with the car, she instead chastizes him, saying that his choice of materialism means he's not ready for real spiritual growth.

Kimber and Matt head back to his parents with another member of the Church to remove Matt's belongings and move him to a center. Christian and Sean stage an intervention/abduction, but it goes awry.

Of course, this whole subplot couldn't have been done without the help of Cruise. Prior to Cruise's bizarre antics, writers of all ilks stayed away from the topic, due to the Church of Scientology's legendary litigiousness. But Tom's "The Today Show" interview and the subsequent back-and-forth with Brooke Shields over post-partum depression opened the religion up to criticism and "Nip/Tuck" creator Ryan Murphy and his team ran with it.

What they've come up with is riveting stuff--and realistic, at least for a show that could usually be described as plastic.