Reality imitating fiction: Babylon 5 & Sean Hannity

[Upchurch]

My fiancee and I are working through tapes of the classic science fiction epic Babylon 5 (http://www2.warnerbros.com/babylon5/home.html). Now, I've already seen the show many years ago, but my fiancee is watching for the first time. In the third season of the show, there is a sequence of events that occur where the corrupt Earth government uses popeganda to raise fear and hatred of aliens (i.e. those who are different than us) to eventually declaire martial law.

Anyway, the reason I bring this up is that we are watching all this during beginning, execution, and end of the latest Gulf War. Many times, we would see something on the show and say, "didn't this just actually happen?"

As a specific example, I was just listening to the Sean Hannity radio show, as I sometimes do, when Sean tells us how nobody is homeless who doesn't choose to be. This, in my opinion, is very similar to a reoccuring theme from Babylon 5 where the (evil) Earth governement declares that there "are no homeless on Earth. Oh, sure. There are the mentally deranged or those too lazy to get a job, but you can hardly be blame the President for that." (not an exact quote)

Is anyone else familiar with the show and who sees the similarities?

[Jet Grind]

Yeah, I can certainly see the similarities there. Of course we can't forget good ol' Sean's accusation of all liberals, atheist, homosexuals, immigrants, etc. of being responsible for all the ills that we face here the US. Damn, he also reminds me a lot of a famous Austrian that killed about six-million Jews half a century ago.

[Upchurch]

Originally posted by Jet Grind
Yeah, I can certainly see the similarities there. Of course we can't forget good ol' Sean's accusation of all liberals, atheist, homosexuals, immigrants, etc. of being responsible for all the ills that we face here the US. Not to derail my own thread, but I listen to conservative talk radio mostly for the fun of it. It amazes me how much Hannity, O'Rilley, Savage, et al continue to rail on the Clintons. I'm honestly surprised they haven't figured out a way to blame Bill and Hilary for SARS yet.

[JoxterTheMighty]

Wow! I thought I was the only one that noticed the similarities in B5! I wonder when the Office of Homeland Security will be setting up a Night Watch! :eek:

-Joxter-

[a_unique_person]

I didn't get to watch much of Babs, as my TV station had it on late at night and regularly shifted it around or dropped it if they felt like it.

However, I do remember that episode which was a classic. It reminded me very much of Yes Minister and an Australian comedy series, 'Frontline', (which I believe stole it's name from a serious American current affairs program).

Unfortunately, manipulation of public opinion has been alive and well since the time of the Greeks, (the ancient ones, that is), and it has only become more sophisticated in the tools it can use.

Sadly, it will still be with us centuries from now, as Babs has reminded us. We will just have to try to keep our powers of skepticism alert.



SCENE FROM FRONTLINE

MIKE: I just got off the phone with Marian.

PROUSEY: Who?

MIKE: Marian, from the Cape York Health Council.

PROUSEY: Oh, right.

MIKE: Raised some very interesting points about Aboriginal health - we're on a winner here. Journos go up to these communities all the time, very concerned about the issue - lots of serious looks - and at the end of the day their stories become nothing more than a cheap vehicle for screening negative images.

PROUSEY: How do you mean?

MIKE: You know, drunks, families living in squalor, kids with flies in their faces. And you know why they go for these images?

PROUSEY: Why?

MIKE: Er - oh yeah, here. Because when you show people as pathetic and poor, it reinforces the notion that it's all their own fault.

PROUSEY: Why would we want to do that?

MIKE: It's obvious. Um. Oh yeah - because our audience is largely white and conservative, they don't want to feel guilty, so we keep showing them negative images, reinforcing the notion that nothing changes, you can try to help these people but it doesn't make a difference; at the end of the day Aborigines only have themselves to blame.

PROUSEY: No, it doesn't happen much.

[a_unique_person]

ANDREW: See Mike, take a look at all the stuff over here.

MIKE: Yes well you see, I mean, like that's vandalism.

ANDREW: It's not vandalism.

MIKE: Yes it is, I mean maybe you can learn something for us - they've dragged a perfectly good bed out of the house and now they're using it as a cooker. Why?

ANDREW: Why? Because some bureaucratic dickhead in Canberra sends up 200 gas stoves and fridges, and we don't even have gas up here.

MIKE: Oh, that is madness.

ANDREW: And then they say, 'Oh the Aboriginals, we're trying to help them and they just abuse it.'

MIKE: Oh that is fantastic - that is going in the voiceover, Andrew, absolutely. How do you spell bureaucratic?

ANDREW: Look at this!

( Later on, the report is shown)

NARRATOR (MARTY): -- all the taxpayers' money poured into Aboriginal communities, these are the end results - a perfectly good bed, dragged outside and burnt.

MIKE: What is this?

[corplinx]

I'm not sure listening to am radio is quite on the same level as the official and pervasive media in b5.

[BillyTK]

Let's see now; government comes to power under suspicious circumstances; shadowy organisation directing government policy; government adopts an aggressive and xenophobic stance as well as introducing policies to monitor its citizens activities.

Nope, sorry, I don't see any comparison with Babylon 5! ;) :D

So if the Neo-cons are the Shadows, does that mean that the Vorlons are the French? The Shadows' question was "What do you want?"; the US offered aid to those who would back an attack on Iraq; the Vorlons' question was, "Who are you?" and the French turned the anti-war bloc into an issue of identity.... hmmm...

[c0rbin]

I'm not sure listening to am radio is quite on the same level as the official and pervasive media in b5.

Don't hear a lot of journalism on AM radio either. Just opinions and "us-and-them-ing."

[Upchurch]

Originally posted by JoxterTheMighty
Wow! I thought I was the only one that noticed the similarities in B5! I wonder when the Office of Homeland Security will be setting up a Night Watch! :eek:

-Joxter- Remeber right after 9/11 when Bush wanted to set up a special hotline so that people could anonymously report their neighbors for suspicous (probably terrorist-related) activities? Or when he wanted the postal carriers to "keep an eye open" while on their routes?

[Upchurch]

Originally posted by corplinx
I'm not sure listening to am radio is quite on the same level as the official and pervasive media in b5. I'm not saying it is a direct analogy, just that there are similar themes at play.

[Tmy]

Last week they had that movie Starship Troopers on. It was a satirical look at the a future space war. The Earthlings were superviolent, spuerpatriots looking to wipe out the bug aliens. The war was covered like a TV show and reporters were right in the middle of the battlefield.

This thing came out about 5 years ago but it was scary to see how close it was to the latest Iraqi war.

[Upchurch]

Originally posted by BillyTK
So if the Neo-cons are the Shadows, does that mean that the Vorlons are the French? The Shadows' question was "What do you want?"; the US offered aid to those who would back an attack on Iraq; the Vorlons' question was, "Who are you?" and the French turned the anti-war bloc into an issue of identity.... hmmm... Hmm....

I think one could argue that the Psi-Corps (a huge "non-political" organization that backs (i.e. controls) the President from behind the scenes) represents certain sects of the Christian church.

I also think you could argue that Babylon 5 (a neutral area where governments can meet to discuss differences that is located on a station managed by the evil Earth government and ultimately disagrees and breaks away from said Earth government) represents the UN.

My question is, who does Mars represent? Mars being a place where the Earth government colonized but ultimately wanted out from under Earth control. I could see it as either Afganistan, maybe Iraq, or maybe the entire Middle East, in general.

Regardless, if reality does follow fiction, then we can expect the UN and the other contries to rise up together against and defeat whatever hidden force is controling President Bush and the US government. Bush will then take advantage of the power vacuum to seize control of the US (already under martial law by this point). The UN, the other countries, and Americans loyal to America rather than Bush will then unite against Bush. Realizing he's lost control, Bush will attempt to use a satelite defense system :eek: to destroy the US in a "if I can't have it, nobody will" move, only to have that fail. Wherein, Bush will take his own life. After which, a new President will be elected that is more sympathetic to globalization and the UN will be transformed into a new united world government.

I'm telling ya, Straczynski may have had this one nailed. Time will tell.