David E Kelley is an Anti-Catholic Bigot

I have blogged previously that I rather enjoyed the ABC Dramedy "Boston Legal" in spite of its increasing tendency to make dumb political statements. I no longer enjoy it, and will cease watching it after tonight's Tivo. I have a feeling I'm not alone. The latest episode was not the first to put a big bulls eye on the back of the Catholic Church; previously, they had an absurd storyline on how a corrupt priest refused to aid in the rescue of a kidnapped child, citing the Canon Law forbidding him to divulge anything spoken in the confessional. Not only is it inane to use such arcane minutiae to make the Church look bad, the premise was false. Confession doesn't end in the church. To make the confession valid, the person would have to do penance, and there isn't a priest with a pulse who wouldn't make the penance be THE SAFE RETURN OF THE CHILD.

Tonight, the producers of the show again decided to urinate on the Church again, this time with a storyline on how a Catholic hospital refused to give a rape victim "emergency contraception" (that is, perform an abortion via the morning after pill). There were two Big Lies asserted in the patronizing dialog, which came out with all the aplomb of an after school special. Lie #1 is that the morning after pill prevents pregnancy the way contraception does, which is false. It prevents a fertilized egg from implanting on the uterine wall, killing the embryo. Lie #2 is that abortion foes are more concerned with power and the subjugation of women than  they are with saving lives. How utterly repugnant.

So, tonight I am calling anti-Catholic shenanigans on producer David E Kelley, who seems to have never met an anti-Catholic storyline he didn't like. Mr. Kelley, you sir, are a bigot and I will no longer watch your crap. I don't care if people aren't Catholic or think Catholicism is mystic mumbo jumbo. Fine by me. But if you are going to contrive dull witted and inaccurately premised story lines to grind your theological ax, don't expect me to tune in.

Comments

[KipEsquire]

I gave up when Betty White killed the elf-child.

Pity, because I absolutely loved the Alan Shore character in the last season of The Practice. And Candice Bergen showed promise. But geez the writing was bad and the cases boring.

[Dave]

What's the surprise here? That network TV is simplistic and reductionist?

That should hardly surprise anyone; that's what "culture" aimed at a broad segment of the population does.

This is why I don't watch network TV. It is a blunt tool, unable to address nuance or sophistication. To assume that it would be otherwise is to misunderstand the imperatives under which network TV operates.

[Chris]

I'm growing more and more frustrated with TV in general getting political instead of funny (or serious). Four Kings - which I find quite funny - has almost driven me away by having an episode where one of the characters is evicted everyone from low-rent highrise. There is an "awakening moment" where the character is evicting a single mother making minimum wage. I mean really - how many people in NY even make minimum wage?
Hollywood is bending over backwards to show conservatives as heartless, egotistical, selfish monsters and it is turing me, for one, away.

[Dave]

How many people in New York make minimum wage?

All the people who live in rent-stabilized and -regulated apartments.

I say boot 'em to the curb.

[JC]

"Lie #1 is that the morning after pill prevents pregnancy the way contraception does, which is false."

I hate to pick on you, your "Lie #1," as you state it, is not false. Contraceptives like the pill (or patch, or shot) also make the lining of the uterus inhospitable, sometimes resulting in abortion (assuming that one believes life begins at conception, not at implantation, as it has been redefined). The more people that know about this, the better.

[Dee]

I was having the same moment when watching Law & Order: Criminal Intent on cable. Somehow that last throw-a-way line is always aimed at the Bush administration, conservatives, or Christians. Everyone but liberals and Islam are fair game for their ridicule.

One sickening Law & Order was about an admitted murderer who pleaded guilty, then changed the plea to innocent because he had become "a born-again Christian" and should not have to serve his sentence. Why? Because he repented and God forgave him. Of course portraying Christians as celestial idiots with more faith than brains.

So tired of Hollywood using tv as their self-righteous soap-box. Actually makes me watch less tv, so that's a good thing I guess.

[bandit]

You're giving him too much credit. You're assuming that he actually has something original enough to be considered an 'idea' instead of just rehashing some trite memes that don't even rise to that level.

As an aside as someone who lives and works in the city of Boston these shows have about as much to do with Boston as most Martian movies have to do with Mars.