‘THE FLASH’–Huge Hit, Spot of Hope in American Entertainment
It’s been a great Christmas season, but I will confess to missing my favorite television show the last few weeks. For those that know me well, I am sure this is shocking since I’m actually not much of a TV person. About three years ago, my husband and I found two shows that we really enjoy just veg’ing out to one night a week. I was glad that they were on the same night so that I didn’t have to devote more than one night a week to TV. So this year, when my husband caught a couple of episodes of The Flash on the CW and suggested I would like it, I was pretty reluctant to add a third hour of my time to our TV watching regimen.
However, I will confess that I love this new show. It is so many of the things that I love in entertainment. It is mentally simulating without making it true to life. Don’t give me any of those medical shows where people get sick and die. Why would I want to watch that? Life gives most people more of that than they ever want. Having a guy who can run faster than the speed of sound is just good ole’ comic book, non-reality kind of fun. I love that.
The character development is fantastic. You’ve got fun and quirky characters to help keep it light while your more mysterious characters keep it interesting. And your superhero is just that – a good guy who is honestly looking to help people and change society for the better while trying to solve his own complex problems.
At what point did our culture decide that superheroes were supposed to be dark and not so good? When did we decide we wanted our superheroes to be more “realistic”? This is entertainment not true life. Superheroes are supposed to be good, all good; and the bad guys are supposed to be bad, all bad. Why must the lines be so gray? Let’s go back to entertainment where the good is good and the bad is bad; and, of course, the good ALWAYS triumphs. That’s just good entertainment and a picture of how we all long for real life to be.
Beyond the mentally stimulating, complex, not-true-to-life plot, and the excellent character development, I love the relationship between the characters, Barry Allen (the Flash) and his surrogate dad, Joe West. There are not many shows out there these days where manly men are portrayed in a positive light and even fewer shows where there is a positive father/son relationship displayed. The character Joe West is a hard working single dad who takes Barry in after the murder of Barry’s mother and wrongful imprisonment of his father. Joe raises Barry as his own son and supports him at every level. It’s a heartwarming part of the show that makes me smile and gives me hope. It’s fantastic to see a show that would actually inspire men to do the right thing, love their neighbor, and help those in need instead of tearing them down all the time, like most anything that hits an entertainment screen these days, commercials included.
So if you are looking for something new to watch in the wasteland of man-hating entertainment that is out there, you might give The Flash a try.
http://tvcinemaemusica.wordpress.com/2010/02/26/um-forte-candidato-para-dirigir-filme-do-flash/
