~10/28/2021~
2004 a show called "The 4400" aired, it was a mix of sci-fi and mystery. The plot was that 4400 people had suddenly appeared - people from all times and places on earth, thought to be dead, missing, lost - and also they had super powers, well - some of them did.
Mostly it was a charter driven show, people trying to connect/reconnect with each other, with the mystery - was this aliens? The first season ended with a cliff hanger, making us think that - yes - it was aliens.
It uh, it wasn't. It was time travel. This was us, from the future. Okay... sure but what was the source of the superpowers? When did this happen, why these people? That question sort of got pushed to the side as season 2-4 were about interducing a drug that caused people to gain super powers - or die. 50/50 chance either you took the drug, and died, or you took it, and gained super powers. We really never got a clear answer to as when/how/why these 4400 were chosen at some nebulous point in the future, just that now, half the city had taken the drug and died and the other half had super powers.
Season one was simply the best, and it went down hill - it was kind of clear that the writers didn't know where this was going, and by the time s4 rolled out and it was about the drug, the show had ended, canceled. For me, I enjoyed it, the music in the intro really got you ready for a ride. It was a good sstory, not great - that had some sci-fi ideas, some super-hero types, but in the end it was about people.
Well, we are clearly out of original stories and ideas - so hey, time to reboot this, at least Hero's when it came back did so with cast from the original. This is a full reboot. Same idea... well.....
Here are the two descriptions of the TV show:
(2004)
"4400 centers on the return of 4400 people who, previously presumed dead or reported missing, reappear on Earth. Though they have not aged physically, some of them seem to have deeper alterations ranging from superhuman strength to an unexplained healing touch. A government agency is formed to track the 4400 people after one of them commits a murder."
(2021)
"4400 overlooked, undervalued, or otherwise marginalized people who vanished without a trace over the last hundred years are all returned in an instant, having not aged a day and with no memory of what happened to them. As the government races to analyze the potential threat and contain the story, the 4400 themselves must grapple with the fact that they've been returned with a few…upgrades, and the increasing likelihood that they were all brought back now for a specific reason."
Oh. So.
We going woke then?
Are we? I mean, lets give it a chance. Maybe I'm over-reacting to it. So I watched the first episode.
...
.....
SIGH.
They are really pushing hard to make this some sort of commentary about race right from the get go. We have charters from the 50s saying how they protested and such and thought that it would be "much better then this" and "it feels the same way" - we have the cops who are acting like jerks for the most part, threating violence, being bullies, we have the preacher give a speech that might as well be Malcom X or Marten Luther King Jr. giving a speech to calm people down.
Yay. Other then that - is it GOOD? Well, I cringed at the efforts of trying ever so hard to make us aware that they are facing injustice - that even the woman cop who is black is part of the problem because she is on the side of "the system" - sigh. Why? I don't know. Okay, over looking ALL THAT - I kinda like some of the people we were introduced to, we have a healer we have someone that can move objects with there mind, and we have a nice ending cliff hanger that made me want to see what happens next.
And... I will - I'll give it one more episode to prove itself before moving on, because maybe they just did this for the pilot, maybe it will not be lame and broke and boring and woke.
....and maybe lobsters will learn to fly. I'll update this post when I've seen episode two rather then make a new blog post just for it - so whatever follows is from THE FUTURE!
------
11/2/21
Episode 2 continues to push the idea that the cops are overbearing and that the system is unfair, but does pull back on the overtones that ep1 set forth. Perhaps, maybe, I was quick to judge this. They are developing the charters into people we care about, at least - so there is that.
So, this era of more "woke" - well what is that word anyway? I'm not sure, its part of the new lexicon that I am trying to understand - everything about the "woke" is race related - or sex related, its a changing of who a person is to the color of the skin - it says its about equality, but its not. Going "woke" is something that happens to comics, series, anything - its when they make a charter suddenly be gay - then write the story around that, rather then making the charter be good then that they happen to be gay - its an agenda to push "identity politics" - you are just that one aspect - you are a victim - that sort of thing. Its the bi-sexual Superman (who is actually Superman's kid why not call him Superman Jr.? Also he looks just like Superman). The problem is NOT that the charter is bisexual - its that its a sudden change from what always was - Thor was always a guy, now he is going to be a girl. Why? Give them a new name then! Ah whatever comics. Its the "hey look you got a gay person!" - like so? This is what is known as virtue signaling - its a token "representation" - there is this idea that everyone needs to see "someone like them" in the media, movies, comic, etc. Okay, but - where is the wheelchair bound superhero then? Where is the not super attractive person?
Its not about having one of every sort of human on screen or in a comic - that is obvious to me at least - so what IS the agenda - if indeed there is any agenda? Its unclear. However the "woke" shows/comics tend to not be any good - and you can tell, (Ghostbuster 2006 reboot is an example of the "woke" movie).
So - is THIS show woke? I don't know. Its to well written so far. Why have it be "all" minorities? I have no idea - the original cast had more diversity then this - so if anything this is less of a woke because, for some they will not see themselves on screen.
So I complained about something that, in the end I find to be something worth watching - it might turn me off at some point, but it gets the pass for now. Perhaps complaining online is me yelling into the void.
However, I'm not going to not complain.
