'Revolution' & the 'Beast'

With movies and television shows these day ripe with anti-capitalist, big government, pro-socialism messaging, two shows contain bits and pieces of good ol' American spirit.

Now, some may interpret them otherwise. They most likely do so out of lack of basic education in American History and Civics.

The first show is "Revolution". My wife and I just started watching the show on Netflix. Others may be a season ahead. Those who haven't yet discovered the show may want to look into it.

The premise behind the show is that all electrical energy is magically shut off. Nothing that uses electronics will work. It isn't like some electromagnetic pulse blackout. Something, still a mystery in the first few episodes, has simply sucked up all the electricity. It is though something impedes the movement of electrons.

Scientifically, if possible, that would also kill most animal life, since our nervous systems require some flow of electrons. But that is the beauty of fiction.

In any case, society collapses. Most current governments fall. Transportation is relegated to walking or beasts of burden. (I'm still lost on how steam power was effected). The US falls into separate zones. Each zone is controlled by its own government with its own militia. The show concentrated on the so-called "Monroe Republic".

The "Monroe Republic" is named after its founder. A former US Army NCO, now "General" Monroe is president of the "republic" and general of its militia. He is a tyrant.

Under Monroe, no person who is not an active member of the militia is allowed to own firearms. All hunting and home protection must be done by edged weapon or bow. Owning a firearm is a capital offense that carries a swift death penalty.

The "republic" seems to lack any real representation. Instead, it appears to be headed by one man. That is not a republic. It is a dictatorship, a system of government on the far left wing of the political spectrum. Merely speaking out against Monroe is an offense. His militia all seem to fall lockstep into the state approved religion. Voicing religious views counter to that religion is also an offense.

This "republic" seems a lot more like Plato's "Republic" than a true republic as designed by our US Constitution. It is something much further left of any true republican ideology. Like the term "liberal" was hijacked by the left, having its meaning changed from "free" to instead refer to unfettered application and expansion of tyranny and government authority, "republic" in this show more means "anti-public".

Still, champions of the US Constitution and its basic principles exist. There  are "the rebels". They keep, wave, and are tattooed with the "rebel flag". That "rebel flag" has alternating red and white stripes, 13 of them. It has a field of blue in the upper left corner. Affixed upon that field of blue is a union of 50 stars. The crime of this "rebellion" is their ideology and purpose:  to restore the Republic of the United States of America.

Any left-winger in today's real world watching the show must cringe at the heroes and cheer for Monroe, since he embodies the goal of their ideology.


The second show is the modernization of "Beauty and the Beast". Being fond of the original series starring Ron Perlman (Sons of Anarchy) and Linda Hamilton (Terminator), I was curious how they'd interpret the remake. The story is much changed. Cat is not an assistant DA. Vincent is not some disfigured lion-man crossbreed mutant. In fact, most of the time, Vincent walks around appearing human.

Vincent is more of a Jekyl and Hyde character like The Hulk. He sees somebody being hurt or bullied, he runs in to help.

The character of Vincent is what points to conservative and patriotic ideals in the show. Symbolically, the show is more about Post-Combat Stress (PCS) otherwise poorly termed "PTSD". He was a surgeon working on his residency when the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks from Al Q'aeda happened. He worked on the casualties. He lost two brothers, both FDNY firefighters, who died rescuing others. In a moment of righteous indignation and moral outrage, Vincent joined the US Army.

While serving in Afghanistan, Vincent was trained with some fictitious black-ops special forces unit. The highest rank he achieved was E-4, unusual for somebody with a medical doctorates degree. The lower-enlisted rank is also unusual for any special forces unit other than the 75th Ranger Regiment. In any case, he received specialized combat training as well as "vitamin treatments" that were actually experiments to alter his genetics. He became stronger. His senses increased. He developed sort of an intuition. He became faster. His body can morph, growing claws and fangs as his face temporarily becomes grotesque. For those who play White Wolf's World of Darkness games such as Vampire the Requiem, this secret government contractor turned Vincent into a gangrel.

When they found that those experimented upon maintained their free will and could not be controlled, the black-ops contractor killed off most of the unit. Vincent faked his death and returned back to the states under assumed names. Now he lives in New York City and helps people.

He is your patriotic soldier returning from war with PCS/PTSD. He has some issues, yes. But that the core, he is a good guy who is there to fight for those who need somebody to fight for them. The anti-capitalist government-backed corporation represents, again, the left wing agenda. They want to hunt down those with PTSD and make them disappear, ore make them feel segregated and ostracized from society. Why? Because they represent true sacrifice on behalf of liberty.

Now, there is one adversary in the show, an Assistant District Attorney. He is also a genetic mutant victimized by that same  government-backed corporation. Instead of being experimented upon while serving, his symbolic PTSD comes from childhood abuse at the hands of "the system". Again, it was the government that, "just trying to help", indoctrinated and abused him. He cannot control his bestial shifts without drugs. This is a symbol of dependence upon government assistance. He symbolizes what government schools and institutions are doing to our kids -- mutating them to be against the founding principles of our great nation.