Random (depressing) thoughts on two old miniseries

[Kevin M.]

This week I found myself rewatching the original “V” miniseries as well as Tom Hanks’ “From the Earth to the Moon.” Both have their flaws and their merits, but both seem especially poignant given the time in which we are living. 

V is a tale of fascism, of using the media as propaganda tools to virtually criminalize science and independent thought, of how easy it is to be suckered by even the most obvious con men. Meanwhile, the story of mankind’s journey into space is really a tale of how we became desensitized to modern miracles, when the bottom line mattered more than the race for discovery, when we sacrificed expertise in favor of expediency. 

The last two years have been disheartening. Watching the Democratic Party leadership capitulate to tyranny over and over again. Watching the GOP getting away with literal murder. Watching journalism perish without a trace. To quote Aaron Sorkin, “America is no longer ‘the greatest country in the world’,” and it’s only getting worse. 

The world is moving on. Europe and Asia are forging ahead on their own, because they know they can’t depend on us. Africa and South America largely ignore us now, because it is safer to be ignorant than to try to face down a bully. 

I tried rewatching The West Wing recently, but now it plays like a bad cartoon, full of naivety. There is nothing about America in its current form that elicits any sense of hope or optimism. I sat alone in my classroom after school to watch the rocket launch, and I was saddened because Obama’s defunding of NASA begat Elon Musk, and now we are supposed to be pacified by a journey back to a place we came, we saw, we conquered 50 years ago. 

Trust is gone. Faith is gone. Respect is gone. Accountability is gone. And we are only a year and a few months into this administration. 

Kevin M. (RPCV)