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Veronica Mars, Class Warrior

Why this teen series is smarter than you think.

By Christopher Hayes

Progressives have an annoying habit when it comes to pop culture. Anytime they fall for a particular TV show, movie or Top 40 hit, they proceed to spend inordinate amounts of time and mental energy convincing themselves that while most of what the corporate media produces is reactionary crap, this particular product is actually subversive, laced with a cutting critique… return to article

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    you have done a real disservice to this excellent tv series by projecting and overemphasizing the class war theme in this show.  the reason why this show is so good isn’t because there’s a class war theme to it.  it’s good because it’s utterly recognizable as typical life of high school.  we all grew up with ethnics hanging out in a certain clique like weevil and his gang, and then there’s the beautiful people with money and the normal students just trying to get by.  that isn’t class war, that’s just reality.  the greatness of this show is that it actually develops the characters over the course of the season (the simplistic description you gave of logan makes me question how well you understand this show) and the glaring omission of your piece is that this series has an unbelievably well-thought out plot.  not only does the plot of season 1 have the ability to surprise and astonish, but it satisfies in a way that i can’t recall from any other recent tv show.

    reducing the essence of the show where the characters don’t play themselves but are political kabuki theater is a real turn-off to people who don’t like to be preached at by hypocritical hollywood creatives.

    if anyone is curious, they should sample the first two episodes and see how great this show is.  be advised though that it may lead to throwing away plans for an entire weekend in order to finish off season 1.

    United States Posted by j00d on Jun 27, 2006 at 6:04 AM

    “you have done a real disservice to this excellent tv series by projecting and overemphasizing the class war theme in this show. “

    I’d disagree.  There are many ways to “read” high-quality art, and pointing out a theme that the writers and producers themselves have stated is central to the ongoing stories is a very valid read.  Almost every major mystery is driven by the class strife in Neptune; that the strife, and the characters surrounding them, are well written and placed does not diminish the author’s point; indeed, it enhances it, just as the anguish Veronica goes through enhances the point regarding the evils that class warfare brings to a community.

    VERONICA MARS is great for many, many reasons.  That we can all see something worthy of admiration within it is a sign of strength, not weakness.

    United States Posted by wjhill on Aug 25, 2006 at 8:21 PM
    Page 1 of 1 pages

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