Is it wrong to capture a great mythological being and make him do your bidding?
I ran into this question while playing Pokemon tonight. I reached a part of the game where you have to do battle with this mythological pokemon named Kyorge in order to save the world. But, he was a pokemon nonetheless. So, when his energy level was low enough, I threw out a pokeball and caught him, just as I would any other pokemon.
So, did I do the right thing? Have I robbed the world of magic? But then, whenever I watched the Pokemon movies, I always made fun of Ash for being an idiot because in every movie he comes across the great mythological pokemon and then does dick-all to try to catch it.
Naturallly my guilt and internal musings went away when I used Kyorge to win my eighth and final gym battle. Now, I'm off to the championships in Ever Grande City!
Anyway, it was Friday, so that means it was time to watch JAG. JAG is my Dad's favourite show, and our household comes to a standstill every Friday night at 7 so Dad can watch it.
For those who've never watched it.... JAG has been on for about nine years now. It's from Donald P. Belarsario, whose other additions to the TV universe have included Magnum P.I. and Quantum Leap. JAG follows the adventures of Cmmdr. Harmon Rabb Jr., a lawyer in the U.S. Navy's Judge Advocate General (JAG) corp., as Rabb travels throughout the Navy and Marines dispensing military justice.
As I'm sure you can imagine, the war in Iraq has provided lots of fodder for plot lines right now. It's weird when it tries to both condemn and support the war. A great example would be an episode from a few weeks ago. Some insurgents in Iraq took over a hospital and were using it as a bunker. So, the Marines ordered the hospital to be taken out. Bombing hospitals, of course, violates the Geneva Convention, so the United States Secretary of the Navy (supreme commander of the Navy and Marines) was charged with war crimes and summoned to appear before the U.N.'s court in the Hague.
Now, the USA has refused to acknowledge this court's authority. But, in TV land, the President said, "Well, you know, we REALLY want the U.N. to help us rebuild Iraq, so let's play along, just this once, to make us look better to the world and the UN." So, Rabb was sent to the Hague to defend the Secretary of the Navy at the Hague's war crimes tribunal. And, playing up current stereotypes, the prosecutor was a snotty Frenchman who would do anything - ANYTHING - to disgrace the USA's war efforts.
Anywho, after a foiling an attempt to assasinate the Secreatary of the Navy, Rabb won over the Hague with an empassioned speech as to why the war was going on in Iraq. The Secretary of the Navy was cleared of all charges, and Rabb's speech was so empassioned that he healed the rift between the USA and France.
My God, I can't believe this is from the same guy who made Quantum Leap.
Actually, there was a much better one just last week. The General in charge of Iraq was accused of racism when it was found out that he was running around calling the US military a "mighty Christian army" charged with "crushing the pagan Muslims." That was a clear example of trying to both condemn and support the war. Rabb was saying, "Right on! We need fanatics to fight fanatics!" And his perpetual foil, Col. Sarah McKenzie, said, "Are you NUTS? This is the last thing we need in this war! More fanatics!"
I don't know. It's a crazy show. The season finale is next week, so I'm going to have to wait until the fall to see Rabb defend the American torturers in Iraq. Something tells me there is going to be a "ripped from the headlines" episode about that.
Next Issue...Down Victory Road (that's a reference to Pokemon)
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