Tex_Arcana

Okay, what the heck are these things, anyway? Some kind of little space aliens, obviously, but how did they end up here?

Are they intelligent beings (persons), or are they just exotic animals? And what's all this garbage about 'Trainers' and 'Masters' making these things go at each other in some kind of arena?

If they are sentient beings, then all the producers have done is resurrect slavery, and turned Mandingo (1975) into an animated kiddie show. I guess the moral of the story would be that a good 'Master' is kind to his little fuzzies, and treats them with a firm, but fair hand.

Of course, if the Pokes are only exotic animals, then the situation is very different. If that is the case, the show only sinks to the level of, say, cockfighting, or watching two pit bulls tear into each other.

Hmmm. . . Maybe they could be trained in the use of tiny little weapons. ..

I never saw this film when it was released. Not until just this very night (03/25/2000), actually. I knew that Stone would inject his personal politics into it. He always does, which is why most of his storylines get a little tedious. True to form, he rarely passes up a chance to take a shot at his enemies, real or imagined, whenever he can.

But the thing I found most interesting about this 1991 film was how our hero, Mr Garrison, was forced to deal with every obstruction the White House and other gov't agencies could throw at him. He was slandered by the establishment press, was harrassed by the IRS, and was forced to deal with a coordinated campaign, engineered by the Administration and the Justice Dept, to hinder his investigation and discredit him at every turn.

Given the recent misadventures of a different prosecuting attorney and another administration, one can't help but notice the parallels. As Mr Garrison would say (very loosely paraphrased), "We are now on the other side of the looking glass. From now on, black is white, and right is wrong."

I, for one, would be curious to know how much screen time Mr. Stone would invest on this aspect of the story if he were making the film today. It really does depends on what side of the glass you are on.

This started out as a pretty good show. The episodes were clever and witty, if a little preachy. I never missed a week of it during the first season.

But with the second season, and presumably feeling a bit more secure, the writers started letting some of the true intolerance and mean-spiritedness that typifies the Hollywood left of the 90's show through.

When the characters began nonchalantly referring to mainstream Christians as "religious bigots", I knew I'd had enough.