GABRIEL'S CLARION (mar12gab.htm)
Saturday
March 12, 2005
vol 16, no. 71
Father Without Pride

        Thank God the public still had some sense of pride left to not watch this 'den of iniquity' Father of the Pride in their own dens. For Dreamworks, their own pride forced Pride on the masses and this rot was summarily rejected turning Dreamworks into Nightmaresville. For their stubborn pride, may the cells of this prurient Pride forever rot on the cutting room floor or in the overcrowded vault of failed programming.

      "Although the show was originally intended for adults, its major strength turned out to be children whose parents were either clueless or ignored the TV-14 not suitable for children under 14 rating. Knowing this and in a desperate attempt to save this garbage, NBC put the show in the supposedly family slot of 8 p.m hoping that the addicted kids would drag their clueless or apathetic parents along. The strategy did not work, and only confirmed what we all know already, which is that entertainment types will do anything on anybody for a money, regardless of moral or ethical considerations. Once again, these are the people who were scandalized, shocked, and offended by Mel's movie?"

    With the re-release this weekend of Mel Gibson's masterpiece The Passion of The Christ in a softer, somewhat shorter version of last year's blockbuster, I am reminded of how Hollywood and the liberal media either just don't get it, or won't get it. Last fall, the new television season brought its usual assortment of trash, but nowhere was the immoral, materialistic, hypocritical, and absurd nature of this society's entertainment industry more evident than in the situation involving an adult-oriented animated program called Father of The Pride. In one fell swoop this program epitomized all that is wrong with television and entertainment in this society. Brought to television by, according to Tom Shales of The Washington Post, "the unholy alliance between vulgar" Jeffrey Zucker, President of NBC Universal TV and hotshot Jeffrey Katzenberg this "diseased cartoon" was a "smutty jungle" which was "too ugly for children and too silly for adults."

The Hypocrisy Continues...

    Considering that this television program was created by Dreamworks, the studio which includes among its founders Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg, and that Katzenberg is listed as the creator and executive producer of this trash, we begin as we often do when dealing with Hollywood…with hypocrisy. Spielberg and his partners roundly criticized Mel Gibson for The Passion of The Christ. They declared that he had gone too far and would pay a price for doing so, presumably in terms of future projects and getting around the obvious Hollywood connections which would now turn against him. It seems that for Katzenberg to pair with Zucker and such a vulgar cartoon for television is a bit hypocritical given their claims against Gibson. Once again, we see that Hollywood types pretend to be about their audiences or other noble causes but are once and for all only about money without regard to moral or ethical considerations.

Connections Over Quality

    Father of The Pride turned out to be a very expensive disaster with good connections as noted above, and therefore NBC did circus tricks to keep it on the air even when it was obvious that the program was no good and had not been able to gather a viable audience. In fact, critics argue that NBC harmed its program schedule in a desperate effort to salvage this failing ship, all because of the investment in the project and the connections involved. Each episode cost 1.6 million dollars and 9 months to make, and 13 episodes were created. The end result of all this waste of money was vulgar trash, which failed to connect with the intended 18-49 demographic audience for which NBC trails behind ABC and CBS. While Katzenberg and friends have had much success over the years, their efforts in this case were clearly wasteful, inappropriate, vulgar, and unsuccessful in capturing and retaining the intended audience. Had the show not had the connections it did, it would have been canceled even sooner. Once again, we see that Hollywood types are more about connections and making money than quality. Katzenberg himself has even stated that a project can be successful if it manages to make money even if its quality is debatable. This is the kind of entertainment elite type who dares to criticize Mel?

Any Audience Will Do

    Although the show was originally intended for adults, its major strength turned out to be children whose parents were either clueless or ignored the TV-14 not suitable for children under 14 rating. Knowing this and in a desperate attempt to save this garbage, NBC put the show in the supposedly family slot of 8 p.m hoping that the addicted kids would drag their clueless or apathetic parents along. The strategy did not work, and only confirmed what we all know already, which is that entertainment types will do anything on anybody for a money, regardless of moral or ethical considerations. Once again, these are the people who were scandalized, shocked, and offended by Mel's movie?

    It seems almost humorous to consider that these people spew their trash on audiences who reject that expensive trash while criticizing someone who creates and presents a masterpiece widely accepted by audiences because the project happens to contradict their political and social views. Again, we see that Hollywood's criticisms and snubs of Mel Gibson such as the abhorrent Oscars this year are pathetic expressions and gestures from pathetic, hypocritical people who have no conception of ethics, morality, or fairness. How ironic that people who live for money can only look on from a distance as the man they bashed makes the kind of money they would sell their soul for while he merely enhanced his soul doing so! We see that these Hollywood types would sell knives to toddlers if they thought they could make money doing it. For these people to criticize the appropriateness of anyone's film is the height of hypocrisy and irony indeed.

Conclusion

    Mel Gibson's masterpiece is a work of art which has been spit upon by people who have produced, from time to time, trash and propaganda. An example of this is Father of The Pride, an incredibly vulgar, inappropriate, expensive piece of garbage spewed by Katzenberg and NBC without consideration of its effect on children and adults alike. This all while these people and their associates have attacked Gibson for his film. There is clear evidence that Pride lasted a lot longer than it should have merely because of its connections and the money unwisely invested in this project. In fact, the evidence points to the fact that the program, as created and developed, should never have been made at all.

    Despite all of this, Pride was pushed upon an unwilling audience which ultimately made their distaste or apathy for this Shrek wannabe clear. Contrast this with The Passion, whose entire content, production, and development turned out to be an investment in an all-time classic. The masterpiece is bashed because the message hits too close to home with the establishment and so the trash is dragged on because the establishment has invested heavily in its success. Come hell or high water their pride knows no bounds. So great is the hatred against Catholic and Christian themes that even the vast money earned by The Passion was not enough to overcome the displeasure with its content. So great is the hypocrisy invested in politically correct or vulgar themes that even the vast criticism and rejection of audiences is not enough to overcome the desire to hoist yet another load of rubbish on television. While the now-canceled program may have been called Father of the Pride, the "Pride" comes from the master of that deadly sin who is the father of all sin. The true Father - the Eternal Father cannot have any pride in an effort which offers sin to anyone, child or adult, willing to buy into its sleaze to please.

Gabriel Garnica


    Editor's Note: Heaven is once again under attack by those who would seek to ignore and overthrow God's majesty and authority. Gabriel Garnica, educator and attorney, submits regular insights and commentaries to remind and help guide readers toward a deeper and more assertive faith. Touching on topics and issues ranging from personal faith, doctrine, education, scripture, the media, family life, morality, and values, Gabriel's notes are music to traditional ears but unpleasant tones to those who have bought into the misguided notions so prevalent and spreading in today's Catholic world.


    Gabriel's Clarion
    March 12, 2005
    Volume 16, no. 71