New Vid: "Shock the Monkey" (Hawaii Five-0)

[giandujakiss]

AKA, how I spent my Sunday....

Song: Shock the Monkey by Peter Gabriel
Fandom: Hawaii Five-0

Summary: Full immunity and means.

Spoilers: Through 1x18

Sizes: 30 MB (540 x 360 .divx), 14 MB (420 x 280 .wmv)
Length: 2:14

Download from Sendspace: The .divx file is here and the .wmv file is here.

Notes: Honestly, this vid is more catharsis for me

Comments

[deirdre_c]

Wow! I love it. Just because we're sympathetic to the law-enforcement characters, we excuse so much abuse and brutality. (Interesting how Danny was originally shown complaining about Steve's 'questionable' - ahem- treatment of suspects/perps, and yet he has fallen into the practice of it himself more and more as the show has gone on.)

Also interesting, Gabriel has said this song is about addiction. Are 5-0 addicted to abuse? Is Steve spreading it to the others? Shock the monkey to life.

[giandujakiss]

Heh, I didn't even know that's what the song is supposed to be about - it just seemed appropriate.

And, yeah, see, the thing is, if they weren't cops, I could handwave it. But they are cops and the message seems to be "if only cops didn't have to abide by so many pesky rules, we could really get stuff done!" And I ... do not accept that message.

Glad you liked it!

[believethat]

Great exploration of the abuse of power and use of violence on the show. I had to quit watching for exactly this reason. It really disturbs me how popular shows like this and NCIS can be while most people seem not to consider the ways in which the characters take the law into their own hands.

[giandujakiss]

Thank you! Yeah, it really upsets me to see this - I stopped watching over this kind of thing and other issues, but then I went back.

NCIS, really? I didn't know - I don't watch it. I knew 24 was pretty bad, and that has the whole thing going on where it may have actually influenced real-life policies, so I can't be complacent when I see this kind of thing in fiction.

[believethat]

On NCIS there might be less torture type violence, but the characters definitely decide what is right and wrong even if means breaking the laws they are supposed to be enforcing up to the point of execution. And this is one of the highest rated shows on TV last I checked. So yeah, I really appreciate people highlighting how this kind of thing is wrong considering how popular these shows can be.

[silviakundera]

You do not even know how overjoyed I am that you made this vid. This is EVERYTHING I NEEDED, after my latent guilt from H50 fic reading.

Very effective, and I loved how you juxtaposed their actions with the symbols of their power and stance within the community.

[giandujakiss]

This is EVERYTHING I NEEDED, after my latent guilt from H50 fic reading.

Heh, yes, I needed to deal with my guilt, too. I'm so glad you liked it - and thank you for the rec!

[astartexx]

Surprisingly there was an article on H50 on spiegel.de (usually a very serious news institute) last week for the series start here in Germany. The author compared the new to the old and of course complained about the police violence citing the shark cage and pretty much everything you included in your vid. I think this is the main reason I can't get fanish about the show. They are part of the system. They are cops, they should face full consequences for their actions. But I can understand the guilt, believe me. They have a pretty awesome chemistry together.

[giandujakiss]

Heh, I'm gratified to see it's not just me. And yes, it's because they're cops that it's so awful - if they were random superhero/vigilantes, I wouldn't care. But they're cops and the message of the show is that good cops shouldn't be restrained by due process.

And it's awful because, as you say, I feel terrible for liking the show and liking Steve and Danny's chemistry.

[counteragent]

My reaction: Yikes! They are cops?!?!?!?!

I particularly liked the shooting of the man out of the tree as a "monkey" and was quite unnerved by the shark cage expedition. Byt the time we got to the bottle clinks at the end, I was disturbed.

Oh, shows. Why must you hurt us so?

[giandujakiss]

Yes, cops, and heroes. And a lot of this violence was supposed to be funny.

I'm glad you were disturbed - very much the point. You know, I've had a lot of problems with my fandoms, but in this case, the problems are so integrated into the source that it's more difficult than usual to put politics aside when I feel like squeeing.

[counteragent]

Yeah, SPN makes it easy for me to ignore their problems by never having any women on the show. Thanks, SPN!