Guardian, ep 14
Feb. 1st, 2019 11:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kutsuwamushiThese days, I always give shows a side-eye when they make journalists out to be villains - especially when the journalist is doing something we probably actually want journalists to do.
The journalist in this episode is a bad guy. The writers make sure we know that: He's a paparazzo, who publishes misleading photos that ruin people.
But here he is, prying into the secretive government agency that is behind some strange events, trying to find out what's going on. He's even given some lines about how it's his responsiblity to the people of Dragon City* to expose the truth. He's made out to be a sneaky, muck-racking rat, but it was a good and true line.
Of course, it's not just Chinese media that does this. I bet most shows with similar secretive government agencies dealing with paranormal powers also have a nosy journalist plot.
The power of being in the protagonist position is that the audience's viewpoint is naturally warped towards that character's own views and interests. It's in the best interest of the secret government agency that it remain secret - so we want it to. Also, as the audience, we know these characters; we know they're doing the right thing because they're written that way, and the world is written that way.
So we end up rooting for things that are super sketchy.
This is actually what made me stop watching NCIS back in the day. The abuses of power that the characters engaged in were awful, but portrayed as the "right" thing to do.
It's a lot easier to swallow in a fantasy or sci-fi show.
* I am really thankful for the fans who subtitled these episodes for free. I wouldn't be able to enjoy them otherwise! But the subtitles are bad, and they're done by different people for different episodes so they can be pretty inconsistent. Dragon City, Long City, Long Cheng, etc are all the same place...
The journalist in this episode is a bad guy. The writers make sure we know that: He's a paparazzo, who publishes misleading photos that ruin people.
But here he is, prying into the secretive government agency that is behind some strange events, trying to find out what's going on. He's even given some lines about how it's his responsiblity to the people of Dragon City* to expose the truth. He's made out to be a sneaky, muck-racking rat, but it was a good and true line.
Of course, it's not just Chinese media that does this. I bet most shows with similar secretive government agencies dealing with paranormal powers also have a nosy journalist plot.
The power of being in the protagonist position is that the audience's viewpoint is naturally warped towards that character's own views and interests. It's in the best interest of the secret government agency that it remain secret - so we want it to. Also, as the audience, we know these characters; we know they're doing the right thing because they're written that way, and the world is written that way.
So we end up rooting for things that are super sketchy.
This is actually what made me stop watching NCIS back in the day. The abuses of power that the characters engaged in were awful, but portrayed as the "right" thing to do.
It's a lot easier to swallow in a fantasy or sci-fi show.
* I am really thankful for the fans who subtitled these episodes for free. I wouldn't be able to enjoy them otherwise! But the subtitles are bad, and they're done by different people for different episodes so they can be pretty inconsistent. Dragon City, Long City, Long Cheng, etc are all the same place...
no subject
Date: 2019-02-01 04:55 pm (UTC)