Court TV cancels "Confessions" and gains attention

Two weeks into the airing of "Confessions", Court TV cancelled its 
version of so-called reality TV. Court TV had vied for a slot in 
Amerika's voyeuristic, violence-ogling and decadent culture, 
tailing programs like "Survivor" and "Big Brother." "Confessions" 
ran real taped "confessions" of those found guilty in Amerika's 
kangaroo courts. Some negative response to the show led Court TV 
chairpersyn Henry Schleiff to drop "Confessions". Critics' 
concerns centered on the show's affect on victims or possible 
"copy-cat" crimes.

Despite conservatives' criticisms, the show increased Court TV's 
ratings by 57% (over the same period last year). Schleiff 
apologized and stated that he had not intended to offend. He said 
the cancellation shows that Court TV is not only concerned with 
ratings, but with quality programming. At the end of the day, 
Court TV benefits from its plunge into one of the more overt forms 
of Amerika's violent culture. Simultaneously, Court TV carries the 
facade of being one of the good guys -- backing away from violent 
programming amid increased bourgeois politician lip-service 
against violence in the entertainment industry. Yet Court TV, like 
other entertainment businesses, continues to benefit from the pro-
prison craze in Amerika through its talk-show style programs 
centered on Amerika's kangaroo courts.

Bourgeois culture reflects the economic relations in society and 
serves to bolster the foundations of the economic structure. 
Within the current imperialist system, Amerika attaches itself 
like a violent leech to the majority of the world and survives 
only as a parasite. Amerika's automaton drooling over parasite 
entertainment mimics the way Amerikans live. Instead of 
productive, educational programming, Amerikans get voyeurism -- 
just as they are largely paper-pushers rather than productive 
workers.

"Confessions" raised ratings because Amerika has become entrenched 
in its prison-crazed culture. Shows like "Cops" and four-hour 
police car chases are typical. Amerikan prisons serve as a tool of 
national oppression and social control. To bolster support for 
these fascistic tools, culture must downplay the significance of 
the humyns under lock and key. The more animalistic the prisoners 
are portrayed, the more violence against them is justified. 
Amerikans need little convincing of the importance of prisons to 
their way of life. The Amerikan prison system provides white 
settler nation members with jobs and continues the political and 
economic advantage of the white settler nation over oppressed 
nations. But continued police brutality and extreme violence 
against prisoners must be justified within Amerikan "art".

MIM cannot single out Court TV for capitalizing on the pro-prison 
culture. But just as Court TV used the opportunity to increase its 
ratings, we use the opportunity to explain why Amerikan culture is 
fucked up. Beyond the fact that Amerikan culture trivializes 
violence against the people and is training future generations to 
do so, Amerikan culture lacks science. They call it "reality TV", 
but there is little reality to a show that depicts horrific murder 
and rape stories when the majority of prisoners are incarcerated 
for non-violent crime convictions -- whether or not they committed 
the crime.

A "reality TV" program about prisoners would have to include white 
pigs having leeway to target oppressed nationals for searches and 
arrests. Such a program would have to follow the oppressed 
national into the court room where they have little defense 
resources and courts that are run in the white nation's interests. 
The program would also have to follow prisoners into their cells 
where they are beaten and denied medical treatment. The reality 
show would then close showing the conditions of released prisoners 
after years of denied education and training.

The conservative critics' problem with the show was that it 
infringed upon the rights of so-called victims. Where is the 
science? If one is truly concerned with the people against whom 
crimes are committed, then you'd need to start with the real 
victims. The majority of crimes are committed against oppressed 
nations. To genuinely be concerned with victims of crimes, you'd 
have to aim your fire against imperialist governments, their 
lackeys and imperialist corporations. And to address crimes 
against individuals in Amerika, you'd need to start with the 
victims of crimes committed by the state. These crimes include 
everything from police brutality to exploitation of undocumented 
workers to ignoring the solutions to street crime.

We live under a dictatorship of the bourgeoisie in which 
capitalists make a profit off of violence. Defense contractors 
profit from making war; the entertainment industry profits from 
glorifying imperialist war. Under the dictatorship of the 
proletariat, profit will not be made off of humyn suffering. 
Pornography and the denigration of the masses for profit will be 
banned under socialism. Culture should serve the needs of the 
people. The needs of the people include genuine education to take 
part in society as productive members. Whether it is "Confessions" 
or "Law and Order" Amerikan culture fails to meet the needs of the 
oppressed.