Flipper-flop on the (tv) menu?

I’m a fan of righteous indignation aka reasonable venting. Lately, however, I have encountered more and more indignation that hasn’t earned the modifier that makes it acceptable. Too many rage without noting their latent narcissism or blatant hypocrisy, whether ranting about parking passes, appellations or… supposed censorship.

Last week, three theaters in Japan canceled screenings of THE COVE, the alleged Sino-baiting, graphic dolphin-bashing, Oscar®-winning documentary. The exhibitors’ excused their decisions citing fear of reprisals from nationalists who have been vocal in their disapproval of the Louie Psihoyos film. Maybe their fears are legitimate, maybe not. Regardless, it must be noted that THE COVE did screen at the Tokyo International Film Festival and was just shown at a civic hall in the capital city and featured a hearty post-show discussion (though, apparently, that talk veered more towards issues of censorship than the depicted animal cruelty).

While it is dismaying that broader audiences in Japan will have very limited opportunities to see THE COVE — and then, to draw their own conclusions — before we condemn them, consider America’s own similar, “silent” censorship practices. Have you seen THE END OF THE LINE or KING CORN on network tv? The former film warns of the depletion of our oceans’ resources, the latter clarifies the nefarious implications of our nation’s addiction to commercial corn. Strangely, none of the Big Four (and a half) networks have slated them to air. Like FOOD, INC., KING CORN has received a slot on PBS, but really, does anyone over 6 and under 60 watch public television? Is it crazy to suspect that corporate interests that support free tv with their ads have influenced the decisions to steer clear of these controversial docs that beg viewers to reconsider the entire infrastructure, sense and health of our nation’s industrial(ized) food system? Somehow,I don’t foresee McDonald’s underwriting an uninterrupted broadcast of FAST FOOD NATION, Richard Linklater‘s uneven, yet still potent adaptation of Eric Schlosser‘s investigative return to The Jungle.

Then, ask yourself why we’ve never seen a soldier’s corpse or coffin on a network or cable newscast or the bloody aftermath of our interventions in Iraq or Afghanistan. How could we embed that many journalists without getting a body count of contracted killers, opposing soldiers and innocent civilians in addition to our own official casualties.

Or, ask why it is that BP’s stockholders are guaranteed greater access to information regarding the company’s disastrous (mis)handling of its oil spill than the general public or those directly near it? Why the gulf between the fiscally-harmed and the physically imperiled?

Mainstream media does no more to insure our access to all of the evidence than JD Salinger did to supply the tabloids with celebrity fodder. So, while I pity the Japanese who will remain unaware of the heinous practices of one of its country’s fishing communities and the toxic consequences for local schoolchildren, I remind myself that Big Food — with a proactive assist from our government!  — bars Americans from seeing how our pigs, chickens and cattle are raised and slaughtered. I hated watching dolphins bludgeoned in THE COVE and I despise the (unseen) treatment of livestock at American CAFOs. But just like the Japanese, we jeopardize species including own, excusing our practices with the same, (wet) blanket explanation that ‘it’s part of our nation’s culture.’

Of course, you need look no further than cheese in your refrigerator to realize that some cultures,no matter how much you love them, just plain stink.