The Demise of “The Book of Daniel” and Other Stories

The Demise of "The Book of Daniel" and Other Stories

By Steven D. Laib, J.D. M.S. | View comments

As with Brokeback Mountain, and other recently released "gender bending" movies, there appears to be a concerted attempt to convince the public that behavior that was considered deviant 50 years ago is normal, and par for the course in the life of ordinary Americans. This is far from the truth, and all the awards in the world will not make a propaganda piece into a winner with the majority of the public.

The demise of the NBC Television series The Book Daniel appears to be on the horizon, if it has not already happened by the date of this publication. This would be a good thing, and to all appearances, a triumph of censorship by public sentiment over what appears to be an attempt by the network to foist another piece of tripe on the viewing audience.

According to Worldnetdaily.com the series:
"written by a homosexual, is being promoted as the only show on television in which Jesus appears as a recurring character and the only network prime-time drama series with a regular male "gay" character, a 23-year-old Republican son. The main character, Daniel Webster, is a troubled, pill-popping Episcopal priest. Touted as the riskiest show of the year, it includes a wife who relies on mid-day martinis, a 16-year-old daughter who is a drug dealer and a 16-year-old adopted son who is having sex with the bishop's daughter. At the office, the priest's lesbian secretary is sleeping with his sister-in-law.

The fact that the series is written by a homosexual is irrelevant. The content is not. As with Brokeback Mountain, and other recently released "gender bending" movies, there appears to be a concerted attempt to convince the public that behavior that was considered deviant 50 years ago is normal, and par for the course in the life of ordinary Americans. This is far from the truth, and all the awards in the world will not make a propaganda piece into a winner with the majority of the public. What it will do is create divisiveness, and a false impression about what life in America is all about.

This lesson was driven home rather pointedly by two interesting incidents; both coincidently involving the former hit series Dallas. The first occurred to a professional colleague traveling in Germany who got into a conversation with some local people. When they learned that she was from Texas, the first question that jumped to their minds was had she ever met J.R. Ewing. No, these were not, to the best of her knowledge, uneducated people. The second involved a pathology professor who spent a considerable amount of time studying tropical diseases in South America. Apparently Dallas, dubbed into Spanish was being shown on local television, which led him to the surprising discovery that a lot of the people believed J.R. was a typical American who lived a typical American life. Perhaps the same could be said of other such entertainment broadcast oversees.

When members of the entertainment industry wonder what it is that makes other societies look down on America, they might begin by looking at themselves. The content of their work may be considered entertaining, well produced, with talented actors, but is it telling a story that needs to be told, or one that the public wants to hear. The success of the Lord of the Rings series speaks for itself. It was a classic Good vs. Evil story, with real good guys, real bad guys, and commentary on the human condition and human weaknesses as shown in the characters of Denethor and Boromir, as well as the ability of those with determination to triumph over adversity. Stories such as this, which inspire the human spirit, are timeless. Casablanca is another example; Rick's self sacrifice sending Ilsa off with Victor Lazlo shows nobility which is often missing in today's society. Even Captain Renault comes to terms with right and wrong, ordering the police to "round up the usual suspects" for the murder of Major Strasser, and then unceremoniously dumping a bottle of Vichy water into a waste basket. This last scene, highly symbolic at the time, may be lost on today's audience, which may be unaware of the pro-German French government then headquartered at Vichy.

In contrast, as David Kupelian points out, in Brokeback Mountain Ennis, one of the two main characters ends up divorced and living in a trailer having lost everything. The other drifts apart from his wife and finally is killed in what appears to be a freak accident. There appears to be little focus on the negative effects of their relationship on the two families involved or how they essentially destroyed their own lives. If one reads between the lines of cinematic wizardry, there is a message that self-indulgent behavior without regard for others is self destructive, but the film's focus is on the self-pity of Ennis, embracing Jack's shirt, rather than the effect his illicit relationship had on his family and himself. It is ignoring the obvious and attempting to cast the negative in a positive light.

What we should also note is the Brokeback Mountain was essentially a box office flop. Up until the recent Golden Globe ceremony, it earned a pitiful $36 million in revenues, compared to $587 million for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, released at about the same time. This should point out clearly that the American public is less interested in modern Hollywood cultural commentary and more in tune with C. S. Lewis' Christian allegory.

Returning to NBC's Book of Daniel, if people come to believe that the dysfunctional family of a priest is normal, their own dysfunctional behavior becomes okay. Instead of inspiring people to overcome their problems, they are encouraged to maintain them, wallow in misery, and blame outside forces for the results of their own mistakes. Rewriting the story description one finds that Daniel Webster is more than likely suffering a crisis of faith, and is unable to deal with it, teaching us that faith is useless. The drinking wife can't control herself enough to stop, and doesn't seek help as she should. The 16-year-old drug-dealing daughter should have been brought to account for her actions, as should the adopted son who is having sex with the bishop's daughter, etc. It is a story that says, "give up" instead of saying, "rise above your difficulties". There is no redemption, no light at the end of the tunnel.

What the producers could have created was a story where people are rescued; where faith builds them a better life, and where there is a way out of problems by confronting them and dealing with them in a positive way. Daniel should probably put his pills aside and concentrate on the needs of his congregants and others around him in need of help and inspiration. Perhaps he would find his own inspiration in doing so, but in the story he won't get off his duff and do it. This is what modern entertainment wants us to believe about ourselves. Thank God, so far, the majority of us aren't falling for it.

Steven Laib is a semi-retired attorney living in Katy, Texas.
Intellectual Conservative.com