HBO series “Perry Mason” is not worth watching.
I disagree with the recent Federalist article that the HBO reboot series "Perry Mason" is a spiritual allegory of our times. It is more of an allegory for the festering cesspool that is Big Media. The new series is nothing more than HBO (Big Media) attempting to "cancel" Perry Mason, by shredding the fondly-remembered hero of a past time when justice prevailed; innocent people were successfully defended and allowed to go free; and bad guys were prosecuted and put in jail.
Perry Mason was a popular, groundbreaking crime series in the fifties and sixties which reflected the positive attitude of the time. It was successful because of good writing and acting, suspenseful court scenes in every episode, and incorporating the eternal concept of justice winning in the face of evil. The lawyer uncorrupted, seeking only actual justice. Shakespeare's famous line, "first, let's kill all the lawyers" understood that this eternal concept is rare, and so it is valuable to hold as an aspiration. It is to be sought. The original Perry Mason series made you believe it could be true. We wanted to believe, and romantically suspended disbelief long enough to enjoy the latest episode, before allowing real life to intrude once more.
But Hollywood and Big Media apparently are compelled to rot the memory of every cultural hero of the past, and degrade foundational concepts like justice. They make up “prequel” stories portraying heroes such as Mason as deeply flawed, so we find him less likeable. This tactic curbs their cultural influence and steers us away from ideals these tainted heroes embrace, like virtue and justice. (See also: Luke Skywalker.)
Degrading the hero also casts aspersions on the entire time period in which the hero was first portrayed. Those were simpler, more innocent and happier times, that normal people recall with misty longing. Big Media and Hollywood seek to destroy the roots of moral culture in order to make today’s viewers more malleable to the ongoing theme of “America bad”. It happens like this: No, we can't have any merit now, because we were bad then! See, this corrupt attorney you used to admire was really a creep who beat his wife. Nothing he did could be just or virtuous, right? The courts are corrupt! All cops are bad! Let's riot in the streets, and for justice burn down everything.
See how effective this tactic is at getting people to start to believe the lie of America Bad.
I do agree with this portion of The Federalist’s article however.
“…Mason delivers a powerful closing argument to the jury about the need for society to accept the rule of law and the necessity of a judicial system that advocates innocence until proven guilty. It’s a stirring message to chew on today in our riot-filled, FISA court-abusing, cancel-culture society, where so many people decide to take “justice” into their own hands or let their emotions feed into the need for vengeance and public executions.“
As for the HBO series: no thanks, I won’t be watching it. I don’t believe America is or was fundamentally flawed.
I still remember the real Perry Mason and know that truth and justice did, and do still, exist.
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