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gwynWell, shit. I just had to turn down work on a "hot cowboy romance." I'm so behind on planning my proofreading class that is exactly on the same timeframe (I would have had to start today) and I have a magazine proof, it's just not doable. I was tempted anyway, but finally my logical brain won out.
Anyway. I have been thinking about White Collar since the second season finale last... whenever it was. And I was all "My show's back!" this past week. But I kind of forgot that I was unhappy at the end till the beginning last night.
I want to say many things about this whole Nazi plunder thing, but in the end, it really only comes down to one thing: Nazi plunder is evil. And taking it is not a lighthearted caper that Our Hero, amorally conflicted as he may be, gets to scamper off with to tropical locales with his criminal BFF for cavorting and conning, leaving behind the man (and woman!) who staked his life (not just his reputation, because the FBI is his life and it would also stain Elizabeth) on him.
Nazi plunder was stolen from thousands and thousands of people across Europe, people who were driven out of their homes, starved, beaten, killed, forced to live in ghettoes before being rounded up and sent in cattle cars (where they died by the thousands) to concentration camps to be systematically tortured and murdered. Six million people were murdered.
That stuff in those crates? The jewelry that had been in those families sometimes for generations. The art that had been purchased by those people, often by emerging starving artists who weren't yet the famous painters that Neal forges so blithely. The knickknacks that people decorated their homes with, homes they had bought and paid for before they were taken away from them solely because of religion or ethnicity.
That Neal seems to be unaware of the issue of provenance, the issue that this is blood art, is beyond bewildering to me. Do the writers of the show really not understand how serious this is? And that Neal follows Mozzie's idea to blow the pop stand with the art flummoxes me even more -- I've always had the sense that Mozzie is at least ethnically Jewish, but if not, he IS at least a massive conspiracy theorist, and if anyone should be aware of the issues around Holocaust plunder, it would be someone like that. Why is this being glossed over? Unless they hire the best writers in the business, I can't see any way out of this that makes any sense, isn't a complete handwave, and doesn't involve us forgiving them for their gross insensitivity and outright willful ignorance.
I'm not even angry, weirdly. I'm just incredibly disappointed. I've been willing to handwave their silliness for a long time, but this crosses a line where I can't look the other way and just go, "Peter and Neal pretty." I love the Sarah character, and I kept waiting for her last night to point out what was going on, for at least one person to bring up the fact that this was Nazi blood art. I mean, they even attempted in the Burma episode last year to discuss the concept of blood jewels; why has this been forgotten for something so monumental? And they made Alex's story of her grandfather sound like a sweet little lullaby he sang her every night -- he was a freaking Nazi! (And please don't try to defend that by saying he was just a lowly sailor on a U-Boat -- you had to swear your loyalty, so that's not going to wash.)
I just don't know what to think. I know Jeff Eastin has a blog or a Twitter or whatever, but I'm not sure I want to read justification for this, or a "stay tuned, it's not what you think." They're not good enough to pull this one back. I've never watched it for the plots, but this time, I can't not pay attention to the story.
Anyway. I have been thinking about White Collar since the second season finale last... whenever it was. And I was all "My show's back!" this past week. But I kind of forgot that I was unhappy at the end till the beginning last night.
I want to say many things about this whole Nazi plunder thing, but in the end, it really only comes down to one thing: Nazi plunder is evil. And taking it is not a lighthearted caper that Our Hero, amorally conflicted as he may be, gets to scamper off with to tropical locales with his criminal BFF for cavorting and conning, leaving behind the man (and woman!) who staked his life (not just his reputation, because the FBI is his life and it would also stain Elizabeth) on him.
Nazi plunder was stolen from thousands and thousands of people across Europe, people who were driven out of their homes, starved, beaten, killed, forced to live in ghettoes before being rounded up and sent in cattle cars (where they died by the thousands) to concentration camps to be systematically tortured and murdered. Six million people were murdered.
That stuff in those crates? The jewelry that had been in those families sometimes for generations. The art that had been purchased by those people, often by emerging starving artists who weren't yet the famous painters that Neal forges so blithely. The knickknacks that people decorated their homes with, homes they had bought and paid for before they were taken away from them solely because of religion or ethnicity.
That Neal seems to be unaware of the issue of provenance, the issue that this is blood art, is beyond bewildering to me. Do the writers of the show really not understand how serious this is? And that Neal follows Mozzie's idea to blow the pop stand with the art flummoxes me even more -- I've always had the sense that Mozzie is at least ethnically Jewish, but if not, he IS at least a massive conspiracy theorist, and if anyone should be aware of the issues around Holocaust plunder, it would be someone like that. Why is this being glossed over? Unless they hire the best writers in the business, I can't see any way out of this that makes any sense, isn't a complete handwave, and doesn't involve us forgiving them for their gross insensitivity and outright willful ignorance.
I'm not even angry, weirdly. I'm just incredibly disappointed. I've been willing to handwave their silliness for a long time, but this crosses a line where I can't look the other way and just go, "Peter and Neal pretty." I love the Sarah character, and I kept waiting for her last night to point out what was going on, for at least one person to bring up the fact that this was Nazi blood art. I mean, they even attempted in the Burma episode last year to discuss the concept of blood jewels; why has this been forgotten for something so monumental? And they made Alex's story of her grandfather sound like a sweet little lullaby he sang her every night -- he was a freaking Nazi! (And please don't try to defend that by saying he was just a lowly sailor on a U-Boat -- you had to swear your loyalty, so that's not going to wash.)
I just don't know what to think. I know Jeff Eastin has a blog or a Twitter or whatever, but I'm not sure I want to read justification for this, or a "stay tuned, it's not what you think." They're not good enough to pull this one back. I've never watched it for the plots, but this time, I can't not pay attention to the story.
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no subject
Date: 2011-06-09 03:34 am (UTC)Explained here. This is a perfect example of why I don't do procedurals -- characterization and past continuity is a by-product not integral to the telling of the story.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-09 08:31 pm (UTC)I completely agree
Date: 2011-06-10 05:06 pm (UTC)Definitely disappointing.
Hey, sorry about your hot cowboys, and sorry you can't make it to vifians tonight. I *really* appreciated your card. It's been hard times recently-- pain and energy, and frankly, fear that the whole brain radiation will include side effects--and that was sweet of you.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-08 05:48 pm (UTC)Pretty much everything you said above is what I would say if I could see straight enough to write an entry in my lj, but I'm still seething. I was talking with a friend about this after the finale, and I said that Jeff Eastin has to have set some new kind of tv-writing record: six million plot-holes in 43 minutes.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-08 09:25 pm (UTC)I really hope that maybe the sides that are out there were altered at some point during filming, that someone said, Uh, guys, we have a problem... but I know how rare that is. All the vids I'd planned now just kind of... I don't know. I still love Peter but I'm not sure it's enough for me to forget about this.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-09 12:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-09 08:39 pm (UTC)