The Shield

I ordinarily don’t write or talk about media I haven’t seen, but this review of the FX cable channel’s show The Shield makes some excellent points about the ways in which television can function. Cynthia Fuchs notes:

This "way" is more visibly complicated by the minute, primarily, in terms of race. Again, the series seems hyper-attentive to current tensions, particularly those unvoiced by most mass media. As the series continues to exhibit the corruptions and end-runs that define U.S. legal and penal systems, it also reveals those social and cultural tensions that prevent lasting resolutions.

I am intrigued! There are only a few moments when I wish I had access to cable television, this is one of them. I’d very much like to see how this series is exploring these issues. Primetime drama can often explore difficult problems in our culture with more complexity and integrity than the news (which is so often constrained by its need to stick to short sound bites, and “balanced” objectivity).