Fienberg, Daniel (zap2it.com) “Finding his immoral compass: In ‘Eyes.’ Actor Eric Mabius inhabits a character who’s not easy to love,” The Boston Globe (Television Review), 8 May 2005, p. N11.

 

Any wise citizen (parent, politician, media mogul, etc.) should be thinking about our society and its values. Christians, in addition, struggle to be “in the world but not of it,” to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.”  Whether rooted in the secular world or a community of faith, we all have a responsibility to “exegete” or interpret television shows, the news media and their reviews, and culture generally.

 

Let’s consider, then, how our culture and this review look at a new ABC midseason drama, “Eyes.” The review begins:

 

In the first episode, Eric Mabius’s Jeff McCann sleeps with a co-worker’s beautiful wife and uncovers the mole undermining his high tech risk management firm. That’s a good start for an intriguing and complicated character.

 

And what kind of a character is this show about?

 

When we were in rehearsals for the pilot, we talked about the qualities of a guy’s guy… trying to create the kind of a person that men all at some point secretly want to be and that hopefully most women at some point—in a moment of weakness or not—would want to sleep with.

 

And how did Eric Mabius find playing this character?  The character’s “variable morality was ultimately liberating.”

 

That’s what’s great—once I found his immoral compass, I found it easy to move from that place in any direction, whether it’s sincerity or duplicity.

 

And, what did ABC have in mind (according to Mabius)?

What we’re trying to do now is get people to watch…. ABC’s “Eyes”… has to face two established brands in NBC’s “Law and Order” mother ship and CBS’s “CSI: NY.”

 

Finally, what resolution comes from this article? Here is how it closes (still in the opinion and words of Eric Mabius):

 

Instead of the relations being incidental to the crime of the week (as in other shows where good at least struggles to overcome evil), I think it’s the other way around on our show (the character and relationships being primary), and I think this breeds loyalty in the audience.

 

 

 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

 

1.   Do guys secretly want to be “bad,” and is there something in (some) women and girls that secretly admires or desires bad guys?  If so, is this something that ought to be resisted by individuals and society?  Or, is this distorting the whole issue?

 

2.   Do we generally want two attractive actors in our dramas, whether married or not, to consummate sexually their evident attractions toward one another? Is there a part of all of us who fantasizes about such illicit and spontaneous affairs?

 

3.   Does seeing illicit or inappropriate sex acted out in drama, relieve personal frustrations? Or, does it increase our desire and lower our inhibitions? Or, is pop culture providing, at the same time, both vicarious relief and encouragement for immediate self-gratification without regard for consequences.

 

 

4.   In your opinion, what responsibility for public morals do the media and government have? Is this all a personal or family issue?

 

 

 

IMPLICATIONS

 

1.   Surveys and anecdotal experience conclude that some girls and women are attracted to bad boys and men. It is clear also that many boys and men see something good in a “bad” image.

 

2.   There seems to be ample evidence as to the banality of evil—that ordinary citizens can do horrendous deeds. We need to consider the possibility that the attraction to do the wrong thing is a universal inclination that needs to be curbed by self-discipline.

 

3.   An important discussion is at what point this matter of immorality becomes a public health issue affecting the lives of children, youth and families.

 

 

4.   At least, we should be agreed that the influence and morality of television shows, movies, and commercials needs to be discussed in families, youth groups, and to some extent in schools.