Update

Apparently, there have been visits on this blog(Go Minnesota!), but probably fewer than required in order to be able to live off porn advertisements. Let's up the ante.

First, I would like to post and comment on a few links.

1: Do you want to learn about humor in the u.s. of a.? then cracked.com is probably a site for you. Apart from posting some occasionally hilarious articles, the pretty advanced use of american-english slang really gives a special flavour. The links are to some of the(imho) better articles.

http://www.cracked.com/article_15029_bat-battle-whos-best-movie-batman.html


http://www.cracked.com/article_15651_mercy-kill-6-shows-thankfully-canceled-after-one-episode.html

http://www.cracked.com/article_16554_5-most-baffling-sex-scenes-in-history-fanfiction.html

2: Eliza Skinner seems to be weirdly representative of the stuff-white-people-like kind of person. Check it out! This one post is cool, though.

http://www.elizaskinner.net/2008/03/27/know-when-to-fold-em/

Now, after this we move to the main part of this post: The tv-series MacGyver.

MacGyver is the name of the protagonist of the series, a cia-operative(later working for the Phoenix foundation, a private do-gooder corporation of some kind with a lot of money of unknown origin(drugs? weapon trade? They are into "education" and "minorities" a lot, so some kind of communist indoctrination is also a possibility)).

The supposed thing about MacGyver is that, when in peril, he uses his wits instead of random violence. At least this is sort of the tagline(or something).
In reality, his flamboyant 80's lifestyle(venice beach?!) and clothes(his sneakers, tennis-socks, jeans and wham-style jackets haunt a lot of nightmares! word!) and his (throughout the show expanding) mullet combine to make this character iconic and in a league of its own. You can see the other actors look in awe at a man with guts to sport THAT look.

Also, he presumably likes to solve problems by patiently talking to people and offering compromises. Now delete "presumably", exchange "talking to" with "attacking" and "offering compromises" with "building bombs out of household appliances" and the edge of this show is obvious.


Let's take a look at a plot resume for a randomly chosen episode(courtesy of imdb.com):

To Mac's surprise, for the first time in 20 years his grandpa Harry, who raised the genius after his parents's untimely death in a car accident, accepted on that anniversary to join him for a hockey game. However Mac forgot the tickets, so they look for them in Pete's office, just when the Phoenix Foundation building is penetrated by ruthless killer Victoria James alias Susan Murphy, who was hired by the terrorist Liberation Front to plant a bomb which Mac disarmed in Kuwait and now wants to destroy it with its record before it's traced to her. After noticing Mac, she negotiates the front to pay her $100,000 extra to kill him and uses the Front stooges she planned to kill anyhow, but a few Macgyverisms overcome their clumsy attempts to imprison and kill Mac, while she deletes the bomb's inventory file and holds Harry hostage. The duel to the death is on...

Note the absence of apostropha around "genius", as well as the multiple mentioning of bombs and the presence of a woman(presumably attractive) as main antagonist. Where James Bond has "Bond-babes", MacGyver has "McGyverettes"; they play same part in the "Women want to be with him, men want to be him" credo.
Notable McGyverettes: Tia Carrere, Teri Hatcher.

In reality you get the feeling, that "normal" violence isn't good enough for Mac. Lets have a few quotes from the man: "It never stops there. You got a gun, things happen. People die." "Look, if this works, it'll keep us from gettin' caught. If it doesn't, it'll keep us from gettin' old."