MacGyver: Political Analysis [Part 1: Intro and Liberalism]

Television programming these days isn't what it used to be. In fact, I find most of it downright asinine. If it isn't a pointless, and distorted, reality show, it's a sitcom that has been pressed into the mold of much better shows before it. From a political standpoint, television still isn't as bad as Hollywood films. Yeah the nightly news media is still liberally biased, and shows like 'American Dad' and anything on MTV seem to undermine conservative values at every pass' but still there are dozens of quality, conservative, family-based shows on television, which is something you can't really say for the cinema at the moment. I have to think that this choice by the big three networks, as well as dozens of cable networks, to remain largely moderate if not conservative in their programming is because they realize the audience they are shooting for. Look at who watches TV most: suburbanites. You don't really find urban youths running home to watch television, nor do you find the arts community or other large left-winged voting blocks tuning in. Rather, the everyday American, most of whom live in the conservative values stronghold discovered in the 1950's: the suburb.

Regardless of if you agree with my assessment of the national viewing audience, I think we can all agree that the golden age of television is far behind us. The great shows are all behind us, living on in glorious DVD; and any show that tries to become the next great piece of American programming is quickly squashed by network executives (Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development, Undeclared). Having just picked up MacGyver Season 4 a month ago, I have been relaxing over my elongated holiday break and thinking a little more critically about things.

Armed with my knowledge of both sides of the political spectrum, and with the ability to assess the political leanings of entertainment (thanks in part to "The Art of Film" course at Seton Hill) I have decided to deconstruct this wonderful show. Sure this sounds a bit on the dorky side, what other 20 year old is going to sit down and deeply analyze an action show from the 1980's, but it's practicing this brand of political, critical thinking that keeps analysis of film and media sharp.

The first thing to really understand is when this show came about: right in the thick of the Reagan presidency. The show began in 1985, while America was in the process of winning the Cold War. It was a different sort of programming, featuring a hero that was vastly different from the hit show that began before it: The A-Team. Unlike the A-Team, which featured a vigilante group of anti-hero mercenary soldiers, MacGyver was a show that emphasized brains over brawns and featured a hero who was a Boy Scout with a mullet.

Looking at the show from a political standpoint, it's hard to press it to one side or the other. While the show is far from centrist or moderate it instead stands to the far left and right virtually at the same time. On some issues, it stands firmly in the realm of the new Democratic ideals, and in other areas it proudly flaunts Republican values. I will break down the show point by point based on the topic of political discussion.

One of the largest messages from MacGyver is that there needs to be rampant gun control in America, and that guns in general are a societal evil. This, of course, is the belief of many liberals, who stress gun control, background checks and waiting periods for firearm sales. And while statistics have proven that having less gun control actually reduces the crime rate (as found in a study by Yale economist John Lott in his book More Guns, Less Crime), MacGyver is firmly against them. The character MacGyver, himself, refuses to use a gun for its intended purpose. He never shoots them at people, but instead uses them as wrenches, or just breaks them apart and uses the mechanisms contained within. Perhaps the most blatant expression of gun control can be found in episode 402, "Blood Brothers," where the audience finds out why MacGyver refuses to use guns. When he was a child, he and his three friends were in the woods shooting cans with a pistol. While goofing off, MacGyver accidentally caused the gun to go off, killing one of his friends! And of course, as the child is being covered in a white cloth by the paramedics, one looks to the other and says, "When are they going to do something about guns?" The entire episode is about gun control, and shows guns doing nothing but causing the decline of urban youth.

MacGyver is also a very pro-environment protection show. If you've only seen the show a handful of times, there is a good chance that one of those times MacGyver was in the woods on some sort of preservation mission (or just camping.) Being that MacGyver is a Boy Scout, he obviously cares deeply for our nation's forest. Now just caring about the environment doesn't make you a liberal or a conservative, because both care about Mother Nature, it's how each views conservation and preservation that makes you left or right. MacGyver is a little of both. He is all for utilizing modern technology and government programs to monitor nature, as shown in the Season 3 episode "Ghost Ship." Yes, that's the same episode where he fights Big Foot, but let's try and keep this serious. In terms of actual forest preservation, he remains rather neutral; but that doesn't mean Mac doesn't take the time to teach us about the benefits nature can provide to Man. When it comes to animals, he is decidedly liberal. In the episode "Final Approach," we find Mac out in the woods with some inner-city youth. But when one of the kids wanders off and gets cornered by a mountain lion, MacGyver goes out of his way to construct a small water hose to scare off the lion, instead of just crafting something to fight it. PETA would be proud. They would be even prouder of him in "Eagles," an episode which features Mac in the mountains trying to save the lives of two endangered bald eagles. In the episode "The Endangered" he travels out into the country to fight poachers killing endangered animals. Even in the previously mentioned "Blood Brothers" episode, MacGyver shows off an "animal friendly" mouse trap, which catches mice only so that they can be set free later.

Because of the show's insistence on involving MacGyver with many inner city youth programs, its portrayal of urban youth and the poor is also liberal. As mentioned earlier, in "The Final Approach" MacGyver deals with a handful of young gang members out the in woods. He acts as a sort of counselor, trying to teach them how to be stand-up members of society. He is also a volunteer at an inner city youth club in "The Challenge." While both Republicans (specifically President Bush) and Democrats have programs designed to help children in lower class urban environments, the topic is traditionally leftist. The same goes for the show's portrayal of the poor. Throughout various episodes of MacGyver (specially "Madonna" comes to mind) the poor are almost martyr-ized. They are portrayed as survivors doing what they can to live in the downtrodden environment they have been placed in. They are usually wise people who seem to be perfectly content being poor.

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