Why No One Is Following Fox's "The Following"

Hmm, she's naked, collared, chained, on her knees, giving a blowjob and LOVING it. She MUST be evil! Image source: Sex and Submission.com.
Fox News is of course a leader in the Culture Wars, generally on the side that's against culture. But the Fox broadcasting network has not been such a culture warrior, at least, not obviously. For a very long time "The Simpsons" was Fox's number one show, and if ever a show repeatedly stuck it's thumb in the eye of the values that Fox's owner Rupert Murdock allegedly holds dear, it was "The Simpsons."

(Pauses for a moment, wondering if values have eyes. This was indeed a deeply disturbing metaphor! It did not matter, however, since it was questionable that the poor shriveled remnant of Rupert Murdoch's conscience would know a value if it bit him in the ass -- with its eye teeth!)

Well found a review that indicates that at least one Fox show may be sliding typical Fox regressive values under the radar. On a site called Hitfix.com I found a recap/review of a Fox show called "The Following," an episode called "Whips and Regrets." This line from the review is a dead giveaway:

But there's a great deal in "Whips and Regrets" which is blatantly just shaming any element of society that doesn't look like the mainstream, punishing the weird merely for being different. The episode's title comes from a BDSM club which is apparently broadcasting bandwidth for Joe's cult, and literally every detail around both this club and the woman who runs the joint are so distastefully dumb, played up merely for shock value and outrage, that they are assaultive.

Sounds like a Culture War sort of TV series all right. Anything not mainstream is suspect. Very Fox News if you ask me. Along with the backward cultural memes, there is of course, ignorance:

Then follows a delightful conversation in which it becomes rapidly obvious that no one present really knows what the words "bondage," "fetish," or "kink" mean. This would be fine if one of the characters present wasn't technically an expert; as it is, the scene is preposterously bad.

Mmm, sounds like Fox is attempting to lay its little culture bombs in its programming, but it may be too late for that. Nobody watches TV any more but old people, and that applies ESPECIALLY for Fox Broadcasting, which is in the cellar in the ratings, according to this report.

My suspicion is that Fox may be in the cellar precisely BECAUSE its shows are full of tired old memes like this, which nobody who is not in serious danger of dying of old age is buying, which is also mostly who's watching.

Kevin Bacon stars in this series. He had all his money invested with Bernie Madoff. Poor bastard.