The episode of Bones I saw today (via fox.com) has probably set in stone that Bones is one of my favourite shows.
For a while my sister was crazed with it, and I understood why. The very different thing about the forensic investigation show of Bones that makes every other similar type of show dreadfully boring is that Bones ties in a lot of anthropology, psychology, humor, and emotion into it. All other ones are really dull compared to Bones. The episode I saw today aired last Monday which I couldn't watch because of midterm studying, but this episode was trying to discover the death of a soldier - and just to remind you all, last Monday was Veteran's Day.
Essentially, and I'm giving away the ending here, the believed-to-be-murdered soldier was not assaulted in any way. What happened was that he was right outside of the Pentagon during 9/11/2001 when the aircraft started flying in and crashing into the building. By saving the lives of three people from being crushed by concrete blocks, he broke many of his bones because his body wasn't used to carrying things so heavy. He ultimately died because parts of debris that came from the airplane shot at him at the speed of a bullet, and it made a hole in his lungs until he bled to death. Fast forward 10 years later, and you have this forensic team trying to piece together why this soldier was not recognized as a hero but they do eventually hold him a proper funeral, which I thought was very emotional, whether this was based on a true story or not.
What got me the most was during the breaking down of evidence from the bones by the team of forensic anthropologist interns. The team consists of three white males, one black male, and one Middle Eastern one (who speaks absolutely beautiful Farsi, I must add). I'm not sure if it bothers me that there is no female intern because Ms. Brennan is the head forensic anthropologist so... yeah. There was this part where they realize that their investigation isn't going anywhere. One of the interns is obviously a lot more stressed out than the others, and the Farsi dude always seems really quiet. The Farsi one is Muslim, I might add, although I might assume that those of you reading might have already assumed the Middle Eastern one is Muslim.
The southern one (one of the white males) realizes the Farsi dude hasn't been talking much, and asks him if this is "difficult" for him. The Farsi guy gets angry and sets the southern dude straight, that 9/11 was not a result of religion. Rather, 9/11 is what made his religion such a shame in America. He says that the guys who hijacked the plane did out of spite, arrogance, and pride. He says that the guys who claimed to worship the same God he did have ended up shaming their God. In conclusion, this case isn't "difficult" for him, and he feels privileged to bring back the honor of this American solider. The southern dude realizes his prejudices, apologizes, and thanks the Farsi dude for telling him what truly happened. This got me thinking a lot about coexistence among everything, race and religion.. which I will talk about in another post but I have one more thing to say regarding 9/11 and this episode.
To get the elephant in the room out of the way, each of them described how 9/11 affected them. They were all old enough to remember and be affected by it, and even close to it too since they're just a few states down from Manhattan. And then I think about where I was. I honestly have no memory of that day. What my mother tells me is that it was any regular school day, and schools got many calls of whether or not to send their children to school. My sister, me, and many of my classmates still went to school that day, as we essentially lived on the other side of the country. There must have been a reason why God did not want people of my age to have the trauma that people did on that day. I'm glad I don't have any horrible memories, but I do really wonder how I would be like if I had witnessed live on television or something of that sort. The only time I have probably been deeply affected by the event was by watching documentaries over television years later after the event.
Today in my humanities class, we glossed a bit over the 9/11 incident as well. People theorized why the Twin Towers specifically where targeted. To the world, the towers symbolized globalization, consumerism, wasting resources, and exploiting people. Thus to some people, they wanted the towers destroyed. I mean sure, all of that is pretty bad stuff, but like said in Bones, I honestly don't think it's worth the lives of hundreds and the effects of lives of many more.
It's funny, though, as I write this. The top photograph of the pile of film photographs on my desk is the NY Twin Towers taken by my mother in the early 1990's.
But this is why I love this TV show Bones so much. I learn so much about people, the world, human behaviour, culture, and human relations. There are also times when it's extremely funny and times where I finish an episode in tears. If someone as stubborn as Bones could end up falling in love as much as she finds it a restricting institution for human kind, perhaps there is hope for me, too. ( I know it's just fiction, but part of this TV show is actually based off of the life of a female forensic anthropologist).
For a while my sister was crazed with it, and I understood why. The very different thing about the forensic investigation show of Bones that makes every other similar type of show dreadfully boring is that Bones ties in a lot of anthropology, psychology, humor, and emotion into it. All other ones are really dull compared to Bones. The episode I saw today aired last Monday which I couldn't watch because of midterm studying, but this episode was trying to discover the death of a soldier - and just to remind you all, last Monday was Veteran's Day.
Essentially, and I'm giving away the ending here, the believed-to-be-murdered soldier was not assaulted in any way. What happened was that he was right outside of the Pentagon during 9/11/2001 when the aircraft started flying in and crashing into the building. By saving the lives of three people from being crushed by concrete blocks, he broke many of his bones because his body wasn't used to carrying things so heavy. He ultimately died because parts of debris that came from the airplane shot at him at the speed of a bullet, and it made a hole in his lungs until he bled to death. Fast forward 10 years later, and you have this forensic team trying to piece together why this soldier was not recognized as a hero but they do eventually hold him a proper funeral, which I thought was very emotional, whether this was based on a true story or not.
What got me the most was during the breaking down of evidence from the bones by the team of forensic anthropologist interns. The team consists of three white males, one black male, and one Middle Eastern one (who speaks absolutely beautiful Farsi, I must add). I'm not sure if it bothers me that there is no female intern because Ms. Brennan is the head forensic anthropologist so... yeah. There was this part where they realize that their investigation isn't going anywhere. One of the interns is obviously a lot more stressed out than the others, and the Farsi dude always seems really quiet. The Farsi one is Muslim, I might add, although I might assume that those of you reading might have already assumed the Middle Eastern one is Muslim.
The southern one (one of the white males) realizes the Farsi dude hasn't been talking much, and asks him if this is "difficult" for him. The Farsi guy gets angry and sets the southern dude straight, that 9/11 was not a result of religion. Rather, 9/11 is what made his religion such a shame in America. He says that the guys who hijacked the plane did out of spite, arrogance, and pride. He says that the guys who claimed to worship the same God he did have ended up shaming their God. In conclusion, this case isn't "difficult" for him, and he feels privileged to bring back the honor of this American solider. The southern dude realizes his prejudices, apologizes, and thanks the Farsi dude for telling him what truly happened. This got me thinking a lot about coexistence among everything, race and religion.. which I will talk about in another post but I have one more thing to say regarding 9/11 and this episode.
To get the elephant in the room out of the way, each of them described how 9/11 affected them. They were all old enough to remember and be affected by it, and even close to it too since they're just a few states down from Manhattan. And then I think about where I was. I honestly have no memory of that day. What my mother tells me is that it was any regular school day, and schools got many calls of whether or not to send their children to school. My sister, me, and many of my classmates still went to school that day, as we essentially lived on the other side of the country. There must have been a reason why God did not want people of my age to have the trauma that people did on that day. I'm glad I don't have any horrible memories, but I do really wonder how I would be like if I had witnessed live on television or something of that sort. The only time I have probably been deeply affected by the event was by watching documentaries over television years later after the event.
Today in my humanities class, we glossed a bit over the 9/11 incident as well. People theorized why the Twin Towers specifically where targeted. To the world, the towers symbolized globalization, consumerism, wasting resources, and exploiting people. Thus to some people, they wanted the towers destroyed. I mean sure, all of that is pretty bad stuff, but like said in Bones, I honestly don't think it's worth the lives of hundreds and the effects of lives of many more.
It's funny, though, as I write this. The top photograph of the pile of film photographs on my desk is the NY Twin Towers taken by my mother in the early 1990's.
But this is why I love this TV show Bones so much. I learn so much about people, the world, human behaviour, culture, and human relations. There are also times when it's extremely funny and times where I finish an episode in tears. If someone as stubborn as Bones could end up falling in love as much as she finds it a restricting institution for human kind, perhaps there is hope for me, too. ( I know it's just fiction, but part of this TV show is actually based off of the life of a female forensic anthropologist).
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