Anti-Intellectualism in Eurekan Life

In the midst of the discussion that I had about this morning’s post on metatextual and contextual racism (and other isms), one canon came up a lot when were talking: Eureka. It came up often because it’s a really unique show in what and how it displays its bias. Eureka is highly lauded for their visual portrayals of minorities in major roles (both in terms of women and multiple ethnicities) but that doesn’t mean either canon is devoid of people of lower social status and oppression. But what I find really interesting about both shows is the metatextual analysis of where the real bias lies and how they’re approaching it.

Eureka has, hands down, one of the most ethnically diverse casts in scifi. There’s characters of color and bi-racial relationships (and not just in the black/white sense, we also see Asian/black, for example) all over the place. But not a single glance at racism as a topic within the canon. Partially, I think, this is because it’s the wrong genre for this. Eureka is not a drama; it’s a comedy. Maybe even action comedy.

But the big reason racism isn’t really addressed comes because the metatextual bias of the show isn’t racist. Eureka is anti-intellectual.

I know! Shocking statement about a show in which the town is almost entirely made of the top scientific minds of the world and their families. But that doesn’t change the fact that the show’s slant is anti-intellectual. The protagonist and point-of-view character for the show is primarily Jack Carter. Jack is the one who takes care of problems, cracks the most jokes, and often displays an average Joe sort of common sense most people respect. He’s a former federal marshal, unwillingly turned town sheriff when he and his daughter Zoe crash their car outside of town and wander in needing a repair. He supplants the (female) former Army Ranger and established town resident Deputy Jo Lupo for the job when the original sheriff is injured.

Jack also routinely puts down the science around him, dismissing the scientists and complaining about their speech, mannerisms, lack of forethought, consideration, and their lack of respect for “proper culture” (such as baseball).

This is the character we’re supposed to relate to and agree with and he consistently displays an outright loathing for the intellectual surroundings around him. Even worse, rarely do any other characters call him on his attitude. The one character who does often is Nathan Stark. Nathan, the head of the company all the scientists are employed through (Global Dynamics), puts Jack down equally as often as Jack snarks at him. The difference is that Nathan is shown as snide, condescending, patronizing and an all around ass to everyone around him.

But lest you think that this is Eureka’s way of showing all outsiders to the town, there’s the case of Zoe. You see, Zoe Carter adapts to Eureka being weird. She eventually embraces it and finds her own place within the community. Jack Carter distinctly does not. He tries to bend Eureka to his view point. And the biggest difference between Jack and his daughter Zoe is that Zoe appreciates being smart and different, even before she lands in the capitol of weird: Eureka. Specifically, she appreciates what being smart can do. (She’s even taken advantage of it before. Zoe might not be Eureka caliber of smart, but she’s not just average either. Jack’s biggest problem with Zoe — and she causes a lot of problems during the course of the show — is really that Zoe’s just smarter than he is.)

The really funny thing about the metatextual display of bias is that, contextually, Jack is the minority position. Within Eureka, he’s vastly outnumbered. He’s not a scientist, he wasn’t looking to work there, he’s a new-comer, he likes (and here’s an annoying stereotype of intellectuals, if I have to name just one) *gasp!* sports. How often do you see a metatextual slant of irrational and divisive bias through a minority perspective? (Randomly, do we see a lot of discussion of instances where we see, for example, middle/upper class African-Americans afraid of lower class African-Americans or actively avoiding “ghettos” like Cabrini Green in Chicago or some of the neighborhoods in East St. Louis, or Hispanics with Barrio Logan in San Diego? Because it happens, even on TV.)

The fact that this metatextual bias exists in a canon where, contextually, things are idyllic in terms of equality is fascinating. Of course Eureka has other issues, metatextually, in terms of its minority portrayals (I find issue with the portrayals of the big four female parts in the show, personally, as they fall into very specific stereotypes and all lend themselves to support roles and the lack of regular female “hard scientists” — Jo’s the muscle, Beverly and Allison are doctors (and we only see Allison acting as a doctor once, the rest of the time she’s an administrator and bureaucrat), and Zoe’s a kid in school.) But I think the bias overlooked by fandom and probably created unconsciously by the show’s producers and writers is the anti-intellectual air. After all, accepting it as rote is easy; it plays right into the general culture of anti-intellectualism within American society. This is a general dismissal that worries me personally, as much as racism or sexism or homophobia, because the consequences here are equally as damaging. Look at President Bush vs. every environmental scientist ever. Or the way pseudo-science is used to push abstinence-only education in schools. But that’s an essay for another day and time.

This doesn’t stop me from being excited about the return of Eureka, of course. The fake PSAs and pseudo-infomercials Scifi is showing don’t help either. The one featuring Henry (”Remember, today’s robot is tomorrow’s unstoppable killing machine.”) had me laughing so hard I was crying. If you didn’t recognize him, Henry’s actor (Joe Morton) is the same man who, in Terminator 2 played Miles Dyson, the unfortunate doctor who essentially creates Skynet. Skynet being the psychotic computer that goes nuts in the future and starts waging a campaign to rid the world of humanity, of course. So, yes, the PSA was hilarious in context.

And now I’m curious: does anyone know when The Sarah Connor Chronicles is supposed to start?