Originally Posted by
Ntnon
There's a broadly valid point there, but it does not apply in this context.
For one, "racism is bad" is actually not the only point here - and there are great lengths to take it. For one, we have several of the non-white characters fighting fire with fire, which raises fantastic ethical and moral questions: if faced with violence and prejudice, does answering with violence and prejudice help?
For another, we have the masks. Historically - within and without the show - masks have been used to protect identities against repercussions and judgement not just for "heroes" but for criminals and villains. Having Klan masks, commandeered Rorschach masks, police masks and vigilante masks all being used for the same reason is brilliant. Agent Blake asks the difference between masked vigilantes and masked police - and given that the three detectives have vigilante names, the answer is all the more scathing.
We have the added layer that the right-wing, racist, conspiracy theorist Rorschach-and-Nixon idolisers are... actually correct to ascribe conspiracies to the powers that be. If they believe the crazy tales of Kovacs, they're closer to Absolute Truth than those weeded out by Looking Glass' "is the Government lying about squids?" questions. Which is dark and grey and shocking and clever.
By bringing the liberal/conservative debates about rules of engagement and guns to the fore and butting them right up against Redfordations, it shines a bright light on the benefits and hazards of addressing past wrongs - again, the Looking Glass test (take a hard look at yourself in the mirror) asks if "you believe all Americans should pay taxes?" And there is no easy answer to that in this context.
That's just within the show. Whatever people whinge about regarding 'messages' and 'agendas', it IS important to lampshade how problematic many of these mindsets are in the Real World. If we can at least agree that 'racism is bad,' it really isn't any kind of leap to compare that to REAL political rhetoric and REAL actions and words of REAL people. If people refuse to face and address those issues, here's a stark warning. Albeit in fictional terms..