Now that the Oscars, the Grammys, and every other Hollywood celebrity ego-boosting award show (even Super Bowl Halftime), have become the platforms of choice for elite liberal entertainers to ram their personal opinions onto captive audiences, political content aimed at bashing Trump is increasingly flooding everything that hits the airwaves. The Spanish hit series Cable Girls, now in its fifth and final season on Netflix, is a perfect example.
The following scene belongs to episode three, Chapter 35 of Final Season, (Part 1) summarized as: “Óscar and Carlota risk their journalistic integrity in exchange for helping Lidia with Sofía.”
It is part of a dialogue between Sara/Óscar (a lesbian who comes out of the closet and changes her name to Óscar) and James, a journalist hailing from the United States, as he proposes a (very unethical and obvious allusion to the liberal media´s use of fake news against Trump) way to help find the daughter of a friend in peril during the Spanish Civil War:
JAMES: It might not be necessary to go into the cheka (makeshift torture prisons) to do the report. I can describe the place in detail for you, and you can use this information to write the report and take the pictures.
ÓSCAR: So, you´re suggesting we do a false report with fake pictures?
JAMES: Not fake news. It'd be a rough recreation of something we know exists.
In other words, as long as the end justifies the means, it's ok to “recreate” reality and pass it on as factual, even more so when done repeatedly. While this practice is far from new –in fact, it has a name, illusory truth effect- it has been found that it plays a significant role in such fields as election campaigns and political propaganda. And, as this clip clearly illustrates, it is used liberally by script writers and producers aware of the proven “tendency to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure.”
And repeat it Cable Girls sure does, even after Óscar voices her disapproval of James´ suggestion to recreate a chaka to illustrate a fake news report about the appalling torture chambers preferred by Francisco Franco.
As James the journalist says later in the same scene, “I understand you, Óscar. We try to represent the world surrounding us, but sometimes, to tell the truth, you must tell lies.
Fake. Not true. Actually, it is the truth which ultimately wins.
Press on ´Expand´ to view the complete transcript of the above mentioned scene from Cable Girls:
Netflix's Cable Girls
02/14/20CARLOTA: James, we have to talk to you.
JAMES: Is everything okay?
SFX: Siren blaring.
JAMES: We´ll talk on our way to the shelter. What´s up?
They walk to the shelter and talk about their plight.
CARLOTA: So, what are you suggesting? We must help Lidia.
JAMES: It might not be necessary to go into the cheka to do the report. I can describe the place in detail for you, and you can use this information to write the report and take the pictures.
ÓSCAR: So, you´re suggesting we do a false report with fake pictures?
JAMES: Not fake news. It'd be a rough recreation of something we know exists.
ÓSCAR: That´s preposterous. And it´s against all the rules of good journalism.
CARLOTA: I don´t know, Óscar. I think it´s a good idea. Besides helping Sofía, we could contribute to closing down the chekas once and for all.
ÓSCAR: How will we manage to make the pictures look real?
SFX: Bombing, people scream
JAMES: We´d need some props, soot from the chimneys and, obviously, not all these people.
ÓSCAR: Do you want the shelter to like like a cheka? We´d be lying to the ambassador, to the world.
CARLOTA: No, Óscar. We´d be saving Sofía.
ÓSCAR: I want that, too. I´d do anything for that agirld.
CARLOTA: What options do we have?
JAMES: I understand you, Óscar. We try to represent the world surrounding us, but sometimes, to tell the truth, you must tell lies.
CARLOTA: Sure.
