This fall on the UB Network, there will be yet another in a long line of incarnations of the character Nikita, based on the French film of the same name, which has spawned three remakes and an earlier television series on USA-and all of which managed to miss the point of the original film.
All of the films, and the first series, were targeted at a young demographic, and the newer version will doubtless be unique probably for merely being targeted at an even younger demographic, American teens.
Many of these teens will have a chance to view the series on DirecTV, which lately has been advertising its services as allowing a program or movie to be filmed in one room, to be viewed in a different room at a later date. Many of these teens will doubtless view the film in privacy of their own private bedroom or lounge.
It's a far cry from the days of yesteryear, when our great-grandparents to a large extent walked miles to go to school, often in inclement weather, in clothes stitched together from whatever fabric was available, using hand-me-down books. Over the years, however, these children of the past helped build the America of recent years, ultimately serving to enhance its already considerable reputation as the envy of the world.
Now, children in other parts of the world, in South and Central America, Asia,and Africa, are gladly walking miles to school, and are delighted to have a chance to study out of six year old math and science books and to eat a bowl of rice to see them through their day, while enduring conditions some of our hardiest pioneers might well have balked at, existing in the atmosphere of repressive and often violent murderous regimes, some of them playing soccer to relieve their frustrations, or just for a brief interval of fun and escape.
While they waste their time, our children are lucky enough to get to engage in advanced learning, in subjects such as women's studies, ebonics, sociology, comparative religions, and ethnic studies. Its not that none of them have any problems, to be sure. Why, many of them do not even have their own private bathrooms, believe it or not. And that is the least of it. Many of them will now, this year, face the horror of not being able to travel from the Northeast go to the beach in the Gulf States region this summer, due to the oil spill. Somebody should arrange for therapy to help them deal with this deprivation, but never fear-somebody probably will.
In the meantime, we have lately heard news of a Russian spy ring operating out of New York, New Jersey, and (where else) Massachusetts. They were basically trying to make contacts through social circles, and were engaged in money laundering activities, establishing covers as American citizens, all in an attempt to get next to people from whom they might eventually derive valuable information, or whom they might be able to blackmail into giving them said information, or opening other doors for them.
The most reported aspect of the story thus far is how cute and alluring is Anne Chapman, the name one of them goes by. I swear, the main interest in the story seems to be, judging by media reports-guys might want to do her. Well, hell, why not, she's kind of a real life Nikita, only Russian, not French, and not a heroin addicted assassin, we should hope. That would really make her irresistible.
As for the film and tv series franchise Nikita, a couple of points to the target demographic audience-
When the original film was released in the US, it was given the name La Femme Nikita.
For roughly twenty-seven percent of you, this was so you would not mistakenly think the film was about Nikita Khruschev. As to how these people thought for sure you would know the French term "La Femme" means "the girl" in English, you'll have to take that up with them.
For the remaining roughly seventy-three percent of you, Nikita Khruschev was a former Premiere of the Soviet Union.
I'm seeing and hearing a lot of fireworks this night, but what I'm not seeing is much of a light at the end of the tunnel.
