30 Rock Episode 6: Someone To Love
Contain/Condone/Contradict I was hired to review the show 30 Rock episode 6 “Someone to Love” from season 2. Using the contain/condone/contradict system, there were two possible offensive ideas in this idea. There is one that would offend the politically correct and the other, the moral majority. There is an instance of racism which is problematic to the politically correct and an affair between liberal and conservative politicians, which is problematic to the moral majority. Using this new system of rating, I will explain how each idea is either condoned, contradicted, or is just merely contained in the show. First, the racism that occurs in the show is actually contradicted in the show, which thereby shows no desire to think these ideas
are correct and doesn’t deem the show “racist”. In the episode, Liz Lemon thinks her middle eastern neighbor, Raheem, is a terrorist. She makes these conclusions from his off-putting attitude and the “evidence” Liz starts compiling against him. The show displays evidence like, maps with places marked with pins, suspicious packages, training he and another man do at the park, and the uncomfortable atmosphere that arises when he is staring at Liz and refuses to shake her hand. These assumptions she makes are very quickly made to be foolish and very rude when she brings it up to Pete. Pete is the moral center of this episode and is there to show that these ideas are not condoned by the show. Pete reacts in a very negative way, he doesn’t believe Liz at all, and even once Liz says it out loud, she even questions whether it sounded racist or not. There is another instance when Liz second guesses herself, showing the audience that this isn’t something someone should automatically assume. Later in the show Pete and Raheem even go out to celebrate a project Raheem finished, further pushing the idea that Liz is alone in her thinking and that the show is not endorsing her actions. Liz and her ideas are displayed in a way that you aren’t supposed to agree with them. After she calls a number Jack gave her to report her suspicion on Raheem, Pete confronts her about it and Liz threatens to call him in to for defending him. At this point the show is clearly just trying to push the idea of racial profiling to a point that it looks that Liz is absolutely absurd and her actions are excessive. Another way the show expresses that they do not condone this kind of behavior is that it has negative consequences. After Liz calls in Raheem she learns that all the evidence she thought she had against him was really the complete opposite that she thought and Raheem is actually a really good guy. Her call ended Raheem into questioning where the police physically harmed him and we are meant to feel sorry for Raheem and be mad at Liz. Raheem is given a more three dimensional personality in the end, with his brother and him training to be on the Amazing Race, he is shown as more human than in the beginning. This way of making Raheem seem more like a real person and not alienating him from the audience helps show that the assumptions had negative repercussions on someone's real life and is very inconsiderate and rude to be racist. The second offensive thing in this episode is the affair between Jack, a conservative, and Celeste Cunningham, a liberal congresswoman. This could be offensive not only because it is referred to as an affair which has an immoral affiliation, but also the moral majority might disagree with the association of people who don’t share their conservative views. The show isn’t transparently clear about their ideas on this type of instance but I think it condones the activity. The two do have sexual relations without being married which is seen as a very sinful act to the moral majority and does seem to be promoted in this episode. Furthermore, after all the secrecy of their involvement with each other and all the things they have to work out, it almost makes the audience want to root for these two to look past their differences and remain together. Tracy Jordan in the show, towards the end, is even yelling encouraging things to Jack as he “goes and gets the girl” . To the moral majority, it would seem that this episode condones this type of behavior, especially because there are no consequences or punishment to their actions to make it seem wrong. After their night together there are no negative outcomes, no one ever finds about about their secret, and they remain together when the show ends. Also their is no person who reacts to this affiliation as if it were wrong and there is no one telling them the right thing to do. The absence of a moral majority and consequences makes it seem like the show is fine with these two continuing the affair. After analyzing the two situations in this episode, the issue dealing with racism is alright to leave in but the affair won’t get much positive feedback from the moral majority. If you look at the way the racism is portrayed, along with the consequences and moral center showing that it’s wrong, it clear the show doesn’t endorse or believe in those types of actions or behavior. On the other hand, the affair doesn’t have this type of representation or backup and the outcome is almost a positive one, making these actions desireable and promoted by the show. If the affair was just shown as something to go along with the plot, and not the plot itself, like it is, it probably wouldn’t be so much condoned as just contained. The show turned the liberal and conservative clash as a romeo and juliet type story which makes this conduct seem more appealing and important than it could have been.
are correct and doesn’t deem the show “racist”. In the episode, Liz Lemon thinks her middle eastern neighbor, Raheem, is a terrorist. She makes these conclusions from his off-putting attitude and the “evidence” Liz starts compiling against him. The show displays evidence like, maps with places marked with pins, suspicious packages, training he and another man do at the park, and the uncomfortable atmosphere that arises when he is staring at Liz and refuses to shake her hand. These assumptions she makes are very quickly made to be foolish and very rude when she brings it up to Pete. Pete is the moral center of this episode and is there to show that these ideas are not condoned by the show. Pete reacts in a very negative way, he doesn’t believe Liz at all, and even once Liz says it out loud, she even questions whether it sounded racist or not. There is another instance when Liz second guesses herself, showing the audience that this isn’t something someone should automatically assume. Later in the show Pete and Raheem even go out to celebrate a project Raheem finished, further pushing the idea that Liz is alone in her thinking and that the show is not endorsing her actions. Liz and her ideas are displayed in a way that you aren’t supposed to agree with them. After she calls a number Jack gave her to report her suspicion on Raheem, Pete confronts her about it and Liz threatens to call him in to for defending him. At this point the show is clearly just trying to push the idea of racial profiling to a point that it looks that Liz is absolutely absurd and her actions are excessive. Another way the show expresses that they do not condone this kind of behavior is that it has negative consequences. After Liz calls in Raheem she learns that all the evidence she thought she had against him was really the complete opposite that she thought and Raheem is actually a really good guy. Her call ended Raheem into questioning where the police physically harmed him and we are meant to feel sorry for Raheem and be mad at Liz. Raheem is given a more three dimensional personality in the end, with his brother and him training to be on the Amazing Race, he is shown as more human than in the beginning. This way of making Raheem seem more like a real person and not alienating him from the audience helps show that the assumptions had negative repercussions on someone's real life and is very inconsiderate and rude to be racist. The second offensive thing in this episode is the affair between Jack, a conservative, and Celeste Cunningham, a liberal congresswoman. This could be offensive not only because it is referred to as an affair which has an immoral affiliation, but also the moral majority might disagree with the association of people who don’t share their conservative views. The show isn’t transparently clear about their ideas on this type of instance but I think it condones the activity. The two do have sexual relations without being married which is seen as a very sinful act to the moral majority and does seem to be promoted in this episode. Furthermore, after all the secrecy of their involvement with each other and all the things they have to work out, it almost makes the audience want to root for these two to look past their differences and remain together. Tracy Jordan in the show, towards the end, is even yelling encouraging things to Jack as he “goes and gets the girl” . To the moral majority, it would seem that this episode condones this type of behavior, especially because there are no consequences or punishment to their actions to make it seem wrong. After their night together there are no negative outcomes, no one ever finds about about their secret, and they remain together when the show ends. Also their is no person who reacts to this affiliation as if it were wrong and there is no one telling them the right thing to do. The absence of a moral majority and consequences makes it seem like the show is fine with these two continuing the affair. After analyzing the two situations in this episode, the issue dealing with racism is alright to leave in but the affair won’t get much positive feedback from the moral majority. If you look at the way the racism is portrayed, along with the consequences and moral center showing that it’s wrong, it clear the show doesn’t endorse or believe in those types of actions or behavior. On the other hand, the affair doesn’t have this type of representation or backup and the outcome is almost a positive one, making these actions desireable and promoted by the show. If the affair was just shown as something to go along with the plot, and not the plot itself, like it is, it probably wouldn’t be so much condoned as just contained. The show turned the liberal and conservative clash as a romeo and juliet type story which makes this conduct seem more appealing and important than it could have been.