Historical Approach to Television Criticism. Movie Review

Historical Approach to Television Criticism
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Movie directors and producers have over the years been able to expound on various societal issues in TV series and films. Some of these concerns such as racism despite being acknowledged by the government and the public at large, no actions are usually taken to address them. However, through films, movie producers succeed in highlighting these aspects in their entirety as themes. They highlight on the detrimental impacts that these issues and concerns are having in society and in some cases, also share on ways to tackle them. There are also some that show the benefits of conclusively dealing with those issues in the mutual growth of all members in society. One notable TV series is the American legal drama LA Law that was created by Steven Bochco and Terry L Fisher that ran for 8 seasons between 1986 and 1994. LA Law reflected and depicted most of the cultural and social ideologies that characterized the 1980s and early 1990s in America. It had 172 episodes that centered on different societal issues including racism, sexual assault/harassment, homosexuality, abortion, and capital punishment. The essay seeks to examine episode 13 of season 5 of LA Law dubbed Dances with Sharks that aired on February 14th 1991 and focused on the themes of racism, sexual assault and homophobia.
Plot Summary of Dances with Sharks (Season 5 Episode 13)
The episode contains trademark features that are synonymous to many works and movies of director Steven Bochco including parallel storylines, an ensemble cast and social drama. There are various themes portrayed in the episode that make it very interesting to watch. It starts off by recapping the happenings and some of the incidents in the previous episodes. It then shows Jonathan Rollin, an African American attorney, jogging in a white neighborhood (Gusmckie, 2016). Despite efforts by Rollin to identify himself as a responsible and law abiding citizen, the arresting officers allege that he didn’t fit the description of people who belong to that part of the neighborhood. Rollin becomes enraged from those comments and accosts one of the police officers before being handcuffed (Gusmckie, 2016). He is eventually taken to jail as a rape suspect. Matters of race are highlighted further in the episode through the child custody battle involving a white woman and an Indian man. The woman is forced to seek redress from a tribal court but fears that she may not receive a fair hearing.
The episode also centers on harassment and assault of persons of the female gender. Arnold, one of the male lawyers at the law firm seeks to hire a secretary but he is very choosy and has a variety of demands. He neither respects women who are his colleagues nor accepts them to be his equals. He sees them only as individuals who are supposed to support him and offer assistance when requested (Gusmckie, 2016). His colleague Gwen is however not a pushover and squashes his ideologies on women and sexist views. The third theme that is evident in the episode entails homophobia. The TV series is considered to have been one of the very first to highlight on the contentious societal issue of lesbianism.
Discussion of the Historical Issues Portrayed in the Episode
The first major theme that is highlighted and is evident in the episode is on racism. Jonathan Rollins, an African American lawyer was accosted by white police officers for jogging in the wrong neighborhood. In their defense, the law enforcement officers shared that Rollins fit the description of a rape suspect who was in the vicinity and had raped a 60-year-old woman a few hours ago (Gusmckie, 2016). At the time of the production of the TV series and the episode in particular, racism was still very rife in many parts around the United States. Racism existed despite the stipulations of the US Constitution that accorded all citizens with equal rights and freedoms in the United States. From the episode and the TV series in general, racism is depicted in various ways. Firstly, the segregation of neighborhoods that saw blacks and whites live in different regions is an act of racism (Gusmckie, 2016). The arresting police officers in the episode expressly noted that Rollins didn’t fit the description of individuals living on that side of town. This statement relates to the fact that it wasn’t normal to find black people residing in the area in that society. As such, any black person found in the neighborhood would most likely be in the process of committing or have committed a crime.
Secondly, racism is also involved the association of blacks with crime. Historically and as indicated in the episode, African Americans in the US have been strongly linked to criminal activities including drugs and substance abuse, murder and rape. This fact is reiterated by Young (2015) who note that, “In every year from 1980 to 2007, blacks were arrested nationwide on drug charges at rates relative to population that were 2.8 to 5.5 times higher than white arrest rates”. Despite explaining to the police officers that he was an attorney, Rollins was still mistreated, arrested and charged in court. The notion that racist Americans have is that it is impossible for African Americans to amount to responsible members in society. According to racist individuals, African Americans are inferior and utterly violent (Young, 2015). As such, they should be dealt with brutal force. Black people in the region are continuously discriminated and victimized because of the color of their skin. For instance, the incident involving Rollins would not have happened if he was white. Thirdly, racial inequality is also evident in the composition of black American lawyers at McKenzie Brackman law firm. From the episode, Jonathan Rollins is the only African American working at the firm. These scenarios are quite common in the American society. Statistics from the American Bar Association revealed that over 85% of all lawyers in the region are white and only about 5% are black (Young, 2015). These statistics are replicated in other professions including law enforcement and health care among others. The episode succeeded to highlight the fact that because of racism, African Americans and members of minority groups are grossly misrepresented in different fields. Furthermore, these levels of racial disparity are also witnessed in the high number of incarcerated black people in the US compared to their white counterparts (Human Rights Watch, 2009). Rollins case in court would have played out differently had he not been a lawyer at a reputable firm in the region. Nonetheless, he is still forced to take a plea and accept that he assaulted the police officers or risk being implicated for rape. Similarly, racial disparity also plays a part in the increasing cases of police brutality and killings of African Americans.
The issue of race in the episode is also depicted in the child...