The sixth season’s second episode features a storyline drawn from Tracy Morgan’s recent real life—the incident in which he made a graphically violent homophobic remark during a comedy routine in Nashville. 30 Rock has long culled from Morgan’s experiences, and this marks the most inflammatory and disturbing issue yet treated. This episode uses two main approaches, which occasionally overlap, to deflate the issue—first, labeling Tracy and implicating much of humanity along with him as irredeemable idiots; second, a series of mostly witty jokes that skew monolithic thinking about sexuality and other societal cleavages.
Liz first applies the label “idiot” to Tracy in a public apology for her star’s behavior, and later defines it for him as one “who should know better but constantly does stupid things.” Interestingly, Fey’s real life response had an element of a similar approach: she characterized Morgan as “generally much too sleepy and self-centered to ever hurt another person.” Late on, Tracy amasses a group of “so-called idiots,” and they start an idiots’ protest of… something or other (the protesters are a diverse yet caricature-tinged bunch: the best category of “idiot” is “people who won’t shut up about scuba diving”).
The episode is the most productive when suggestions that Tracy is an idiot actually pave the way for social commentary. For instance, Jordan’s offensive remarks involve him suggesting someone can “turn gay” (Morgan’s actual words were far more unsettling). When Liz later suggests to him that he should know better--that people can’t “turn gay”-- Jordan responds, “Why not? The Bronx turned me dyslexic.” This interaction adroitly destabilizes simplified conceptions of personality, sexual orientation and medical conditions, acknowledging the thorny tangle of environmental and biological factors at work in forming a human being.
Liz has a good moment in which she bewails to Tracy that he had to insult the gay community—one of society’s most organized groups. In another instance, Liz bemoans as stupid a part of Jordan’s rant where he wonders why gay men don’t play with their junk all day. However, Frank then echoes the question with sincere curiosity, “Yeah, why don’t they?”
This approach could lead to a productive and comical exploration of widespread societal ignorance about sexuality and class, but unfortunately, the scenes of Tracy’s idiot march present a far less pointed and less focused approach--virtually no effort goes toward incorporating into them any social critique, besides the flabby idea that, yes, many of us have tendencies that could be broadly characterized as “idiotic.”
Indeed, although there is an adequate amount of funny exchanges and one-liners, significant parts of the episode feel curiously devoid of substantial character, plot or idea development. By the end, I was seriously wondering if 30 Rock had gotten shorter, as my final impression was that not much had happened (and one commercial break seemed very long). Kelsey Grammar is largely wasted, striking poses in inconsequential, strangely-stylized segments, though he will probably play a more integral role next episode (this one ends with a “To Be Continued”…). And, yes, Liz has a boyfriend, played by James Marsden, with whom she shares a cute dynamic. But, while potential exists for conflict in her uncertainty over his organic hot dog stand business plan, hardly anything develops.
At the episode’s core remains the question of how a sitcom can address as an issue as charged and grave as Morgan’s most recent. The extent to which the episode lessens the severity of his offensive words seems almost like a cop out—at least an invitation to treat it with less satirical rigor. In the past, his various public episodes have carried less stigma, as they were not directed at any specific groups (DUIs somehow approach acceptability) and therefore could be more easily integrated into the Jordan character’s reprehensible, caricatured and yet simultaneously self-aware style. However, this current issue resists attempts to soft-pedal.
Also, this episode raised back up a few questions for me about the character, who, even with the tongue-in-cheek quality, often seems to draw dangerously close to reinforcing certain racist stereotypes. Is there an element of enablement or exploitation at play in the producers encouraging him to inhabit such a blatantly caricatured role? Might it reinforce his behavior off the show in any way?
In any case, the episode’s stymied attempt at dealing with this latest public debasement suggests that Fey herself has not yet come to terms with it. Her real life response immediately before characterizing Tracy as a buffoon was to state, “the violent imagery of Tracy’s rant was disturbing to me at a time when homophobic hate crimes continue.” She seems confused, stuck somewhere between an impulse to reflect and to laugh the thing off. Ideally, the show will find away to explore more deeply Tracy’s feelings regarding the incident, melding its gravity with its absurdity.