I've recently started watching the show 30 Rock. I know, I know, I'm about five years behind. Whatever. I'm watching it now, and so I am writing about it now.
I enjoy the show. I find it funny, and I think Kenneth is one of the greatest characters ever. (By the way, I'm only in season one right now.) However, I find the character of Liz Lemon, as well as her relationship with Jack, to be confusing.
I don't know much about Tina Fey as a person. I assume she's a feminist; I assume this because she's a smart, successful female writer and comedian (so you know she's dealt with sexism in her career) and because she's friends and colleagues with Amy Poehler, who is an outspoken feminist. I assume this because she wrote the film Mean Girls, in which she addresses a bunch of teenage girls to let them know that they should be enjoying each other's company and supporting each other, instead of falling into the "girl" stereotypes of being back-stabbing, gossipy bitches (my words, not hers, but the message is the same).
So, with these assumptions about Tina Fey in mind, it is hard for me to watch Liz sometimes. Her boss, Jack (Alec Baldwin), constantly says sexist things to and about her. When this happens, Liz tends to roll her eyes, scoff, and make it clear to the audience that she's sick of putting up with this ridiculously sexist boss. Yet by the end of the episode, she tends to have proven the sexist remarks right. When she ends up with the power to fire 14 people, she goes a little crazy and starts with the girlfriend of the guy she has a crush on. When Jack tells her that as a single woman, her biggest fear should be choking to death alone in her apartment, she starts to have scary choking experiences while alone (which leads her to agree that Jack should be her mentor, a job that will include him trying to fix her up with men). When an employee calls her a cunt, she tries to be extra nice to her staff and bakes them goods, until Jack reminds her that a boss can't always be friends with her employees (you know, because as a woman who has worked her way up through comedy and television writing, I'm sure that Liz's biggest concern is whether or not her employees like her all the time; all women care about being liked by everyone, right?).
However, the show doesn't always miss when it comes to feminism. The relationship between Jenna and Liz is a great example. They are women, they are friends, yet they do not gossip behind each other's backs, or fight over men, or claw each other's eyes out with their fingernails. This flies in the face of decades of Hollywood stereotyping. Their relationship can be flawed, as they both as people are flawed, but ultimately they have a strong friendship that withstands just about everything.
I think it's great that the show features a female head writer on a TV show. And I think it's great that the show points out that women in positions like that often deal with sexism from bosses, colleagues and employees. The problem comes in when the main character doesn't do anything about it. Liz never (so far, remember, season one) points out to Jack that he's being sexist, and she never proves him wrong. Instead, she proves all of his antiquated ideas about women to be right! And that's where the show with great feminist potential seems to go wrong. I'm hoping, because I do enjoy the show and I plan to keep watching, that this gets better over time.
What I think 30 Rock does is brings up the issue in ways that often have no idealistic conclusions. Liz is the sort of character for whom everything goes wrong, but contrary to the normal characterization of a protagonist, she often ends up with a happy solution that is devoid of any idealism; she often is completely happy living the stereotype. I think Liz is supposed to be an ironic character, a "one step forward, two steps back" character. But 30 Rock's irony is the sort of irony that often fails to reach the audience. I'm not saying the audience is stupid, I'm criticizing the writing for failing to arrive at a conclusion that is both funny, and has a message; the conclusion is often one or the other, not both. That said, there are moments when the writers of 30 Rock clearly want you to understand that Liz's choices are the wrong ones, and this is sometimes the case from a perspective of feminist criticism; but as I've said, such intentions from the writing room sometimes seem to miss their mark.
ReplyDeleteSo I wouldn't call Liz Lemon a feminist, though she may think she is.
I have started season two, I have in fact gotten all the way to season 5. Basically, I still enjoy the show even though I find it offensive. Sometimes, I think by having characters say sexist/racist things the show is pointing out how ridiculous their comments are, so even though other characters may not point out the sexism/racism (other than Liz rolling her eyes), the show is still pushing a subtle anti-sexist/anti-racist message. However, sometimes it's just offensive and I can't find the underlying anti-whatever message. But overall I do enjoy it; it's pretty hilarious. And I think the evolution of Jack and Liz's relationship shows that while he may shout out sexist (and Republican...) comments, he needs Liz (a woman) and he knows it.
ReplyDelete(Confession: some of these insights originally came from a good friend who begged me to keep watching the show, and I do think she's right about it, most of the time.)