Scrubs and 30 Rock too :(
Scrubs? That sucks. No episodes come to mind, do you happen to remember which one(s)?
I’m seeing that as an on the nose joke about racism, but it doesn’t seem very offensive, and I’m not seeing anything about transphobia. Care to enlighten me?
I mentioned this further down the thread, but Scrubs is full of micro aggressions.
I mean, pretty much the very first joke in the series is JD asking Turk if he’s allowed to say the N word.
There’s an episode where the theme is whether Turk is black.
As for trans-specific problems, Todd advertises his website with the T slur in it on his T-shirt one episode.
He’s also a prime example of bi-erasure as when he “comes out,” nobody says bi the whole episode, and it’s like the whole cast can’t conceive of someone liking both men and women. Not to mention the bi stereotype that we’re all sexual deviants and overly promiscuous.
Frankly, I could go on for a while. Scrubs was fine for its time. It does not hold up well. Shame because it was my favorite show for a very long time. But I’m glad society has grown.
Meanwhile Denise Bryson is on Twin Peaks being totally cool and never the butt of a joke
Agent Dale Cooper is just that cool. Also Kyle MacLachlan is a super chill guy.
Futurama.
The one where Bender becomes a woman bot to participate in the robot Olympics, I’m guessing? That one was kind of rough watching with modern sensibilities last time I recall, especially with all these recent trans people in sports debates. Also the one where they go to the planet where they switch genders. Is there any others I’m forgetting?
There’s also the one where Bender is a pro wrestler, and becomes a cross-dressing heel. And there are recurring gags and side characters like the trans prostitutes. Overall, the show is fairly progressive, but some of those gags were problematic.
It bothers me less depending on how old the episode is, and the overall tone of the joke. Older “let’s put this guy in a dress for cheap laughs” type stuff is lame, but not as bad as more recent attempts to make hatred more palatable by disguising it with a thin veneer of “humor”.
Huh. I just deleted an entire paragraph replying to you, but then I did some introspection. Where are you consuming media? I haven’t experienced much transgenderism or similar thing recently, but my experience seems to be very curated. I don’t watch TV, but I listen to radio and watch a lot of YouTube and some Netflix. I’m also following social media sites, most recently lemme, for decent conversations.
I’m curious where you’re seeing “hatred more palatable by disguising it with a thin veneer”?
It’s a bit of a lengthy read, but here is an article that gets into the messiness of Zoolander 2 and Deadpool. Long story short, they both attempt to be more performatively progressive with their depictions but end up perpetuating many of the same harmful stereotypes of queer individuals. They become the same low brow entertainment as before with a few tweaks to make them more acceptable. That being said, I still liked Deadpool. I think the industry is still evolving and we need to continue to let it evolve in a positive direction.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/meredithtalusan/25-years-of-transphobia-in-comedies
One of the most egregious examples I can think of from recent media was from Kimmy Schmidt where the people that take issue with trans/enbyphobia were turned into the butt of a joke because… they’re annoying I guess?
Came out of left field in a show I thought was queer friendly but I realized later on that it tracks with the brand of feminism that Tina Fey follows. (I never watched 30 Rock and don’t intend to so I had no idea she was already problematic)
Oh no, what has Tina Fey done? I’m trying to think back on 30 Rock and I can imagine how some of it hasn’t aged well.
No, that old stuff is just as bad. Go watch the end of Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. It was just simpler then because the writers considered that type of hate to be ubiquitous instead of needing nuance or explanation.
It’s like saying older racism wasn’t as bad as the more recent attempts to galvanize people into nazis. But I contend it was for the same reason above. You’re seeing recent attempts at both towards being more palatable specifically because it’s not as accepted now.
Futurama