Since the world of 30 Rock isn’t exactly all that far removed from our own (I like to think of it as a pocket universe, one wherein everything is planned ahead of time by comedy writers, which makes everything way funnier), the NBC comedy finally tackled the issue of Tracy Morgan’s homophobic rant during a comedy show last summer by . . . well, having his character, Tracy Jordan, do the exact same thing.
So did it work? The short answer: about as well as you would expect.
The long answer: the show got in some great talking points about how Morgan’s comments, no matter how stupid or inane they may be, do have an impact on people. They also got in the fact that Morgan wouldn’t be where he is today without the help of his numerous gay co-workers and friends, and that Morgan needs to grow up and stop being a colossal moron.
And then it sort of segued out of it by having Morgan turn around and claim that he was discriminated against for being stupid. So ultimately, no one really learned anything from this.
On one hand, as far as televised wish-fulfillment goes (in that audiences were hoping Morgan would actually apologize within the show for his actions) it felt like a bit of a cop-out. Granted, it’s a two-part episode, so there’s always the chance that Morgan will see the error of his ways by next week. But ultimately, this may be the most realistic outcome. One wherein we have to deal with the fact that some people are just idiots and will never learn that no matter how often science and logic and common sense beat them over the head with the truth: that we deserve the same rights and respect as people who are straight and cissexual.
Also, did anyone else kind of think Denise Richards may have been a tad hard on herself by declaring herself an idiot? I mean granted, she dated Charlie Sheen, but I still feel like she may need some cheering up.
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