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 Por...