Love/hate

I love Law and Order. Yes, you read right. I watch it at the gym and it motivates me to get off my butt and go right after work, when it is on for two straight hours. There is one elliptical immediately in front of the TV with the Law and Order channel on it. I work out there and read the subtitles, to spare my ears the earphones. About a month ago, they removed the subtitles off that television. Not all the televisions, just MY television. So, I complained. I was told someone would "put in a request". Nothing happened. I complained again the next week and nothing happened. I complained again and the girl behind the counter told me I would need to call the corporate office to request that. "Ah, yah, no. I think YOU should call the corporate office and find a way to fix this," I said. She looked over at the manager in desperation. He walked over, I explained that I needed my subtitles in order to watch Law and Order. He opened a drawer, pulled out a remote to go take care of it. I walked off to another part of the gym (it was a Saturday so there was no L and O).

Come Monday, no subtitles. So, this time I sent Lesha to complain. I wanted them to know there was an army of people dying to watch L and O with subtitles. She came back a few minutes later and said, "They won't turn them on, because some people don't like them and complain."

So I did what was suggested, I contacted the corporate office with a rather nasty complaint letter about both the lack of subtitles for the hearing impaired (or those of us who don't want to become hearing impaired by using earphones) and about the need for some customer service retraining at their gym. The next day I received an email, there would be subtitles on all the televisions (even though I gave rather specific directions: television #9 on row #2. Hey- I don't want to force my subtitles on other people's TVs.)

Today, I walked in and it was like the promised land. Subtitles on every TV and not only that- an extra hour of Law and Order. I couldn't believe my luck. Or lack of it. There are two catches to my love affair. One- I can't stop working out while it is on. Which is great- that's why I started watching it in the first place. It means an hour workout flies by. But it also means that I worked out for two straight hours today- unable to stop because I don't have a TV at home and I had to see the end! Every time the show started to get a little boring, some new twist would be thrown into the plot followed by- bam- 10 minutes of commercials. The agony!

The other other catch is: I can't stand the show half the time. Sometimes I love it for it's public health messages, like the one today about how important insurance is and how hard it is for the working poor to get. And not only the importance of physical health insurance, but mental health insurance. The plot followed someone who ends up in jail for a crime that might not have been committed if he had received the help he needed. The attorney for the defense agrees that the defendant should go to jail, but hypothesizes that perhaps if more money were spent on mental health care and quality drug treatment, we wouldn't need to spend so much on jails. And I always feel like a pro when they refer to legal cases or concepts that I covered in my health law classes. I get so excited, I sometimes slip on the elliptical.

So, why can't I stand the show half the time? I HATE their racial stereotypes. I know they try to break some stereotypes. There are good and bad black and white men and women in a variety of roles, but everyone else: forget about it. This really hit home when the detectives haul up a kid in the Bronx: Hector Ramirez.

"Hey Hec, Guess what?" I asked my friend. "I was watching Law and Order yesterday, and the kid had your two names- he was just missing the last one."

"Let me guess: he was the criminal."

"Um, yeah."

"Surprise! Where are the decent Latin male role models?" he siged.

I've been looking for two months now and I still haven't seen one. And so far, every episode I have seen with Muslims and Arabs leaves me foaming at the mouth over their portrayal. I worry about the messages the show sends when the Patriot Act is used to get a warrant on less evidence than would otherwise be required. Do viewers see this as a problem, that their rights to privacy and security are hurt by their own government, or, is it just a convenient way for the infallible court system to bring justice to the right people?

Maybe a better question for me to ponder is, why can't I just watch a television show without wondering about its impact on society?