L&O SVU: Paula Deen/Trayvon Martin/Stop & Frisk

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 4:51pm

Did anyone see this? I have to be honest. It left me with a really uneasy feeling. I do get that they "rip" their stories "from the headlines", but to have the Paula Deen character shoot and kill the Trayvon character is a bit much. When Cybill Shepherd was identified as a Southern chef, I thought, "surely not." When one was such a serious tragedy and the other just a media circus, it's seems completely insulting to throw them together.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 4:56pm

I didn't see it but whoa, bad taste!

I actually thought you were describing some satirical sketch at first.
Updated On: 10/8/13 at 04:56 PM

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 4:58pm

I'm glad they did a Trayvon Martin episode, but I don't know if the shooter had to have been Paula Deen. Cybill Shepherd was fantastic though. The story would've worked with a rich Southern white woman... it didn't need to be a chef.

I kept thinking, "Poor Mariska. What else are the writers going to put her through?" after last week's episode.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 5:06pm

I haven't watched the episode yet, but like Reg, it sounds more like Law & Order: SNL.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 5:07pm

Equating what Paula Deen did (without even attempting to veil who it was supposed to be) with what George Zimmerman did was over the line for me.

[wonkit]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 7:55pm

It is fiction. And there was no suggestion at any point that they were "equating" a racial slur with a shooting. The fact that any of the facts on a show resemble any other facts in the news doesn't mean the story was intended to be accurate. I am old enough to remember Dan Quayle reprimanding a TV character for being an unwed mother. Fiction, guys. If you don't like it, don't watch it.

Updated On: 10/8/13 at 07:55 PM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 8:00pm

That's not exactly the point, at least not for me. It's that conflating the two stories--which, I'm sure, the producers expect the public to associate with two real-life events--seems to trivialize the Martin shooting. To make an equivalence with the Quayle incident, someone highly placed in the government would have to try to score some political points about a TV chef shooting an unarmed teen.

But as I said, I haven't seen it; I'm just going by the description.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 8:35pm

The producers of that show are less than kind to people they don't like. Just ask poor, dead Elisabeck Hasslebeth.

[wonkit]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 8:40pm

My reference to Dan Quayle was merely meant as an example of people who react to TV episodes as though they were political or societal statements of enduring truth. And they aren't.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 8:46pm

Just hearing the 'ripped from the headlines' set-up made it feel exhausting, except I almost watched after seeing this screenshot of Cybill Shepard.
https://twitter.com/keithuhlich/status/385873338951663616

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 8:48pm

Ah, sorry. I misunderstood.

Though I'd say they certainly may be political or social statements; for the ages is, well, for the ages to determine. Sometimes it's accidental, but sometimes it's not.

"Murphy Brown," in fact gave a very direct sociopolitical response to Quayle in a subsequent episode.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 10/8/13 at 8:51pm

But for the record, I don't think it sounds as though L&O was trying to make any point.


Updated On: 10/8/13 at 08:51 PM

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 10/9/13 at 2:55am

Nope. All about ratings, as always. I think the Trayvon case could have made for a very interesting show, but mixing it with the Paula circus was just too much. I wouldn't have at all minded the same scenario had the chef killed someone else. They were two high profile cases, but his was a horrific tragedy people are still feeling.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 10/9/13 at 3:22am

I agree that it just should've been a Trayvon Martin episode. Including Paula Deen sullied it.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 10/9/13 at 4:54am

I didn't even equate the 2 things when I saw the show.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 10/9/13 at 3:21pm

I only continued watching for Shepherd, who I've always loved. Though I really wanted to change the channel. The writing was awful, and it was pretty disgraceful that they equated Deen's comments to Zimmerman's actions.