Spoiler Alert!
Hello everyone!
Finally here with the new Zoey's Playlist rant and... Okay, I have a lot of thoughts.
I'm going to be careful here because people might take what I'm about to say the wrong way since we're talking about a touchy subject. This whole episode was about the aftermath of the last episode - Simon exposing SPRQ Point as a not inclusive work place. So this whole episode revolved around that and around racism and... I get it. I understand that this is an important subject and it needs to be talked about but, at the same time, this episode rubbed me the wrong way. One of the reasons why was because when this is airing. I know the climate that we're in is making everyone think a lot more about these issues but, at the same time, it doesn't feel natural. To me, it feels like they had to write this episode otherwise they would be perceived as racists for not talking about the issue. You can't really win here, I guess. If you don't talk about it you're part of the problem and if you do it feels like you're only doing it so you don't look bad, and that's how I saw this episode (and all the shows that decide to talk about this right now). It felt a little out of place because the story of the show doesn't revolve around that. But again, I understand that this is something that needs to be talked about but it just rubbed me the wrong way that they decided to make an episode about racism just like every other show right now.
Then, there's another thing that I didn't quite like and something that I've seen in real life - which is blaming white people for being privileged and seeing racist things in every little detail. But before I get into that, I would like to point out that I'm talking as a white person in Portugal, outside of the US, so my perception of racism might be a lot different from people in the USA. I just needed to let everyone know because I know that things are different in different countries (even though there's racism everyone, I know that).
There's one particular scene in the episode that made me a little mad. The scene between Simon and Zoey in Simon's office when Zoey's going to tell him that he needed to retract his statement. She goes there from a place of both friend and boss and, at this point, we already know that Zoey is a good person so when she says that she sees Simon as Simon, her friend, just that and he tells her that she needs to see him as a black person... I don't get it? I really don't... I've had this conversation in real life but like, I don't see people as their colors. It doesn't matter to me if you're white, black, Asian... I will treat you the same, no matter what. And when black people say that we need to see them as black people, doesn't that defeats the purpose of what they want - equality?! I don't know... I'm truly confused with this and I would like to understand. And once again I really connected with Zoey. Both me and her know that we aren't racist and still we are faced with some things that might be a bit tone-deaf and we get confused. I felt the same thing with the scene with her and Mo.
Zoey goes to Mo for advice on how to tell Simon that the company wants him to retract the statement and Mo goes off on Zoey that she's going to her black friend to ask advice on how to talk to her other black friend. Personally, I didn't see it that way. I saw it as someone who went to her friend to ask for advice on how to talk to another friend. It didn't matter the race. She could've gone to Max but, let's be honest, Mo has always been the one that Zoey goes to for advice so... Why make it about race?
And then, there's the scene in the stairs when Simon tells Zoey that he's going to quit, in which Zoey just says 'Okay', and that really felt out of character to me. I get it that they wanted to show that Zoey understood that maybe she was part of the problem and she needed to be more understanding and just be there for Simon but... Zoey would maybe say that she would like him to stay but she would support him no matter what. I know that's what I would say...
I don't know, I just felt that some things were forced and some things didn't make sense but maybe that was the point?! Maybe I felt 'attacked' because I really connected with how Zoey was feeling maybe she was portraying what I've been doing wrong... I don't know...
With all of this said, I would like to reinforce that I still appreciate this episode. I know that it is necessary and it does show us some things that we can change in order to be more inclusive.
Besides that, the episode also gave us some amazing performances and amazing musical numbers and I really appreciated the Tobin story-line in this episode. Not only I loved his solo musical number but I feel like his story in this episode is really relatable and I truly think a lot of people would think the same way and be afraid to speak up because of the consequences. And not only that, but also that people don't want to be the center of attention and if it's not bothering too much, it's better to stay this way than make it worse. But I also liked that in the end he spoke up and he helped Simon not get fired and helped change the structure of the company.
Also, because there can't be one rant where I don't talk about Max... It was just a little plot with Max and Mo asking Danny Michael Davis for money but it brought Max to the office and that was something nice to see. I would've like to see Maggie's take on all this racism thing, as well as Emily, since she's Asian and she could have a different view... I don't know, but I would like her take on this.
Anyway, this rant was a little bit different but I touched on all the important points, I think. Important messages, some things that I wasn't the biggest fan of but that's okay... I still appreciate it for what it is. There was not a lot more to the story itself so I guess that's it from me.
I would love to know all your thoughts on the episode as well as on the things that I said in this post and please, take it easy on me. All of this comes from a good heart, I promise you. And if I said anything that is offensive first, I'm sorry, and second, educate me, I would love to learn more about everything and understand it a bit better.
Okay, I've rambled enough. The show only comes back in the end of March so, until then, I'll see you with other reviews!
Love,
Daniela.
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