But the vision Goober evoked was hardly a new one: he gave the students the power to create their own nanny state, and they yielded gleefully to the temptation. The Serpent couldn't have done a better job itself.
Consider the central argument for the prosecution --- that by creating his lair, X "encouraged sex", and furthermore, made students who were intending to remain celibate feel more pressured to have sex --- and it becomes clear. There it is, at the core: certain individuals behavior was making other individuals "feel" uncomfortable. And therefore, that behavior must be stopped; banned; punished.
Orwell wrote of "thoughtcrime", and indeed, the PC nanny state punishes that violation severely. But we also must recognize this other, nameless trespass --- the crime of behaving in a way that others do not wish you to; of making someone feel bad. Of acting in a manner which offends. Lacking Orwell's flair, I can only suggest "offensecrime."
I'd like to think that last night's episode was a cautionary tale, using youth as a proxy for wider society a la Lord of the Flies. But all indications were that it was not; that the outcome of the trial was indeed the "right" one. Justice had been served.
I'll keep watching Boston Public, to be sure. But last night's episode reminded me once again --- should I have needed it --- that the real world requires watching as well.
PS - I don't even want to think about the Google hits I'm going to get for this one...
Article comments
1 - Bill Sherman
Of course, Guber is hardly a model of exemplary conduct whose moves are meant to be uncritically accepted: this is a man who inadvertantly encouraged a riot in the school halls in the season opener, after all. At times, he functions (as do other characters on the show) more as a thematic provocateur than a fully realized person . . .
2 - Jim Carruthers
I don't like, really, y'know watch Boston Public, but I have a friend who does. And my friend was thinking that with the scene of Guber using the blue prints to find where the secret lair is, and since it is well known DEK sold his soul, obviously Boston Public is the anti-BtVS particle (season 7 variety) teevee scientists have theorized.
Both use blue prints to find the Hellmouth / Senior Study Room. Both principals are black men with shaved heads and goatees, but one is fat and one is skinny. One has characters having sex in the basement, the other has "from beneath you, it devours". One has a talented visionary, the other has David E. Kelly.