Black Eyes and Broken Hearts

Mark here... Laurel has made us chili along with a delicious queso and guacamole with chips.  We're on to the next episode of Friday NIght Lights, "Black Eyes and Broken Hearts".  Laurel here...Tex Mex!

This episode deals with the fallout from Coach Mac's racist comments last episode, as well as the growing friendship between Julie Taylor and Tyra.  The first plot line is the major force of the episode as its clear in the beginning that although Mac issued an apology, he never really believes it.  Buddy Garrity has stepped in to tell Coach Taylor to fire Mac, given that all the black players have walked off the team.  He just wants the whole thing to go away and for the team to still have a chance at the playoffs.  Coach Taylor is reluctant, even though he knows what Mac said was wrong.  Tami gives him advice he doesn't want to hear, essentially saying that if Mac were a teacher, he'd be fired.  At this point the show has given us Mac as solely a villain.  Midway through the episode though, the show switches gears and shows us Mac as a human being, albeit a flawed and ignorant one.  When the black players choose to rejoin the team before the next game (prompted by Smash's mom, who's unwilling to let an issue with a small town coach derail her son's future), he starts to see the full ramifications of the publicity surrounding his comments.  The opposing team acts insanely racist, as does their coaches and referees.  A fight breaks out on the field when Tim Riggins overhears a player insulting Smash (showing the awesome side of Riggs...he may have issues with Smash but he won't put up with this).  Dillon ends up winning the game because of the fight, but 2 local cops attempt to arrest Smash from the school bus on the way out of town.  Mac steps up and tells them to go get a warrant.  It a poignant moment because we get that he's learned his lesson.  Unlike his previous forced apology, he really gets it now, and says as much to Smash later.

The secondary plot shows the growing friendship between Tyra and Julia, much to the Taylor's dismay.  Tami is so right when dealing with the Mac situation but completely irrational when it comes to Julie hanging out with Tyra.  Julie accompanies Tyra to meet Tyra's sister at the strip club her sister works at, Matt and Landry end up showing up, one thing leads to another and all end up in jail.  Tami is furious, seeing this as the first step of Tyra (the girl from the wrong side of the tracks) leading her daughter down the wrong path...

Hi!  Laurel here, I agree with Mark on all counts.  I feel like it's super awesome for a show like this to deal with Racism in such a subtle and realistic way.  Mark and me were talking and comparing it to the Paula Deen situation which I feel like is a perfect parallel.  Even though this episode was from 2006 I feel like there are a lot of similarities.  Both Paula Deen and Mac are racist without realizing that is the case, even though they are public figures.  They say things in public on camera that you would think anyone in the 2000s who is a public figure (to say the least educator) are not supposed to say.  I feel like these people who come from a culture of severe racism, think the fact that they work with black people and talk to black people makes them by definition not racist, without realizing the more subltle racist ideals they may be harboring (or in Deen's case not so subtle).  For example if you think it's appropriate to call black football players "junk yard dogs" or in Deen's case if you think it's appropriate  to plan a "plantation wedding" where all of the servers are black.  I feel like it's easy for us city folk to see how racist this stuff is but if you come from a culture where the definition of racism is slavery, and you've never known any different it's pretty easy to be super racist and not even realize it.  Anyway in this case the black player's walk off actually teaches Mac something, and in the end we get to see that this controversy has changed the way he sees things.  Mac was being ignorant, and by the end of this episode I think he really sees it and realizes his mistake.  Not bad for an old dog.

In regards to Tyra and Julie, Tyra is so awesome she's just from the wrong side of the tracks so she has different standards of what is appropriate.  I'm interested to see how this situation of Tami making a rule that Julie can't hang out with Tyra unfolds...