Episode Report Card Gwen: F | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Queen Bee...otch
By Gwen | Season 4 | Episode 21 | Aired on 05.06.2001
Nelle: I'm sorry?
Unknown Woman: To be open and notorious, carrying on a love affair right in front of the nose of a female employee who he used to be involved with -- that's sexual harassment.
Rev. Newman: What?
Nelle: How do you figure that?
UW:I figure it 'cause it's a sexually charged thing, contributing to a hostile work environment.
Nelle: The law says...
UW:I'm not finished. I tell you what the law is. The sexual harassment law is an expanding thing. It changes and grows every day.
Nelle: Well, Mrs. Parks, I'm sure you're quick to champion expansion whenever you get the opportunity...
UW: What's that? A fat joke? You making a fat joke now?
Jackson: All, all, all right now...
Nelle: I am not making a...
Jackson: Let's hold on here. There are a lot of emotions on the surface.
UW [now identified as Mrs. Parks]: Oh, shut up, pretty boy. Nobody likes a pretty boy.
Jackson: No one here is attempting to be pretty.
Mrs. Parks: What's that -- an ugly joke? She's making fat jokes, you're making ugly jokes. [to Lisa] Is he calling you ugly?
Lisa: [looking at Buttons] He meant her.
Buttons: That's funny, you tank.
Jackson: Okay, okay, okay, that is enough.
Mrs. Parks: Ain't you pretty?
Jackson: Are you a real lawyer?
Mrs. Parks: What's that -- a dumb joke? Fat, ugly, and dumb now.
We learn that Mrs. Parks is actually Lisa's "emotional representative." She reiterates her belief that Lisa can sing whatever she wants and that if she gets fired, it will be sexual harassment. As the "musical director," Lisa's "got quid, she's got pro, and she's got quo, and she'll be suing his holy ass," Mrs. Parks tells us. She says that if Rev. Newman doesn't dump Buttons, Lisa will continue to sing whatever hostile songs she wants. They leave the room and Nelle, who's been unable to contain her mirth throughout the "pretty boy" comments, slags Jackson's smooth approach.
I'm not going to bother to talk about Mrs. Parks as the clichéd big black woman who talks loud, is quick to take offense, and makes herself sound ridiculous. I mean, they might as well have just used Tracy Morgan in his Star Jones drag for this role. However, I'm thinking that everything's going to be okay, since Buttons is also a large black woman and her character is being treated with the same amount of respect as the rest of them. Perhaps surprisingly, I'm also not going to suggest that the "fat joke" thing was a shout-out to me. It may be true that I've spent a few nights poking at my voodoo dolls of the MBTV recappers who do get attention from the writers, directors, producers, and actors associated with the shows they recap. It may be true that I've twisted, in my mind, vague mentions of trailers on 7th Heaven into tokens of Aaron Spelling's unresolved sexual tension where I'm concerned. However, I would never go so far as to believe that David E. Kelley or anyone on his staff reads the humble little recaps that I write about his show, or my forums. I know that Mr. Kelley is a very important, very busy man. If he ever did us the honor of perusing anything we said about his creation, we would immediately know. We would feel his presence and his power because, as insignificant as our opinions are, Mr. Kelley would undoubtedly deign to make his Galatea, Ally McBeal, STOP TOUCHING HER DAMNED MOUTH. No powerful demi-god would be so cruel as to ignore so many piteous prayers from mere mortal. So, you see, I know that the "fat joke" thing was not a shout-out to me from on high. I shall carry on in this half-lit mire until the time has come for my reward.