sergio hernandez

tylercoates:

lindsayrobertson:

I can’t stop watching this. Seeing the bullying parts all together like this completely change the tone of the character. Our darling Jack suddenly seems like a menace, a threat, a really bad guy who everyone would hate. Though the “misogynist” thing is weird — Jack is this mean and dismissive to a lot of people, and follows plenty of women around like a puppy dog. I guess it was just clickier to do the sexist ones? But I don’t think Jack is actually a misogynist at all in “real life” (the show.) He’s always either desperately lonely or deep in the thrall of a powerful female guest star. This is like the horror-movie version of Jack. Love it.

I always thought the sexist humor was the best part of the show! I mean that in the sense that the show makes a statement about sexism (and sometimes racism!) through humor, but never does it in a way that falls flat and actually feels inappropriate.

I think Jack is definitely a misogynist, but he also discriminates against people for a myriad of other reasons, too. (race, class, wealth, etc.) They aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive.

Part of the reason the show can get away with this is twofold. At its core, 30 Rock is satire, and its audience is presumably smart enough to realize this.

Second, the writers don’t treat Jack as a one-note villain; everyone on the show (Jenna, Tracy, Kenneth, Liz herself) is both a caricatures of his/her respective stereotype and a fairly multi-layered character (for a sitcom, at least). In addition to their flaws, they usually have redeeming qualities we can appreciate and insecurities we can relate to.

I think Baldwin’s comedic timing and gravitas lends a lot to the character, but his success is really a testament to the writing. You don’t have to look very far to find other instances of this — Dennis Duffy and especially Liz are good examples of how every character on 30 Rock’s canvas is, however flawed, still someone the audience can find a way to sympathize with and even like (albeit, to varying degrees).

That said, I don’t know if Jack would’ve become as multi-faceted as he is had it not been for the Baldwin factor. When I was putting this montage together, I realized his humor (and the show’s, over all) was a lot colder and drier early on, and it wasn’t until around the time we meet Isabella Rossellini’s character (and, of course, it really goes into overdrive when Edie Falco shows up) that Jack starts turning into a “real” person.

I wonder if the show had originally meant to set him up as a bigger antagonist to Liz and the TGS staff, and it wasn’t Baldwin’s likability that led to how he was eventually written.

(But also, come on — “A dog wearing clothes!” That’s hilarious!)