User:Jennaboelter/sandbox

"Episode Six" is the 6 episode of season two of the ABC television series American Crime. It was written by executive producer John Ridley and Michael J. McDonald and directed Jessica Yu.

Plot
In this episode, it starts by Coach Dan confronting his basketball team about accepting Eric back onto the team. Wes comments back by saying “For real, Coach, he’s going to be showering with us? That’s so messed up man”. However the Headmaster, Leslie, thinks it would be a good idea if Eric returned to Leyland. Leslie welcomes Eric back to school with an assembly praising him for coming out as a gay athlete. The episode continues with Anne’s discussion on filing a suit against Leyland school; she doesn’t want the money but wants what the school is doing to be made public. Taylor comes out to his therapist and admits that he is currently in a relationship with a guy. Taylor’s therapist suggests confronting his past so he does just that by going to Nate’s house and bringing up comment Nate had made about queers when Taylor was younger. Protests at Marshall continue, causing uproar from the African American and Hispanic parents. Eric’s dad has accepted Eric as gay but his mom still refuses to claim him as a son. Eric’s mom blames Eric for not being able to go to church, live a normal life, and even goes as far to say that if he had died from his suicide attempt, that they could have at least buried him as their son. Terri confronts Anne at her place of work and calls Taylor a whore. Leyland plays their first basketball game since the incident with Eric back on the team. The fans start chanting “Gayland High School” and “Fags”, even Eric’s teammates refuse to pass him the ball. After the game some of the basketball boys go out to a restaurant, excluding Eric, and Kevin goes off about the situation with Taylor. Kevin says, “Bitches just get to act how they act. And you can’t do nothing. Except he’s not… He’s not a bitch, man. He’s a dude, so there’s, like, no reason that he can’t get handled”. Kevin’s teammates take what Kevin has said and go to find Eric, convincing him to call Taylor to meet up at the rec center. When Taylor arrives there is no sign of Eric but some of the basketball boys are there and the episode ends with them chasing Taylor into the darkness.

Perspective on Rape Culture
This episode identifies, defines, and challenges rape culture. When Kevin and his teammates take Taylor’s sexuality into their own hands by bullying and eventually getting violent the are defining what rape culture is. According to a section from Transforming A Rape Culture by Michael Kimmel, “The prevalence of this homophobic bullying, teasing, and violence is staggering. Probably the most common put-down in America’s high schools and middle schools today is “that’s so gay.’ And as we’ve seen, it has less to do with sexual orientation than it does with gender. Boys act as the gender police, making sure other boys will stay in line.” Taylor was also accused of lying during his interrogation of the incident but in Asking For It by Kate Harding, she clearly identifies why this is. “When they're worried about being judged, blamed, or punished, survivors of sexual assault don't always Included all the pertinent details Investigators need to know. They don’t want to admit that they were drunk or high, for instance, or that they engaged in some amount of consensual activity being forced.” Rape culture is extremely relevant in the sports world and it is happening throughout episode six as well with Eric, Coach Dan, Kevin, and the rest of the basketball team. Again in Transforming A Rape Culture there is a section by Myriam Miedzian called How Rape is Encourages in American Boys and What We Can Do To Stop It and in there it states, “Far too often in youth and high school sports, boys insult each other by yelling 'girl', 'wuss' (a cross between woman and pussy), or 'faggot.' Already at this level, some coaches encourage winning at any cost and an obsessive concern with dominance. Too often the result is scoring at cost with girls and women.” The most extreme example of sexual assault was brought up during a section in Asking For It, where it was found that, “some number of actual, working police officers in the twenty-first century said they believed 100 percent of rape reports are false”. This comes back to Taylor and the investigation he has had with the detectives and police.

Broadcast and reception
This episode asks audiences to think deeply about coming out as your true self. According to Sarene Leeds on EW.com, “Both boys were punished considerably for their sexuality throughout the episode, while we were also able to get a better idea of why Taylor and Eric felt the need to keep the truth about themselves hidden.” Brian Tallerico, from Vulture.com highlights the school’s tolerance with Taylor’s sexual assault and the victim blaming that was happening by saying, “Leslie describes how she’s deftly spun the story from a team being accused of illegal behavior to the tale of a hysterical mother. Her tone makes it seem like this whole situation was a 'win' because it allows Leyland to promote tolerance – never mind the lives it tore apart." An AVclub.com review brings up how parenting could be the reason these high school students are acting the way they are. “This episode really seemed like a scathing condemnation of absent/neglectful parenting. Parents who only show up at most when something goes wrong without realizing that all the parenting is supposed to happen before you get there. Eric’s brother telling his dad “why do you care now? They’ve been here all week” with the protesters, their awful absentee mother, Taylor mentioning to Nate that his mother’s never home and barely spends time with him (and indeed, she seems to be dealing with this by spending more and more time with officials and less time with her son) while simultaneously telling him how his homophobic parenting affected him growing up. And Kevin's parents practically molding him in their own warped image. Not that parents are ultimately to blame for who we become or what we do, but—there’s no mercy expended here for terrible parents.” The AVclub.com goes onto to also mention about how comments people make can affect those around you, even if you don’t intend them to be insulting in the moment, “I wonder if Nate, outside of his remarks at the football game, is actually THAT homophobic. It's a great example of how what to him probably seemed inconsequential (calling someone queer, sissy, etc to emphasize that they are playing like "pussies"), especially in the setting of a sporting event, had huge consequences for how Taylor saw him (Nate) and saw himself.”