This is a set of reviews of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episodes. My general thoughts about that show are here. I’ll often do no more than make brief notes about an episode, although occasionally I’ll go deeper. Also, often there are dissenting main characters on almost any political issue, but you can usually tell what the general position of the show is. All the rest of the reviews are available by clicking on the l&osvu label at the bottom.
(Now that I’m getting into some of the episodes that involve the character John Munch, I’m going to ignore most of his political statements)
“Assumptions” Season 20 Wikipedia summary is: “A Muslim woman appears to be assaulted in a synagogue and two teenage boys are seen fleeing the scene, which prompts the Special Victims Unit to come in and investigate. The case quickly is confirmed as a hate crime and controversy quickly erupts. However, the case takes a shocking twist when it is discovered that the Muslim woman may not be telling the exact truth. Later in the episode it's revealed that the Muslim woman was raped by her ex-husband. He knew she was a lesbian and due to Sharia Law he believed she was still his wife. Meanwhile, Benson receives news that Rob Miller, who raped defense attorney Nikki Staines, has been released from prison on bail, leaving Benson shocked and dismayed.”
The two main issues are the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and social conservatism among Muslims. The Muslim woman is a City Council person who takes a very public position in support of the Palestinians and there is great hostility towards her from the Jewish population. The idea is that she is allegedly anti-semitic because of her support for the the Palestinians.
It’s not inherently anti-Semitic to support the Palestinians, although it can be, as I have written in several essays that are found here, here, here, and here. But supporting the Palestinians is usually based on a very good argument, a version of which I deploy here.
There’s hardly anything in the episode about anti-semitism among the Arab community of NYC, but there’s plenty about anti-muslim bigotry among supporters of Israel.
The other main issue is social conservatism among Muslims, something that I think a lot of progressives ignore. One really awesome part of this episode is that the victim is a RELIGIOUSLY OBSERVANT MUSLIM LESBIAN. You don’t hear about that everyday. In fact, a briefly-appearing character stupidly assumes she believes in Sharia (very conservative Islam) because she wears a hijab.
One of the last things is that this Muslim, Palestinian-supporting City Council member is an anti- eviction activist.
Lastly, I’d say that in America there’s not much anti-semitism of the Nazi sort or the left-wing sort or the Arab/Muslim sort. But there is one type of anti-Semitism that is unrecognized by most people and that is the Evangelical kind. I discuss that and some related stuff here.
“Payback” Season 1. Wikipedia summary is: “Two detectives from the NYPD's Special Victims Unit, Olivia Benson and Elliot Stabler, investigate the stabbing and castration of a cab driver, only to learn that the victim had purchased a phony hack license from an inmate (Matt Skollar) at Rikers Island. Further investigation reveals that the dead man was a Serbian soldier named Stefan Tanzic, who had been indicted on charges of ethnic cleansing. Herself a child of rape, Benson has trouble separating herself from the case after realizing that the victim was a rapist. Stabler tries to keep her from crossing the line in her attempts to protect suspects whom she feels were justified in their actions.”
I like the part about the rape-infused ethnic cleansing that took place in the Serb campaign in Bosnia around 1994. Although a lot of leftists weren’t sympathetic because Serbia was seen as in conflict with the US, I always was very concerned about the muslims of Bosnia. That’s based partly in hind-sight on the fact that Serbia consistently went after it’s neighbors in very heavy-handed way- first Croatia, then Bosnia, then Kosovo. Also, I was political friends with a Bosnian woman who said that what the Serbs did in Bosnia and Kosovo was wrong. Because of this I have mixed feelings about the NATO war against Serbia over Kosovo- there were some bad things about it (bombing civilian targets), but I think it was for a good cause.
There were some weird references to homosexuals and one very minor character was gay.
“Hysteria” Season 1. Wikipedia summary is: “When a young woman is found dead, she is initially believed to be a prostitute and the latest victim of a serial killer. As they look into her home life, however, Benson and Stabler realize that the victim does not fit the pattern, and may not be connected to the other deaths after all. After Munch's instincts lead the team to believe their suspect is a cop (Joe Lisi), Cragen consults his old friend Det. Lennie Briscoe for help. “
This is one where a cop is (one of) the bad guy(s), in this case a misogynist. In all fairness, I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s less sexism than racism among police. They seem like they’re very much against violence against women.
“Stocks and Bondage” Season 1. Wikipedia summary is: “When a financial analyst and devotee of BDSM is found strangled to death in a leather harness in her bedroom, Benson and Stabler at first suspect either suicide or accidental death from autoerotic asphyxiation However, the discovery of a large quantity of hidden diamonds leads the detectives into a shadowy world of money laundering and securities fraud.”
At one point the head of SVU talks to a witness who is an undocumented immigrant and makes it clear that he’s not with immigration.
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