Dog Day Afternoon

The HBO comedy series “Entourage” has become a household name for television lovers around the country. The show is a half an hour of sex, drugs, and partying. The glamorous lifestyle that Vince, the movie star, and his three best friends, Vince’s entourage, lives makes for a very entertaining show. Being that Vince is a star living in LA, he obviously has an arrogant yet very comical agent virtually controlling his every move. Ari Gold, or “the most powerful agent in the business” as he calls himself, has been Vince’s agent ever since “Vinny and the boys” came out to LA. Ari is known for his quick, on the spot humor and boisterous personality, especially in public places. The character who feels the wrath of most of Ari’s jokes is his newly hired assistant Lloyd (a homosexual man). It is almost as if Ari feels as if he is powerful enough to be able to stereotype and emotionally abuse Lloyd without any consequences. He not only attacks his sexual preference but also his ethnicity (Lloyd is of Mongolian descent). The relationship between Ari and Lloyd provides the show with humor but also displays the heterosexual outlook and attitude in television.
In the third season of “Entourage” there is one episode in particular (although the majority of the episodes would apply) that displays Ari’s heterosexual personality. The episode titled “Dog Day Afternoon” includes Ari’s pursuit of a new client. Jay Lester, an A-List TV writer, just fired his agent and Ari is quick to set up a meeting to discuss their future “together”. He decides to bring Lloyd along because Lester is a homosexual. Ari explains the situation fully to Lloyd:
Ari: He’s never had a straight agent. If I’m going to be his first, I have to show him that I am a friend to the gay man.
Lloyd: But, you’re not a friend to the gay man, Ari.
Ari: Lloyd, this is a big one. So just go grab your best dress and know that today your love of c**k is a huge asset to this company.
At the lunch meeting, it is obvious from the get go that Lester is very attracted and interested in Lloyd. He even spoon feeds Lloyd some of his meal and uses the word “silly” to describe Lloyd’s rule of not eating off someone else’s plate. While this feeding so to say is going on, Ari can barely watch. He makes faces of disgust and basically covers his eyes to hide himself from the seemingly “gay” act. Making a long story short, Lester calls back Ari and agrees to sign him as his agent; however, there is a catch. Lloyd has to deliver the papers to Lester for him to sign them. Although concerned, Lloyd agrees to meet Lester at a gay bar in LA that night. As the night progresses, Ari feels guilty about making Lloyd sell himself in order to sign Lester so he makes a guest appearance at the bar. Surprisingly, Ari steps in and sticks up for Lloyd. He simply tells Lester that his agency “may be pimps, but they are not whores.” Along with other sub-stories, “Dog Day Afternoon” is a classic episode because of Lloyd.
This episode, along with many of the other episodes of “Entourage”, includes a lot of homophobic humor. It is used, in my opinion, because it is something that has been deemed a humorous topic throughout society. Lloyd is very comfortable with his sexual preference and it is obvious to everyone that he is a part of the gay community. It seems that whenever Ari is under pressure or stressed out, he takes it out on Lloyd being a homosexual. His jokes hit on topics such as Lloyd’s voice, fashion sense, and dating history among many more aspects of his life. At times Lloyd just rolls his eyes and shrugs it off but other times Ari’s seemingly playful jokes really irritate him. Ari essentially has power over Lloyd; he can fire him whenever he pleases. This component of their relationship contributes to Ari’s actions towards Lloyd’s lifestyle. I chose this particular episode because of one main reason: Ari’s attitude changes 180 degrees from beginning to end. During dinner with his wife (a very pretty older woman) Ari begins to feel guilty about making Lloyd do something he does not want to do in order to get himself a very prestigious client. He quickly and illegally turns the car around on the LA highway to “rescue Lloyd”. At the club, Ari explains to Lester that the club is in an area of town that “he only drives through fast.” Although this is another attack on the gay community, Ari is undoubtedly sticking up for his flamboyant assistant. On the way out of the club, while being grabbed and touched by people in the club, Lloyd lets Ari know that he is appreciative of what he did for him. This act by Ari does not take away the fact that he mocks homosexuals, but this episode shows that he does understand where to draw the line. Heterosexism is and will be a part of TV, movies, athletics, and everyday life for a long time to come. Society has to be able to reduce the usage of "gay jokes" and public mocking of the gay community in order for it to come to an end. Could this actually be done?

Introduction

There is a inalienable set of rules that a person must follow from birth. Society sets the standards of "acceptable" actions for people. A girl who likes to read Sports Illustrated more than Seventeen is out of the "norm." Similarly, a guy who would rather sing or dance as opposed to playing a game of two hand touch is "weird" in society. Jamaica Kincaid's poem "Girl" is a mother setting the rules for her daughter's life as a woman. The poem describes what this young girl can or cannot do as a woman in society. Although I am not anywhere near the type of writer that Jamaica Kincaid is, I wrote a poem based off of her poem "Girl". "I Want to be Like Mike" is a poem that describes how to be like Michael Ian Friedberg. His past, present, physical and emotional characteristics are all described throughout my poem. Whether we like it or not, society's guidelines and expectations as humans are with us for our whole lives. 

I Want to be Like Mike

Wake up in the mornings with blurry vision; search for the high powered daily contacts located on the dresser; make sure to eat at least three bowls of cereal for breakfast, but not raisin bran because that is too healthy; pretend that your dog can actually see who you are; when shopping for clothes make sure that you go to the Big and REALLY Tall store; if you wear shoes that match the rest of your outfit you’re doing something wrong; speaking of shoes, size 14 is not nearly big enough you need to buy size 15; don’t get new and fancy cell phones, keep the old and more ghetto kind; watch out for street signs and low branches when walking outside; you must be able to deal with having kinky hair; don’t comb your hair; brush your teeth while singing rap songs in your head, preferably Tupac and Biggy Smalls; put on Dove deodorant to bring out your feminine side; do 10 wait no, do 15 push ups when you wake up and when you go to bed to build up your chest; this is how you should put in and take out your contacts in the morning; make sure the contact lenses are not in sideways or inside out; don’t comb your hair; you must look like every other male member of your family, even distant cousins and uncles; peanut butter and fluff is a necessity before every basketball game you play in; having legible handwriting is a big no-no; don’t go through puberty until freshman year of high school; both knees and ankles must have braces on them for all sporting events; for your 16th birthday a pool lesson from a professional is the only appropriate gift; when you dunk in a game, you must fall on your back and elbow; drawing comparisons to Mr. Goodman should come as no surprise to you; don’t comb your hair, ever; Atlanta, Georgia is like a second home; if you get a call from Coach Zimmerman once a day do not stress out; this is how you block every shot; this is how you dribble the ball off your foot when bringing it up the court; making up funny nicknames for people is a hobby and a skill; who said that playing games during class isn’t right?; scream and pump your fists after every made shot or foul shot; use your inhaler at least 6 times a day, 7 to be safe; grow a Jew fro from 5th grade on; getting hearing aids would not be the worst thing to do; your head should be compared to a peanut on a regular basis; this is how much you should grow every day; your bed time is no later than 9:30; while sleeping, grind your teeth enough so that your mom has to take you to the doctor; don’t comb your hair; migraines will occur at least two or three times a week; when shopping for a car, make sure you can fit!; HE’S ALL COUNTY!; drink up to 5 protein shakes a day, you will never gain any weight; don’t be surprised to get some “He’s on steroids” or “Slim Jim” chants during basketball games; any Halloween costume involving tights is successful; once you go black you never go back; riding a bike really hurt in a bad place; why would you make two foul shots to end the game? Wolfin will come through; growing facial hair takes as long as digging a hole to China; electric razors or tweezers will do for the peach fuzz; who said crying during the Notebook wasn’t manly?; this is how you dance like a true playa; DO NOT COMB YOUR HAIR; as lame as it may sound, your GPA should be over a 4.0; after going to the bathroom, you have to take some pictures!; although basketball camp sounds fun, it is the exact opposite; playing practical jokes and acting mischievous comes naturally; when your parents are in the city for dinner at least 25 people should be at your house; there is no need to wash your face because no one can see that high anyways; eating three meals a day is absolutely unacceptable; magnets near your nose will never turn out good; this is how you do the “Shoulda Leannnnn”; the way girls look means nothing; family dinners happen every weekend of every week; no matter what you do, “just live ya life.”