Truth Vs. Harm
According to the human rights organization, sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of our selves and should never lead to discrimination or abuse. In addition, “discrimination means treating a person unfairly because of who they are or because they possess certain characteristics” (EOC). In HBO’s 2012 “ The Newsroom”, the 6th episode “Bullies” showcases a huge dispute between two men, a news anchor, McAvoy, and a candidate’s representative, Sutton Wall. Sutton wall is an openly black gay men that is supportive of gay marriage. In this scene, McAvoy is questioning Sutton about the homophobic candidate he is representing. The ethical condition of this case can be tackled from a non-consequentialist and a consequentialist approach.
Although the whole point of the interview was for Wall to address his candidate’s stand against abortion, McAvoy tried to redirect the questions as much as possible to get to where he wanted to in the first place: to talk about the candidate’s homophobia. Throughout the interview, it was obvious that the presenter was not getting the answers he was waiting for from the guest. He constantly was cutting Wall while talking, trying to narrow the answers for the question he was asking. His goal was to make Wall talk about why LGTB rights were not one of Santorum’s biggest interests. On the other hand, Wall was answering the question in a way to make the mass audience feel that he is talking about the main topic- abortion. Every time McAvoy tried to ask about the issue, Wall tended to redirect. However, the TV presenter couldn’t let the guest take the lead and decide on what to talk about; this is why McAvoy kept on asking questions about sexuality and race. The argument led to Wall’s triggering. McAvoy took that to enhance the question and formulate them in other brutal ways. Throughout the interview, Wall tried as much as possible to stay in character and remain respectful and political, but McAvoy’s behavior made that a little impossible. After all this questioning about who he is, and how he can represent a candidate who is homophobic, Wall decided to isolate himself from the black and gay community so the presenter can stop using these points to humiliate him on camera. The amount of harm in the scene is very clear, since in addition to what happened between the two men on camera, the crew in the control room also reacted to the question showing us that they were siding with Wall not with McAvoy who acted as the bully. Non-consequentialist ethical behavior is based on moral duties, even though they might create negative outcomes for some. After watching this TV interview, we can clearly say that it was unethical from a deontology perspective. Nevertheless, we can say that it is utilitarian if it brings happiness to a greater number of citizens, even if it includes some unethical behavior. Therefore, can we say that McAvoy’s goal intended this creation of harm?
In the previous episode of the series, it is clear that everyone knows that Santorum is homophobic. So we can say that the point of the interview was for McAvoy to convince the mass audience that no matter what cause this candidate is fighting for, these types of discriminations should not be allowed. However, we can also see that McAvoy is not only talking on a personal level; he is talking on behalf of the people who are against such candidates. From the beginning, McAvoy is the authoritative side of the interview. He is the one guiding the questions, cutting the speaker when he feels that it is not what he wanted to hear. The more they went deep into the topic, the more the presenter felt offended. We could feel that he is part of the gay community trying to strike back at Santorum. This is why when McAvoy felt that he and Wall were sharing the same feelings towards sexuality and freedom, he decided to give him a treat of his own medicine, asking the harsh and direct questions, as if his candidate might do something like that to him one day. Therefore, the emotion that governed the interview and the amount of distress Wall felt was only for him to understand what kind of behavior he might get from the candidate he’s representing. After watching this scene, we can say that the fighting and the drama turned out rather beneficial for the viewers because it might have triggered thoughts for the LGTBQ+ community.
The three elements that made the presenter’s strategy fail were, talking about sensitive topics about race and blaming an African American man to be working with racist people. In addition, it was not known how to differentiate between personal life and professional life. And finally, when you get a guest to speak at your show, the minimum you can do is let him speak without being interrupted.
“Across the globe, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people (LGBT) continue to face endemic violence, legal discrimination, and other human rights violations on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity” (“The State of LGBT Human Rights Worldwide”, 2015). McAvoy used a very harsh interrogation technique to show the audience that homophobia is a serious topic to talk about and that it should not be disregarded. Nevertheless, he might have caused a lot of distress for Wall, and if we follow the non-consequentialist’s theory, we can say that the case was unethical. But we cannot deny that it definitely benefited the society by showing them that people from the LGTBQ+ community are people who have the rights to love whoever they want to love without being judged or disrespected.
References:
LGBT Rights. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/topic/lgbt-rights
The State of LGBT Human Rights Worldwide. (2015, May 21). Retrieved from https://www.amnestyusa.org/the-state-of-lgbt-rights-worldwide/
What Is Discrimination? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.eoc.org.uk/what-is-discrimination/
