Representing Diversity: Liminality and Privilege in Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Part 3 of my Netflix analysis series.
Ford discusses the concepts of liminality and privilege, and how Netflix situates itself in both of these seemingly antithetic ideas. They do this by creating ‘Netflix Originals’ and engaging with themes and content traditionally not compatible with mainstream television (issues of race, sexuality, poverty, etc.)— themes that have traditionally been on the ‘fringes’ of television and society, thus allowing them to live in the liminal space. Yet, it’s privileged because the service itself requires adequate funds, technology, and technological know-how to engage with its content (Ford, 2019).
One show in Netflix’s catalogue that interacts with themes in such a way, is the police procedural dramedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Goor, Miner and Schur, 2013-2021). While not a Netflix Original, the act of its diverse cast being introduced through its straight, white, male main character of Jake Peralta makes it ideal for demonstrating Ford’s points. Season 4, Episode 16: Moo Moo is a stand-out among the episodes that deal with liminal themes. Sargent Terry Jeffords gets racially profiled by another police officer when walking through his neighbourhood at night. Afterwards, he and his Captain, Raymond Holt (also an African American man), argue about whether to report the officer in the face of potential backlash on Terry’s career versus “doing the right thing”. During the scenes where this argument takes place, no shot includes both Holt and Terry, instead opting to switch between the speaking character. Not only does this cinematically create the connection between dealing with racism and existing on the outskirts, as they exist away from others in the solo shots, but it also invites the audience into the space to try and promote understanding. When Holt and Terry ‘cheers’ to filing the report because it was “the right thing to do,” they share the screen for the first time since the beginning of the argument. This represents the resolution of their argument and the closure of this liminal space. Thus, Netflix exists both in spaces of privilege and liminality and demonstrates it through its shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine.