This week’s viewing, the 1970’s sitcom Welcome Back Kotter (1975-1979), featured several different ethnicities cooperating and interacting in a Brooklyn High School. Gabe Kaplan was featured as the main character, Kotter, a high school teacher. His students consisted of a mixed bag of races, from an Italian-American, to African-American, to a Puerto Rican-Jew. The tough neighborhood and reputation of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn contrasts with the idealized, practically problem free high school classroom. The urban space occupied by Kotter definitely seems inviting, not posing as a danger.
The urban space in the sitcom is ideal, a place where different races came together and coexisted. While the characters in the film are introduced in a very stereotypical manner, the actual interaction was not racially hostile or discriminatory. For example, in “Basket Case,” the same grade and sports situation could have applied to any of the other characters just as easily. The stereotypes that were introduced in the first episode seemed like they were brought on by the characters themselves, not by others. I feel that in a nonideal urban space, there definitely would be racial conflict and hostility.
The Bensonhurst neighborhood itself helps add to the feeling of an idealized urban space. The title sequence shows the New York City neighborhood, looking unideal (especially the graffiti-tagged subway line.) However, the classroom and Kotter’s apartment are not busy or squalid. Money or struggle was barely mentioned in both episodes, showing that the characters did not have any extracurricular worries. The characters themselves come from a bad environment, talking about the danger of Bensonhurst in the pilot episode. But these dangers did not exist in the urban space portrayed in the show. For example, Epstein and Vinnie come off as tough guys in the beginning, but they both work with Kotter and the rest of the class. Situations that would definitely lead to an ugly situation in real life were more comedic than angry.
The character of Kotter himself further emphasized the positive, idealized urban space in Welcome Back. He was portrayed as an ideal. He sat “in the same seats” as the other characters. He was successful, and wanted to help people that were in the position he once was. The student-teacher relationship was one of respect. The students worked with the teacher to become “better.” This was definitely seen in the “Basket Case” episode.
The urban space imagined in Welcome Back, Kotter is one that I feel many would enjoy. An urban space with no financial problems and only matters of school and age is extremely inviting. A teacher helping his struggling, slacker students improve themselves is what many teachers idealize. A seemingly struggling Brooklyn neighborhood, where races can coexist seems too out of the ordinary. The urban space portrayed in this snapshot of life is what we all want, right? It’s like Macaulay, right? (insert sarcastic smiley here.) No struggle, awesome teachers, no money, race, or hostility to worry about. Imagine.
John Travolta’s flow was ridiculous.
