Rachel Marston Section 9 Midterm Post 2: 30 Rock

"My Technique Guarantees Male Orgasm"

     One ethical issue that doctor's face daily is straddling the line between doctor and drug dealer.  Dr. Leo Spaceman, the resident doctor of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, is often guilty of blurring said line.  But, is this lack of ethics a function of bad character?  For Karl Marx, this would be an indication of a phenomenon of "the fetishism of commodities."   

      Commodity is defined as a thing of value that can be traded for another thing of value.  In Marx's work Capital, he tries to understand how such values are determined.  The value of a thing is not inherent within that thing. Instead, we place the values on them based on their desirability with respect to time. For example, we would place a higher price on a shoe that is better made and longer lasting than a cheap one from Wal-Mart.  However, there are also other ways of making things more desirable than just their usefulness.  For example, Jenna's "Me Want Food" t-shirts or "Pajamaralls."

A true picture of real humans wearing pajamaralls on the street whilst rejoicing.

      This "commodity fetishism" explains our willingness and desire to pay a higher price for celebrity-endorsed products and clever marketing ploys.  For example, Viagra would not be a thing we need for basic subsistence and comfort, but millions of dollars are spent on it and similar drugs each year. Similarly, Dr. Spaceman offers Jenna a highly dangerous experimental drug which can "keep people awake under any circumstances" simply because he has the means to do so.