Arrested Development and Philosophy (12 page)

Although at times filled with self-loathing and fear, Tobias never seems to lose confidence in his belief that he’s an actor (or, at least, meant to be one), in spite of his inability to find and hold work (not to mention the fact that he’s terrible!). His one commercial audition goes awry as he fails to realize that he’s advertising a department store’s “fire sale” and not merely a “fire.”

In the episode “Top Banana,” Tobias, yells: Oh my god. We’re having a fire. . . . (
softer
) sale. Oh, the burning! It burns me! Evacuate all the schoolchildren. [. . .]

When Tobias finally calls the scene, the representative trying to cast the commercial (Lindsay’s high school “best hair” counterpart, Roger Danish) pauses and then says, “Would you like to try that a little simpler, maybe?” All of us watching the show understand that Roger is suggesting to Tobias that he
ought
to try it again. But that’s not what is said. Somehow we all catch on (although Tobias doesn’t, unfortunately for him) that the question isn’t a question at all; it’s a suggestion, perhaps even a command. What Roger
means
to convey to Tobias is embedded in the utterance; the “correct” meaning is implied but not explicitly said. Philosophers call this linguistic phenomenon
conversational implicature.

Conversational implicature arises in virtue of the fact that speech is done, more often than not, for the purpose of communicating with someone (or something) other than oneself. Language enables us to be social creatures—to engage with our environment and with others. Thus, conversation doesn’t consist of a series of disconnected remarks; in fact, we would consider such an exchange irrational and weird. Rather, we move along as if compelled by some shared objective, in whatever culture we find ourselves navigating.

Grice proposes that there is some general, overarching, principle that provides the organizational structure for successful conversational exchanges. He calls it the cooperative principle (CP), and it’s essentially this: “Make your conversational contribution such as is required, at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which you are engaged.”
8
So, in any exchange that passes for conversation, all parties to the exchange assume at least the CP is being observed. The conversational maxims of quantity (don’t over or underdo it!), quality (make it worthwhile and true!), manner (make it clear!), and relation (make it relevant!) are subcategories that indicate, with more specificity than the CP, certain organizational principles of successful conversation. Attending to these maxims will keep you in step with the cooperative principle, and attending (though not necessarily with any conscious thought to the fact that one is attending) to this assumption guides a correct reading of what’s going on.
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Thus, conversation happens smoothly and successfully.

The Bluths are masters at manipulating (though not always consciously) these conversational maxims in order to fool, deceive, or simply carry on in their own way, oblivious to anything beyond their own privileged, self-interested existence. Much of what is hilarious about
Arrested Development
comes down not to what is said
explicitly
but rather to what is implicated. Incidentally, this is precisely why the “literal doctor” jokes work out so well; in his case, when he says, for example, “[Buster] is going to be
all right,
” the family (and the viewers, too) take him to mean that Buster is “alright.” Of course, this is one of the only times where the Bluth family, as a whole, has to swallow some of their own linguistic medicine.

These various abuses in communication remind us that communication is context-specific, but that doesn’t seem to be all they do. They also remind us how much work—most of it subconscious—goes into grasping what a speaker says on any given occasion. These instances remind us how central the role is of the hearer in smooth communication.

The Hearer Doesn’t Just Lay There, Michael, If That’s What You Were Thinking

The various ways language is used and abused in
Arrested Development
can shed some light on a few of the noncomedic mysteries of linguistic communication. What this series does hilariously and with consistent, spot-on skill, is exploit certain features of everyday language in order to simply make us laugh: Everything from double entendre (which happens most, if not all, of the time when Tobias speaks), polysemy
10
and homophony,
11
to utterances that implicate something meaningful rather than explicitly saying it (“I just blue myself”) and speech acts that do as much as they say (“I declare this [mock trial] a mistrial”).
Arrested Development
relies for much of its humor on the power of words to
do
what they say, as well as the power of words to implicate what they don’t explicitly say. In so doing, it teaches us about the role of context in grasping what is said and having what we say successfully grasped by others.
Arrested Development
shows us that it might
always
matter who is speaking as well as who is listening. Words are never uttered in a vacuum, and meaning is never understandable outside of the context of the utterance. If we ignore the multiple and various features of context, we’ve made a huge mistake.
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NOTES

1.
The philosopher H. P. Grice used the terms
speaker meaning
and
sentence meaning
to delineate a very specific difference in linguistic meaning, what he also called the difference between the natural and nonnatural senses of
means
. I use these terms here more to put a name to the distinction between a speaker’s intention to mean something specific with what she says and the semantic content of the sentence that she utters and less to call upon Grice’s analysis of this difference.

2.
Another fabulous example of comedy spawned from referential ambiguity is the multiple mistaken identities of
hermano.
At various points over several episodes in the first season (most notably “Marta Complex” and “Beef Consumme”), the word
hermano
is the crux of the story line. When Marta utters “hermano” while explaining to her mother that she’s in love with Gob’s brother, she means for her utterance to pick out Michael Bluth, even though the term itself can also point to (and is mistakenly taken to point to) her son’s brother, the brother of the make-up artist for her show, then his brother, and so on and so forth. The term
hermano
can endlessly pick out objects in the world that fit its meaning over time, space, and location.

3.
J. L. Austin,
How to Do Things with Words
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962).

4.
Austin distinguishes between the locutionary act, the illocutionary act, and the perlocutionary act of speech. The locutionary act is simply saying something meaningful in a language, an utterance that conforms to the correct grammar and semantics of a language. An illocutionary act is the doing of something in the saying of it, a performative speech act. The perlocutionary act is bringing about an effect in another by your speech.

5.
In fact, what the act of uttering the utterance accomplishes or attempts to accomplish may be the most important dimension to such speech.

6.
Ibid., pp. 121–147.

7.
H. P. Grice,
Studies in the Way of Words
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989).

8.
Ibid., p. 26.

9.
It’s worth noting that a given maxim can be purposefully flouted in order to convey what we want to convey. Figurative expressions work in just this way. When George Michael’s ethics teacher says she “loves” Saddam Hussein, we assume that she is purposefully exaggerating her claim in order to convey something other than love for Saddam Hussein. With attention to the context of the utterance—who is speaking, who is hearing the speech, the social and cultural location of the speech act, and so on—most of us understand the utterance as an instance of irony. The assumption is that this speaker does not
literally
love Saddam Hussein, so it must be the case that the expression is being uttered figuratively—it must be the case that she purposefully, with a wink, lies (quality) in order to convey her meaning implicitly. Of course, in the show the joke is that neither Michael nor George Michael can tell if she is purposefully flouting the maxim or not.

10.
Polysemy is a term that identifies one word with multiple meanings. Consider when Buster knocks on Lucille 2’s door to find her making a stew with Carl Weathers. Lucille 2 to Buster: “Hey, Buster. Gee, I thought you had class.” Buster to Lucille 2: “I thought you had class.” The term
class
refers the first time to attending a university course and the second time to a type of elevated personal character.

11.
Homophony refers to two different words that have the same pronunciation but differ in meaning. My favorite example: “The Seaward” and the “C-Word.” But an equally funny one: “Lucille” and “loose seal.”

12.
Special thanks to Molly, who thinks that the opportunity to write on
Arrested Development
and philosophy is at least as exciting as being the president of a “Don’t Buy” company. It’s really happening, isn’t it?

Chapter 10

TO BIAS TOBIAS

Gender Identity, Sexuality, and
Arrested Development

Darci Doll

How to Solve a Problem Like Tobias

At first Tobias Fünke might simply seem clueless and socially awkward. As we learn more about him, however, his peculiarities center on questions about his gender and sexual identity. Many times throughout
Arrested Development
Tobias’s sexual orientation gets called into question. Despite a variety of suggestions and implications, the answers to the questions about Tobias’s sexuality are not revealed, and as a result we find ourselves analyzing his behavior in the hopes of seeing the man inside Tobias Fünke.

While figuring out just what Tobias’s deal is might be important, what we can learn about gender from him is even more important. As we question Tobias’s gender and sexuality, our own preconceptions come to light. These revelations help identify social presumptions, stereotypes, and biases about gender. In light of this, Tobias presents more than just a puzzle to be solved. He also presents a lesson to be learned.

A Gender Enigma

Of the many questions raised about Tobias, perhaps the most obvious is whether he’s gay or straight. From the beginning of the series Tobias’s sexuality is called into question. At the end of the first episode, Tobias exclaims, “What an adventure! Gang, I thought the homosexuals were pirates . . . I was waiting for the universe to provide a path . . .” Lindsay interrupts with, “You’re gay.” To which Tobias responds, “No, no . . . Lindsay how many times must we have this. . . .” Tobias’ sexual orientation has been, and will be, an issue for quite a while.

Throughout the series we see Tobias in compromising situations and locations (how could we forget Tobias’s favorite nightclub, The Queen Mary?). Then there’s Tobias’s penchant for unfortunate double entendres, such as this one from “Ready, Aim, Marry Me”: “Unfortunately, I seem to have prematurely shot my wad on what was supposed to be a dry run, and now I’m left with something of a mess on my hands.” We’re perplexed by Tobias in general, and about his sexual orientation in particular. A primary cause of our confusion is that Tobias possesses and acts upon both feminine and masculine traits. Such a combination tends to raise questions about gender and sexual orientation. In the case of Tobias, we can say he’s an enigma because he has an ambiguous gender.

Since Simone de Beauvoir’s groundbreaking 1949 work
The Second Sex
, philosophers have drawn a distinction between sex and gender. Discussion about sex tends to involve biology—one’s reproductive, chromosomal, and hormonal traits. Gender, on the other hand, involves behaviors and the attitudes we have toward them.
1
As the saying goes, sex is between the legs; gender is between the ears. Typically, the feminine gender is associated with traits such as being emotionally expressive, or relying on feelings, connections with others, avoiding conflict and (in some situations) concern with appearances. The masculine gender, on the other hand, is associated with traits such as strength, emotional composure, logical reasoning, aggressiveness (at times), and the avoidance of all things feminine.

Lots of people confuse gender and sex. They think that a male
just is
masculine, and that a female
just is
feminine. If there’s anything that Tobias shows us, it’s that this just isn’t so. One’s sex doesn’t determine one’s gender. I can be a very masculine female, or a very feminine male. What determines my gender is just
how I act.
What determines my sex is brute biology.

The Man Inside Him

Tobias’s gender appears ambiguous for a few reasons. First, people believe (often very strongly) that men must be masculine. Tobias certainly doesn’t usually exhibit the traits we’d put in the normal spectrum of masculinity, although he appears to perceive himself as masculine. In “Good Grief!” when Maeby asks Tobias whether it bothers him that Lindsay is pursuing Ice (a muscular, black man), Tobias replies, “Oh no. I am surprised, though, that she’s going after someone so similar to my own type. Although I suppose we all do expose our inner desires, don’t we?” He also glorifies masculine traits in the advice he dispenses. Tobias claims that self-esteem shouldn’t be tied up in how you look or what others think of you, using himself as a model. In the episode “Top Banana,” he states that as an actor, he faces rejection every day but that “in this business of show you have to have the heart of an angel and the hide of an elephant.” Yet, Tobias, in a moment of despair over a nude shower scene, states, “Yes, I’m the doctor. The perfect husband, the big manly man. The big strong daddy.” He worries that he’s not living up to this image (“Marta Complex”).

Despite Tobias’s frequent attempts to assert his masculinity (in “Burning Love” he tells Michael he must prove himself as a “man’s man”), he spends more time pursuing and acting on traditionally feminine traits and behaviors. When confronted with rejection, Tobias often excuses himself to cry in the shower (usually while huddled in the fetal position, biting on a washcloth) something often associated with the feminine.
2
Likewise, we’re quick to think he’s being feminine when he’s knitting on the couch, engaging in crafts,
3
or dressing in women’s clothes (both as Tobias and his Falidia Featherbottom persona),
4
or cooking and cleaning as Mrs. Featherbottom, or identifying himself with female actresses such as Katherine Hepburn, Jada Pinkett-Smith, and Barbra Streisand.
5
Of course, there’s nothing about women that indicates a superior ability to knit, to clean, or to cook. Even associating women’s clothing with the feminine shows how closely we link sex and gender. What do chromosomes have to do with knitting, or with the style of clothing I wear, or with cleaning? Nothing whatsoever.

Our confusion of sex and gender leads to our confusion about Tobias. Because Tobias fluctuates between two sets of expectations about gender and sex, we might say that his gender is ambiguous. He’s biologically male, but he “acts like a girl” more often than not. We expect women, and not men, to act in a feminine way—even though we shouldn’t!—and so we’re confused by Tobias’s behavior. We wonder what someone with a penis is doing behaving like that!

But our confusion goes even deeper. We tend to associate a man “acting like a girl” with being gay. Again, sexual orientation has nothing to do with gender. The ancient Athenians commonly engaged in same-sex relations (older men were often involved with younger boys), but they were also hyper-masculine (let’s kill some Spartans!). The genitals one likes one’s partners to have (one’s sexual orientation) have nothing to do with gender (the cultural behaviors we associate with women and men). Boy, do we make huge mistakes!

Mister Gay

Arrested Development
encourages the stereotypical interpretation that there’s something humorous or questionable about Tobias’ gender and stresses the presumption that Tobias is gay. When Tobias says that he wants to “out that queen” referring to Ann’s competition in an inner beauty pageant, Michael immediately retorts, “I think you just did,” not so subtly implying that Tobias is revealing his inner nature, his homosexual identity.
6
This ties into the running gag that Tobias is not only gay, but that he’s in denial about his homosexuality.
7
In “Let ‘Em Eat Cake,” Tobias claims to have been walking in an area (one that happens to be a gay district) that he’d never been to before, but the narrator reveals he’d been there several times before. The fact that Tobias openly denies visiting this area hints that he’s hiding his homosexual proclivities from his family.

Tobias and Lindsay are rarely intimate sexually or emotionally. In “The One Where Michael Leaves,” Michael finds out that Lindsay and Tobias have been sleeping in separate beds and suggests that they take the master bed once he leaves. Later in the same episode, Lindsay states that the attempt to revive their sex life was, “to be honest . . . quite awkward” (the scene cuts to Tobias practicing Kegel exercises as preparation). In the episode “Out on a Limb,” when Tobias and Lindsay are intimate in Maggie Lizer’s shower, the first time in the shower since the honeymoon, Tobias proudly exclaims, “and this time, no tears!” Despite these attempts, Lindsay (rather explicitly) tells her lawyer, Bob Loblaw, all of the ways Tobias has failed to satisfy her (“Forget Me Now”). Tobias’s attempts to connect with her on both levels are usually amusingly awkward, lending further support to the hypothesis that Tobias is not sexually attracted to women. A case in point: In preparation for what Tobias calls “a night of heterosexual intercourse,” we see a review of the last attempt, including the following awkward exchange:

Lindsay (affectionately):
Oh T, you’re always thinking of others.

Tobias:
I tried that, but it didn’t work, either.

Lindsay:
Well, maybe I would be more attracted to you if you were in better shape. You know, if you were more muscular and masculine. Does that make me shallow?

Tobias:
No. I was going to say the same thing to you. [“Family Ties”]

We also see suggestions of Tobias’s homosexuality in his interactions with other males. Tobias thinks “everyone” is gay, and often labels other men accordingly (like George Michael, Steve Holt (!), and even one of his patients back in Boston).
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Consider the friendship with his gym buddy, Frank, for example. In the episode “Mr. F,” Frank tells Tobias he’s wanted to talk to Tobias about who he is and to discuss taking the relationship to a potentially awkward level. Tobias responds, twirling his hair, “Oh well, I’ve been wanting to have my own awkward talk as well” (and looks down bashfully). When Frank suggests they could be more than gym buddies, Tobias exclaims, “You’re blowing my mind, Frank.” Yet, when Frank reveals he’s an agent who would like to work with Tobias, Tobias looks disappointed and says (unconvincingly), “Oh! That is good news. I’m glad you went first.” Later, in “Family Ties,” when he finds a “woman” to date while in an open relationship with Lindsay, her name is Michael and she happens to be a man. While this suggests homosexuality (or bisexuality), it leaves several questions unanswered: Is Tobias really in denial about his homosexuality? Is Tobias only pretending to others that he thinks Michael is a girl? Or does Tobias really believe that Michael is a girl? The one fact that remains clear is that Tobias doesn’t fit traditional gender norms.

Tobias, the Blow Hard

In addition to Tobias’s behaviors and relationships, he also has the habit of speaking in double entendres. In nearly every episode, Tobias says something that can be interpreted as having not only a sexual meaning but also a specifically homosexual one. In “For British Eyes Only,” Tobias visits a costume shop. The clerk (who is clearly a man in drag) says, “Look who’s back. Are you going to buy this time or are you just
curious
?” Tobias replies, “I suppose I’m buy-curious. I have a big TV opportunity.” Of course the clerk interprets this as Tobias’s admittance to being
bi-curious
and a potential
transvestite
, and thus tells him, “This is where all the big TVs come.”

The extent of Tobias’s suggestive phrasing leads Michael (in “Ready, Aim, Marry Me”) to encourage Tobias to record and listen to the way he speaks. Here are some of the results: “Even if it means me taking a chubbie, I will suck it up,” “Oh I’ve been in the film business for awhile but I just can’t seem to get one in the can,” and “I wouldn’t mind kissing that man between the cheeks, so to speak.” And then there’s the unforgettable “I blue myself.” The fact that Tobias is apparently unaware of the double meanings of his speech is hilarious to everyone, and to some, suspicious. As a former therapist he should be aware of Freudian slips, yet he seems completely oblivious, as usual.

On occasion, Tobias’s misspeaking and (alleged) naïveté puts him in compromising situations. In “Storming the Castle,” when Tobias attempts to buy leather to connect with Maeby (who is wearing leather only to anger Lindsay), he asks for something that says “dad likes leather,” to which the attendant replies, “Something that says ‘leather daddy’?” The result of this interaction is Tobias buying S&M apparel, later finding himself at an S&M fetish club called the Gothic Asshole, rather than the Gothic
Castle
(where Gob was performing his show), and then joining the S&M themed quartet “Whips and Snaps.”

Thus, while Tobias appears to be unaware of his manner of speaking, he is equally unaware of the consequences that follow from such speech. To all other parties, Tobias’s double entendres are Freudian slips that tell of his ambiguous gender and sexuality. Tobias, however, is as usual unaware of the way he appears to others.

Denying the Man Inside Him

How deep is Tobias’s denial? Is it actually denial, or does Tobias simply not care about our gender expectations and our compulsion to label people either “straight” or “gay”? Although the automatic assumption about Tobias’s unusual habits is that he’s gay, it’s equally possible that he’s uncomfortable with and confused by sexuality in general. The fact that Tobias is a never–nude (which is exactly what it sounds like) indicates that he’s uncomfortable with his own body as well. His aversion to nudity suggests a problem with sexuality generally, and not necessarily just with women—a problem that could explain all of Tobias’s “questionable” behavior.

Tobias’s discomfort is clear when he attempts to explain sex to George Michael in the episode “Beef Consomme”: “When a man needs to prove to a woman that he’s actually {pause} when a man loves a woman and he actually wants to make love to her, something very special happens and with deep, deep concentration and great focus he’s often able to achieve an erec. . . .” When George Michael interrupts, saying that’s not what he was asking about, Tobias is clearly relieved and qualifies, “It was about to get a little eerrr gross.”