Do people, white critics included, give “black content” (television shows, movies, books) a pass on poor-quality just because of todays social climate?
Think BlackAF, Blackish, Insecure, anything Tyler Perry, BET, Van Jones
IMO people of color are heavily critical of black content. If it’s good expect praise. But if it’s bad... the memes will flow.
I think white people give black content more of a pass because there’s not a high expectation anyway. When white people “discover” amazing content produced by a magical negro then they will pour all of their resources into it and give it a mainstream platform.
But what do I know, it’s day 72 of the quarantine and I’m still can’t put the snacks down.
HAHA! Thank you for your thoughts. I too am relying on the snacks HEAVY!
HMMM...are white people giving the pass because they expect very little OR fear?
In this time when we are pushing or "diversity" "inclusivity" and my favorite buzz word of the moment "inclusion" I wonder if white people are hesitant to criticize the negro who has made it past the gate keepers because they fear some sort of public backlash.
I do agree that we are coddled in terms of expectations from white people though.
Thank you for sharing your POV. Pass the chips over here please!
A pass? Ha! Whether it be amongst or own or others, we don’t get a pass...for anything. We work harder and longer, just to receive minor mentions. Meanwhile, “others” crank out mediocrity on a regular basis and receive countless opportunities, nominations and awards.
I can see where this could be true at times. There is also a bit of a popularity contest that you have to play in order to get your work seen to be at the point of mention. Once you hit that point though...We will push through content from a popular content creator of color if the quality is poor, yes. And in this sense I am using quality to describe execution and also subject matter and depth.
Even amongst our own award shows we do that. For example, the NAACP Awards honored Bruno Mars with the Outstanding Male Artist Award in 2020. His last album was out in 2016...but who doesn't love Bruno? We tend to trend towards popular picks when possible.
I definitely can appreciate this answer, being stuck in the grind of the popularity contest myself!
“Black content” is constantly criticized whether it’s bad or good. If the quality is poor, people are going to call it out. There is no pass in my opinion. For example Tyler Perry’s last movie. From the terrible wigs and the the bad editing jobs it became a mockery online. Even black award shows are criticized. The BET Awards can put on a great show but if the sound messes up for two seconds then people call it ghetto or the “EBT awards”. I really don’t think black creators get a pass for poor quality. Sometimes I think me may be overly critical
I think you are brining up some GREAT points. The Tyler Perry movie in question was genuinely horrible and in my opinion it deserved that backlash lol, but it was the only one of his projects that has received such harsh feedback consistently and to that magnitude.
Look at someone like Kenya Barris after three television shows that are basically spin offs of the same concept, it took the Netflix parody show for our people to step up and say that a lot of what he is portraying as "blackness" is not our experience as a collective and him pushing this same narrative 30 different ways is just given a pass because white networks deem it as "working."
I also think about things like Queen and Slim getting the green light. A lot of black critics and audience members were scared to comment against it because we have the thought process engrained in us that if one of our projects don't make it then none of them will, so we have to shut up and give it a pass.
We are very critical as times though, idk about the BET Awards example because a lot of time it is more than just a sound glitch that messes up. But yes I do wonder if we suffer from an illusion of perfectionism when we talk about our content and what we show to the world as black people.
I don’t think black content gets a pass. BlackAF is a prime example. People are mad because it isn’t a poverty stricken family. We can be our own worst enemy at times.
Hmm I more so saw people expressing anger because it was the same story from the same person on a different network. Doesn’t that in itself means it is getting a pass? Because it worked as Blackish, Grownish, and Mixedish in different variations…it gets a pass to Netflix to be shot in a different comedy format?
That is dangerous to black people that try to dispel the narrative of us being a monolith. If the only example of us they see is the same one across different lines, we are interpreted to be the same. Which also speaks to your point of people being mad because it isn’t a poverty stricken family, we do need more narratives of black families being in different economic situations.
Maybe a well off black single mother. Or we’ll off black single father. Or black same sex couple with adopted kids and a start up. We can thrive in all stories. Thanks for your POV you added another iron to the fire!
Blackish, Mixedish, etc. are all based on him and his family. So that’s why they’re all the same. I think people overlook that. It’s about his family, but I agree. We do need more narratives of black families being in different economic situations.
Now on the other hand, I feel like Tyler Perry makes the same movies/shows over and over again and no one says anything. He always gets a pass. Abused, struggling black woman is always the storyline with him. Always drama.
Yea I think people really could appreciate Blackish. Everyone loves Yara so Grownish based off his daughter is fire, but when he decided to do Mixedish off of his ex wife it was like okay you’re milking the crowd dry-ish!
You know dang on well Tyler gets ALL the jokes. It chilled out when he got the studio together and fully announced everything. BUT when Netflix bought his BS, he got that work. Every character with a wig on was memed! Lol
Ahhh. See. I didn’t know mixedish was based on his ex wife. That is a bit much.
See. I didn’t even know about the Netflix and Tyler Perry situation. Smh He gets the jokes, not the same criticism as BlackAF. People were calling it corny and wouldn’t watch it. People still watch Tyler Perry everything.
IMO people of color are heavily critical of black content. If it’s good expect praise. But if it’s bad... the memes will flow.
I think white people give black content more of a pass because there’s not a high expectation anyway. When white people “discover” amazing content produced by a magical negro then they will pour all of their resources into it and give it a mainstream platform.
But what do I know, it’s day 72 of the quarantine and I’m still can’t put the snacks down.
HAHA! Thank you for your thoughts. I too am relying on the snacks HEAVY!
HMMM...are white people giving the pass because they expect very little OR fear?
In this time when we are pushing or "diversity" "inclusivity" and my favorite buzz word of the moment "inclusion" I wonder if white people are hesitant to criticize the negro who has made it past the gate keepers because they fear some sort of public backlash.
I do agree that we are coddled in terms of expectations from white people though.
Thank you for sharing your POV. Pass the chips over here please!
A pass? Ha! Whether it be amongst or own or others, we don’t get a pass...for anything. We work harder and longer, just to receive minor mentions. Meanwhile, “others” crank out mediocrity on a regular basis and receive countless opportunities, nominations and awards.
I can see where this could be true at times. There is also a bit of a popularity contest that you have to play in order to get your work seen to be at the point of mention. Once you hit that point though...We will push through content from a popular content creator of color if the quality is poor, yes. And in this sense I am using quality to describe execution and also subject matter and depth.
Even amongst our own award shows we do that. For example, the NAACP Awards honored Bruno Mars with the Outstanding Male Artist Award in 2020. His last album was out in 2016...but who doesn't love Bruno? We tend to trend towards popular picks when possible.
I definitely can appreciate this answer, being stuck in the grind of the popularity contest myself!
“Black content” is constantly criticized whether it’s bad or good. If the quality is poor, people are going to call it out. There is no pass in my opinion. For example Tyler Perry’s last movie. From the terrible wigs and the the bad editing jobs it became a mockery online. Even black award shows are criticized. The BET Awards can put on a great show but if the sound messes up for two seconds then people call it ghetto or the “EBT awards”. I really don’t think black creators get a pass for poor quality. Sometimes I think me may be overly critical
I think you are brining up some GREAT points. The Tyler Perry movie in question was genuinely horrible and in my opinion it deserved that backlash lol, but it was the only one of his projects that has received such harsh feedback consistently and to that magnitude.
Look at someone like Kenya Barris after three television shows that are basically spin offs of the same concept, it took the Netflix parody show for our people to step up and say that a lot of what he is portraying as "blackness" is not our experience as a collective and him pushing this same narrative 30 different ways is just given a pass because white networks deem it as "working."
I also think about things like Queen and Slim getting the green light. A lot of black critics and audience members were scared to comment against it because we have the thought process engrained in us that if one of our projects don't make it then none of them will, so we have to shut up and give it a pass.
We are very critical as times though, idk about the BET Awards example because a lot of time it is more than just a sound glitch that messes up. But yes I do wonder if we suffer from an illusion of perfectionism when we talk about our content and what we show to the world as black people.
Thank you for your thoughts!
I don’t think black content gets a pass. BlackAF is a prime example. People are mad because it isn’t a poverty stricken family. We can be our own worst enemy at times.
Hmm I more so saw people expressing anger because it was the same story from the same person on a different network. Doesn’t that in itself means it is getting a pass? Because it worked as Blackish, Grownish, and Mixedish in different variations…it gets a pass to Netflix to be shot in a different comedy format?
That is dangerous to black people that try to dispel the narrative of us being a monolith. If the only example of us they see is the same one across different lines, we are interpreted to be the same. Which also speaks to your point of people being mad because it isn’t a poverty stricken family, we do need more narratives of black families being in different economic situations.
Maybe a well off black single mother. Or we’ll off black single father. Or black same sex couple with adopted kids and a start up. We can thrive in all stories. Thanks for your POV you added another iron to the fire!
Blackish, Mixedish, etc. are all based on him and his family. So that’s why they’re all the same. I think people overlook that. It’s about his family, but I agree. We do need more narratives of black families being in different economic situations.
Now on the other hand, I feel like Tyler Perry makes the same movies/shows over and over again and no one says anything. He always gets a pass. Abused, struggling black woman is always the storyline with him. Always drama.
Yea I think people really could appreciate Blackish. Everyone loves Yara so Grownish based off his daughter is fire, but when he decided to do Mixedish off of his ex wife it was like okay you’re milking the crowd dry-ish!
You know dang on well Tyler gets ALL the jokes. It chilled out when he got the studio together and fully announced everything. BUT when Netflix bought his BS, he got that work. Every character with a wig on was memed! Lol
Ahhh. See. I didn’t know mixedish was based on his ex wife. That is a bit much.
See. I didn’t even know about the Netflix and Tyler Perry situation. Smh He gets the jokes, not the same criticism as BlackAF. People were calling it corny and wouldn’t watch it. People still watch Tyler Perry everything.
Lol and I will never understand it. No matter how left he goes, the aunties still watch TP!