I Want My Boondocks! And F*** BET.
^^ Watch while it's still available!
This is an OUTRAGE! I can't really say enough about how devious Viacom and its subsidiaries are in force-feeding ours and younger generations with this cookie-cutter crap they call programming. I actually sent BET an email around the end of '07 explaining to them how they need to get their act together. Wanna read it? Sure you don't:
To whom it may concern, As my girlfriend and I watch and discuss the episode of BET's 25 Events That Mis-Shaped Black America and the Hip-Hop vs. America Town Hall, it is deafeningly obvious that there are inconsistencies in your programming, especially when it comes to the depiction of black people and black culture in Hip-Hop and Hollywood, as well as the group of blacks that are 'proud to be dumb'. It is disheartening to know that BET is the leading network portraying black people in such light, and that there isn't more accountability and leadership coming from the programming executives. I can try to make suggestions about the kind of programming that is run on BET, but I think it maybe a better start to just try to keep programs more insightful, uplifting, and educational. It has come to my understanding that entertainment is not as edifying as the aforementioned qualities at the end of the day, and there is definitely a deficit of such qualities in our culture. As the black community is one of the most influential sources of entertainment and media attention, I don't feel that BET (the center of black media on television) should reflect more of the negative or intellectually-lacking programming that the public is likely to see, especially not during the hours when the child and teenage demographics are the majority of viewers. I understand that "we don't always want to be political," as I believe I heard Nelly say during the Town Hall, but I think there needs to be another way, a newer way, to portray ourselves, our culture, and real life through the media. Maybe there needs to be a more concerted effort to change the paradigm of black media, from the inside out. I've heard executives say that the people need to make more of an effort to demand different programming if the need is there, and I speak to plenty of people on a consistent basis that agree with my pleads for more intellectually-stimulating programming, even if just marginally so. There was a time when BET had news. It is sad that this facet of the network is now gone. However--and while I understand that network television is a corporate industry and therefore financially-based--I think that the executives at BET should be more discerning and discriminative of which programs are even given the green light in the first place. I'm a strong believer of the theory that economics is supply-driven. We have a demand for seeing black images on television, not negative black images. If we see positive images, or even neutrally-based images, of blacks on TV we may be more inspired to be a more positive and diverse culture. I also understand that BET is not the end-all and be-all of black culture, but I think it's important for the executives to understand how influential BET is with the rest of black culture, usually by way of Hip-Hop or just media culture. I really wish I could go on and expound upon all of my frustrations with the BET programming, but I don't feel like one email or one perspective could express the issue with enough emphasis and poignancy to make a significant change in the network's style of media. I want the readers of this email to be able to take the criticism for what it is, and not as a knock on the entire network. I appreciate the willingness of the executives to heed the call of viewers to bring the Town Hall series back, and I applaud the culturally-aware shows such as some of the Top 25 episodes that have been playing close to the end of this year. Please continue to improve the BET brand and help bring a sense of pride back into black media by removing objectively negative images from your programming. Thank you and please share this with as many people as you would like.
Well, it's the middle of January and I haven't gotten as much as a, "Thank you for your concern with our programming, but we base our media and marketing on surveys from our demographics..." or some bullcrap that wouldn't nearly apologize for--or remotely show remorse in--the horrible television they've been offering us for years now. So here's the story, as far as I understand it: The Boondocks episode, "Hunger Strike," initially set to air early this year, has been banned from television for its story and portrayal of BET and its executives, Debra Lee and Reginald Hudlin. Now, granted, the portrayal is a bit over-the-top, but that's The Boondocks for you, it gives you the truth on crack, just to shock you into the reality of things. Why would Aaron McGruder do this? Because people won't otherwise talk about The Boondocks if it just states the truth and nothing more. It's gotta be stylized for today's audience, and it's also worth being entertained if it'll soften the blow to some. On the topic of the way that the media is getting worse, especially in the black community, I forward you to Sirens, in the beginning of which you can hear a quote from David K Far El (watch the video on his myspace). Overall, it's just messed up that as a black community, our options for 'relative' media are so limited and monopolized that we often don't take the time to give a flying flock about trying to change it or broaden the scope of things that we're exposed to. I really wish people were as adamant about making things better as they are about being a bunch of self-contained fill-in-the-blanks. If we weren't meant to work together for a common good, then why do we have the instinctual (and probably devine) priority to procreate? Many animals operate witin herds or packs or flocks, but humans are the most segregative, divisive creatures, man. We separate ourselves on more levels than you can count on both hands. As if some of us aren't already minorities... But anyway, I'm wrapping this up, I had a lot to say once I found out that I might not get to see the entirety of The Boondocks' second season until the DVD comes out [hopefully they don't ban that]. BET needs to destroy and rebuild.
