It's somewhat of an interesting show, more over-the-top flash than substance. That's probably why it has the ratings now. I just wonder about its creation.
It seems kind of odd that this almost all black show was created by a gay white man (Danny Strong) who then gets Lee Daniels, a gay black man, to help develop a show full of black stereotypes and maybe even some fabrications? I have no qualms with the two of them creating a show, but it just seems like it would have been more authentic if they'd made something that was closer to themselves, like perhaps a show about a black and white interracial homosexual couple and their struggles. Instead, they make this.
I understand that Mr. Daniels said this show parallels his childhood, but growing up in a hip hop family really wasn't his childhood. I can only hope that the unbelievable extravagance of dysfunction seen on this show wasn't his childhood too. At least with a show like Game of Thrones, you know that it's all made up and not meant to parallel any reality. I think this show makes the mistake of not making that distinction clear.
I was intrigued by the outline of the show, and I wanted to like it, but after watching a few episodes I do not think it represents anything positive. There is quite a lot of colorism. Only the darkest people are "servants," and the lightest are the upper crust. They even manage to have that hierarchy with the Lyon sons, with the lightest (Jamal) being the obvious favorite of the show, the next lightest being the oldest son who's the "smart one" that married and is controlled by his white wife (she literally grabs him by the balls and tells him what to do and he obeys like a child), and then the darkest (Hakeem?) is the youngest son who is bratty, brash, disrespectful, and a wannabe thug. It's also interesting that he's the only of the three sons that seems to like dating his own race, while the "smarter" and more "sensible" brothers don't. It doesn't stop there.
The father dumps the faithful black wife (Cookie) he had, a woman who went to prison so he wouldn't have to for seventeen years, even going so far as to divorce her and forget about her and keep the kids away while she was locked up for the sake of their family. She gets out and he's marrying a biracial (black/white) woman who the show portrays as more desirable and better than Cookie. They show Cookie as an annoyance and someone to tolerate because they can't get rid of her because she knows too much. It seems odd to me that the sons don't seem to care too much about her. The only possible positive is that she does end up being the most likable character on the show, though I'm not sure if that's entirely the writing.
For anyone not sensitive and knowledgeable about racial issues and contexts relating to racism, I think a lot of this will fly over your head, but subliminally it's being shown every second. They call this show "real," but I doubt that it is. I think they deal with some real issues in some very unreal ways, sometimes even insulting the intelligence (or taking advantage of the lack of intelligence) of their audience. Some of the messages I got were that we're all supposed to love homosexuality (which I have no problem with) and that black people should glorify racism by promoting and practicing colourism against other people of color, not to mention being stereotypes themselves. This is on top of the messages about backstabbing, cheating, killing, robbing, and more. This show may be insanely popular, but it is also highly destructive.
It seems kind of odd that this almost all black show was created by a gay white man (Danny Strong) who then gets Lee Daniels, a gay black man, to help develop a show full of black stereotypes and maybe even some fabrications? I have no qualms with the two of them creating a show, but it just seems like it would have been more authentic if they'd made something that was closer to themselves, like perhaps a show about a black and white interracial homosexual couple and their struggles. Instead, they make this.
I understand that Mr. Daniels said this show parallels his childhood, but growing up in a hip hop family really wasn't his childhood. I can only hope that the unbelievable extravagance of dysfunction seen on this show wasn't his childhood too. At least with a show like Game of Thrones, you know that it's all made up and not meant to parallel any reality. I think this show makes the mistake of not making that distinction clear.
I was intrigued by the outline of the show, and I wanted to like it, but after watching a few episodes I do not think it represents anything positive. There is quite a lot of colorism. Only the darkest people are "servants," and the lightest are the upper crust. They even manage to have that hierarchy with the Lyon sons, with the lightest (Jamal) being the obvious favorite of the show, the next lightest being the oldest son who's the "smart one" that married and is controlled by his white wife (she literally grabs him by the balls and tells him what to do and he obeys like a child), and then the darkest (Hakeem?) is the youngest son who is bratty, brash, disrespectful, and a wannabe thug. It's also interesting that he's the only of the three sons that seems to like dating his own race, while the "smarter" and more "sensible" brothers don't. It doesn't stop there.
The father dumps the faithful black wife (Cookie) he had, a woman who went to prison so he wouldn't have to for seventeen years, even going so far as to divorce her and forget about her and keep the kids away while she was locked up for the sake of their family. She gets out and he's marrying a biracial (black/white) woman who the show portrays as more desirable and better than Cookie. They show Cookie as an annoyance and someone to tolerate because they can't get rid of her because she knows too much. It seems odd to me that the sons don't seem to care too much about her. The only possible positive is that she does end up being the most likable character on the show, though I'm not sure if that's entirely the writing.
For anyone not sensitive and knowledgeable about racial issues and contexts relating to racism, I think a lot of this will fly over your head, but subliminally it's being shown every second. They call this show "real," but I doubt that it is. I think they deal with some real issues in some very unreal ways, sometimes even insulting the intelligence (or taking advantage of the lack of intelligence) of their audience. Some of the messages I got were that we're all supposed to love homosexuality (which I have no problem with) and that black people should glorify racism by promoting and practicing colourism against other people of color, not to mention being stereotypes themselves. This is on top of the messages about backstabbing, cheating, killing, robbing, and more. This show may be insanely popular, but it is also highly destructive.