Dees Niggas Here #Black-ish
#PremiereWeek
OK, so this is a loaded post. Obviously
just from reading the title some of you are probably offended or
cringing or doing a whole gaggle of different things reacting to “THE
Word” as it is called on tonight’s season premiere of Black-ish
(#Black-ish, #DeesNiggas). Personally, I always thought THE Word was
Jesus or the Bible or some form of that, as Christians tend to say it
is. But apparently the N-word is THE Word that everyone wants to
discuss. Let me explain.
First, let me start by saying that I
truly don’t like talking or writing (especially in my novels) about
race. I have a few written stories and screenplays I haven’t
released that focus on the topic. However, I find that for any
minority or non-minority continuing to focus on race is what can
impede the forward march of more creative writing. Maybe one of the
reasons we don’t see as many non-white characters in or leading
sci-fi or fantasy books, films and TV is because so few minority
writers want to write that stuff (we all know the other reason is
because they aren’t given a chance or quality or a million other
things). With that said, I continue.
ABC’s Black-ish makes its season
premiere tonight at 9:30. Now, there are tons of things going on
tonight sense it is premiere week. Seeing as how the networks want to
destroy each other, Fox’s Empire will also be returning a half hour
earlier (#Empire). So, in order to draw in those ratings and really
get “black twitter” talking as was mentioned in an Essence.com
interview with Anderson and Barris (one of the show’s creators),
they have decided to go for the most click-baity topic they can by
addressing the use of the word nigga.
To be fair, this is a topic discussed
in Black households, families and communities of both affluent blacks
as well as less upwardly-mobile Blacks. But the problem I have with
this is that it is a commonly discussed topic. Everybody wants
to talk about niggas and whether it’s OK to say it. Even Empire
(its competition for the night) had its own controversial dust-up
last season when Terrence Howard came out and said that he believed
the word should be used on the show to bring authenticity to it. In
fear of repeating myself as my book DARKER (#DARKER) has an epic
nigga-rant that tries to look at the use of the word from all sides,
I don’t want to delve too far into what people should and shouldn’t
do and whether they should say it or not.
Why, then, am I a little ticked by
this? Mainly because of the way it was advertised. The advertisements
were so blatant and in your face with how we should essentially be
excited for the use of the word and the crazy and hilarious
shenanigans that will follow, it almost felt like they were selling
niggas at a market. “Hey, we’re gonna use the word nigga. Some of
you out there, especially you niggas (you know who you are *wink
*) better get ready to tune in
and talk about it, because we’re doin’ it for you.” What?
Look,
don’t get me wrong, Black-ish is a nice family show that has its
funny moments. Admittedly, I don’t watch it on a regular basis. But
what ticks me off is not just the feel of the advertisements that
this is somehow edgy when this is literally the oldest conversation
that Blacks have been having in this country, but I am a little
ticked at how well the marketers thought it’d work. And you know
what, they might actually be right. Man, if I just think to mention
that my horror novel DARKER uses the N-word in one tightly compact
little area in the novel—though it is based off of Stephen King’s
Carrie—I’m sure millions of people will flock to Amazon to
purchase it just to see how I spell it: er or a -ending.
To
sum it up, I’m not necessarily mad at the show for tackling the
common conversation, I’m more mad that it is used so flippantly as
a ploy to draw in more viewers. But hey, if it works (and we all know
how often niggas used
to work) so be it.
Note
to first time readers: I tend not to use nearly as much cursing or
bad words in my posts as I find them generally unnecessary. However,
there are curses throughout most of my books. Also, I rarely get this
inflammatory about a subject, so just consider that when viewing
other posts.
What
do you all think? Is the use of the topic justified? Will you be too
busy watching Empire or something else to care? Or will you watch and
have no effect on you? Let me know what you think in the comments
below. Hint: click where it reads “no comments” to comment. I
will close the comments after a few weeks or if they get out of hand.
As
always, check out my books on Amazon (if you’re looking for
Halloween scares check #AFuriousWind, #DARKER, #BrandNewHome or #ThePowerOfTen).
For those interested in something a little more dramatic, check
out #TheWriter.
The final episode of season one of The Writer is coming this Friday.
All other 14 episodes are out now available exclusively on Amazon.
Join us on Goodreads to talk about books and TV, and subscribe to my
blog.
Until next time, “Fight the power.
You gotta fight the power. Fight the Power. You gotta fight the
powers that be!”
P.S. OK, admittedly those were lyrics
from a Public Enemy song. No, they weren’t aimed at the producers
of the show or any specific people. You’re reading too much into
this. Just because I sound angry and look angry, doesn’t mean I am
angry!
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