New review of episode 6 courtesy of our very own @MartyMcFly !
Black on Both Sides’ Explores How Black Men and Women Relate to Each Other
We’ve got some issues to work out
Trauma, for better or worse, seemingly defines relationships between African-American men and women. Whether covertly or overtly, we’re having a back and forth about who has it worse and crying for the person on the other side of the table to give a little empathy. As a black man, I witness these discussions on the regular. My female friends say we “ain’t sh*t” and pull out their parchment to detail an incredibly long list of reasons why. My male friends remix the same conversations and the cycle continues. One person hurts this person, who hurts the next person, and so we spin.
The "); background-size: 1px 1px; background-position: 0px calc(1em + 1px); background-repeat: repeat no-repeat;">latest episode of Black on Both Sidesexamines this loop. A black woman and black man with seemingly different ideologies express their frustrations. The woman believes black men take no responsibility for our actions in how we treat black women. Worse? When faced with the consequences of our actions, we blame others. On the flip side, the black man believes black women aren’t supportive and mistreat or misuse a lot of good brothers because they don’t fit the “mold” of what a black man should be. The episode starts at at a simmer and erupts in its third act as both characters realize they can’t keep their emotions at bay.
That whole “emotion” thing is tricky. Both sides are told, and truly believe, displaying emotion is their downfall. Black women believe showing emotion gets them the “crazy” label and black men believe shedding a single tear tags them as “soft.” There’s even a line of dialogue citing the ways in which black men deal or don’t deal with emotion. It’s a tad on the nose but works because it’s a part of the episode’s tapestry. Funnily enough, we find out both characters date white people. While the episode doesn’t make this nefarious or say its characters are wrong, it does help in illustrating the larger point: Our issues with each other chase us into the arms of other people who don’t understand our culture. Again, this isn’t inherently bad, but “The Audacity of Hope” says this only happens because the core concept of love is misunderstood within the black community.
Now, we could get into why that might be, but that’s a much larger discussion. The episode itself doesn’t really answer any question it poses either. However, that’s not so much of a problem as much as its an observation. Why do black men and women treat each other the way we do? Why do some black women feel more comfortable in the arms of a white man? Why do some black men feel the need to be someone they’re not in order to please black women? How do we reconcile the way Hip Hop treats women historically? These heady questions are hard to answer in 20 minutes of real life, much less 20 minutes of TV time. To the episode’s credit, it knows its limits and doesn’t even attempt to go there.
That might frustrate some viewers. I get that. People want what we want when we want it and often what we want are answers. Writer/Creator Alonge Hawes gets props for distilling the crux of this decades-long discussion into, what is essentially, a 20 minute stage play. It feels like a minor quibble to knock the characters. They don’t feel defined and act as stand-ins for a much larger discussion rather than something specific to these two people. Like I said, a minor quibble, but a quibble nonetheless.
The sixth episode of the season is an important one. While it would feel stronger with a tad more character definition, the message is still sharp and the questions are poignant. Unfortunately, we may never get the answers we need as a people.
‘Black on Both Sides’ Explores How Black Men and Women Relate to Each Other
@Illeye buckmatic @Milk N Cookies @Easy-E @Esco @LinusCaldwell @Rekkapryde @Soymuscle Mike @Soundbwoy @UserNameless @General Mills @hustlemania @Colicat @-DMP- @True Blue Moon @Tupac in a Business Suit @NormanConnors @krackdagawd @IllmaticDelta @Born2BKing @PlayerNinety_Nine @BXKingPin82
Black on Both Sides’ Explores How Black Men and Women Relate to Each Other
We’ve got some issues to work out
Trauma, for better or worse, seemingly defines relationships between African-American men and women. Whether covertly or overtly, we’re having a back and forth about who has it worse and crying for the person on the other side of the table to give a little empathy. As a black man, I witness these discussions on the regular. My female friends say we “ain’t sh*t” and pull out their parchment to detail an incredibly long list of reasons why. My male friends remix the same conversations and the cycle continues. One person hurts this person, who hurts the next person, and so we spin.
The "); background-size: 1px 1px; background-position: 0px calc(1em + 1px); background-repeat: repeat no-repeat;">latest episode of Black on Both Sidesexamines this loop. A black woman and black man with seemingly different ideologies express their frustrations. The woman believes black men take no responsibility for our actions in how we treat black women. Worse? When faced with the consequences of our actions, we blame others. On the flip side, the black man believes black women aren’t supportive and mistreat or misuse a lot of good brothers because they don’t fit the “mold” of what a black man should be. The episode starts at at a simmer and erupts in its third act as both characters realize they can’t keep their emotions at bay.
That whole “emotion” thing is tricky. Both sides are told, and truly believe, displaying emotion is their downfall. Black women believe showing emotion gets them the “crazy” label and black men believe shedding a single tear tags them as “soft.” There’s even a line of dialogue citing the ways in which black men deal or don’t deal with emotion. It’s a tad on the nose but works because it’s a part of the episode’s tapestry. Funnily enough, we find out both characters date white people. While the episode doesn’t make this nefarious or say its characters are wrong, it does help in illustrating the larger point: Our issues with each other chase us into the arms of other people who don’t understand our culture. Again, this isn’t inherently bad, but “The Audacity of Hope” says this only happens because the core concept of love is misunderstood within the black community.
Now, we could get into why that might be, but that’s a much larger discussion. The episode itself doesn’t really answer any question it poses either. However, that’s not so much of a problem as much as its an observation. Why do black men and women treat each other the way we do? Why do some black women feel more comfortable in the arms of a white man? Why do some black men feel the need to be someone they’re not in order to please black women? How do we reconcile the way Hip Hop treats women historically? These heady questions are hard to answer in 20 minutes of real life, much less 20 minutes of TV time. To the episode’s credit, it knows its limits and doesn’t even attempt to go there.
That might frustrate some viewers. I get that. People want what we want when we want it and often what we want are answers. Writer/Creator Alonge Hawes gets props for distilling the crux of this decades-long discussion into, what is essentially, a 20 minute stage play. It feels like a minor quibble to knock the characters. They don’t feel defined and act as stand-ins for a much larger discussion rather than something specific to these two people. Like I said, a minor quibble, but a quibble nonetheless.
The sixth episode of the season is an important one. While it would feel stronger with a tad more character definition, the message is still sharp and the questions are poignant. Unfortunately, we may never get the answers we need as a people.
‘Black on Both Sides’ Explores How Black Men and Women Relate to Each Other
@Illeye buckmatic @Milk N Cookies @Easy-E @Esco @LinusCaldwell @Rekkapryde @Soymuscle Mike @Soundbwoy @UserNameless @General Mills @hustlemania @Colicat @-DMP- @True Blue Moon @Tupac in a Business Suit @NormanConnors @krackdagawd @IllmaticDelta @Born2BKing @PlayerNinety_Nine @BXKingPin82
Nothing but love!!
