Naw breh. I could care less about how we look to whites(if thats what you're saying) . They call Obama a n1gger. My main issue is how shows like this and poisonous, negative rap makes us feel about OURSELVES. Kids were enrolling into HBCU's BECAUSE of A Different World. That show was PURPOSELY taken off the air because it influenced us positively and promoted a high self esteem. Are u denying that media propaganda is a tool that has been used in the past to control a people
You have a tendency to sort of talk past people and doggedly stick to your talking points. Im saying that a show like empire fits into the broader american culture, and displays the sorts of themes that make money and draw eyeballs in the entertainment mediums.
And this whole "A different world" claptrap is making my eyes roll. Do you know what the black murder rate and crime rates were during the late 80s and 90s? It was astronomical. Obviously a different world wasnt having any sort of tangible positive impact. Black people, or anyone else, arent getting their self-esteem and pride from a damn t.v show. Thats just overly simplistic nonsense that doesnt reflect day-to-day realities in the real world.
I am going to have to respectfully disagree with you here... Whilst what you are saying is true you have to understand the the impact of the American culture is different for different races... Violence and drugs portrayed in the media doesn't stereotype and marginalize individual white people... There is a message that is attached with white media that says a) this is pure fiction or b) this is an individual problem not a group trait
When you see a white person walking down the street do you automatically think druggie? Even though they are the number one abusers Of prescribed medication?
I appreciate the respectful response, and hopefully I can respond in kind. Your comment seems to suggest that since black people are naturally inferior we somehow dont have the luxury of participating in the broader American culture the way everyone else does. It just becomes circular and self-defeating.
Its not as if Empire is trading off of overtly anti-black stereotyping --- as if the show has a bunch of hapless, shiftless negros on a plantation eating watermelon all day and speaking in runaway slave dialect.
Empire features characters that are attractive, highly functional, intelligent, successful...but also highly dysfunctional and driven by American vices. This is the basic template for most of the wildly successful american dramas in the past 30 years or so.
If white people or anyone else for that matter cant appreciate the diversity of black people by now, and only understand crude stereotypes, well thats their problem and not yours. They're the ignorant ones, and its not a show like Empire's responsibility to be mindful of what racists think about everything.
