Good article. I haven't seen insecure, but I do know about her story. It's a real shame that our "black media" members continue to paint us in a negative light.
Issa Rae’s Emmy Winning Series: Insecure Official Thread
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Good article. I haven't seen insecure, but I do know about her story. It's a real shame that our "black media" members continue to paint us in a negative light.
dontreadthis
philly.
she looks like one of the girls off of the show Girlfriends to me
The Blood homie with his kid 
she looks like one of the girls off of the show Girlfriends to me
This one?
I thought she looked like Jill Marie Jones too, just not in a
way. Are y'all watching her on Ash vs the Evil Dead?
dora_da_destroyer
Master Baker
Rep pending...thank you!
dora_da_destroyer
Master Baker
At least you admit your (initial) biasI have EXTREME conflicting thoughts and emotions regarding this show.
On one hand it is plain as day that Issa Rae is a talented performer/writer/show runner. Some of the points she makes through this shows two episodes hits so close to truth that it's remarkable. The humor is there, the chemistry between her and her best friend is fantastic, the look and feel of the show is just below Atlanta levels of engrossing..
On the other hand, the depiction of black males on this show is so utterly offensive that it literally makes my skin crawl. I absolutely HATE it and everything it says about the modern day black male.
I think, that after watching last night's episodes that that defensive hatred might have clouded my mind to what I'd HOPE someone like Issa Rae (beautiful, smart, determined) would want to convey regarding black male/female relationships. Someone earlier within this thread asked a question. Why are those of us who praise Donald Glover and Atlanta, with its depictions of poor, irresponsible black men and their misadventures, so quick to criticize Issa Rae and Insecure? My initial thought, and subsequent response, was both dismissive and dare I say it, arrogant.
"there are levels to Atlanta"
"Atlanta doesn't depict black women as whores and ratchet cliches"
"The characters are multi-layered, you see exactly WHY the characters are in the position and mind set that they are in. Insecure only adheres to stereotypes"
These were all knee-jerk reactions. I did not afford Issa Rae, and her creative vision, the same amount of open-mindedness that I did Atlanta. Now I admit that I did this for several reasons. Issa Rae's claim to fame web series, The Adventures Of Awkward Black Girl, rubbed me the wrong way initially, as it depicted her character choosing to date a white man over a black man. Helping to further the stereotype that black women are better off with our cultural, economical, and historical oppressors.
So perhaps I owe Issa Rae, as a black woman, more than a knee jerk reaction. Even as I continue to feel revolted by the depiction of, literally every single black male the show has introduced thus far; it HAS to be going somewhere rightThis college educated, BLACK woman, raised and reared by a two parent black household (with a Doctor father who ran his own practice) deserves the benefit of the doubt that she has something more poignant to say and represent other than "black men ain't shyt"....
These and other thoughts on my next article. Titled: Insecure In Atlanta. Coming soon....
I'm gonna put it out here, I went to school with Issa and know her well, please believe she is not and has never been on no c00n shyt, no matter how hard y'all want her to be simply because she has no fairy tale perfect black man as her BF. in fact her friend Molly is based on our mutual friend down to some of the exact dating and work stories
I really don't get the hangup with her dating a white guy on her web series when it was a whole series of events led to that and it was a big point of conflict for her to even do so. Secondly, I don't think many folks are giving the story time to evolve, her BF ain't even a bum so much as a realistic depiction of how millenials can easily get lost (and complacent) while "trying to be great/different". I know a whole bunch of folks who end up underperforming while trying to get themselves together - like one of my friends with a college degree who has been a middle of the road waitress for the past 8 years.
I can completely understand real critiques - it's not funny to you, people feel the acting isn't the best, etc, but I'm really done with the crying about bum nikkas when i see the same folks in an empire, power, Atlanta, ballers, love and hip hop, ghetto ass street crime webseries, etc thread enjoying the shyt out of those same negative portrayals of black men
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At least you admit your (initial bias)
I'm gonna put it out here, I went to school with Issa and know her well, please believe she is not and has never been on no c00n shyt, no matter how hard y'all want her to be simply because she has no fairy tale perfect black man as her BF. in fact her friend Molly is based on our mutual friend down to some of the exact dating and work stories
I really don't get the hangup with her dating a white guy on her web series when it was a whole series of events led to that and it was a big point of conflict for her to even do so. Secondly, I don't think many folks are giving the story time to evolve, her BF ain't even a bum so much as a realistic depiction of how millenials can easily get lost (and complacent) while "trying to be great/different". I know a whole bunch of folks who end up underperforming while trying to get themselves together - like one of my friends with a college degree who has been a middle of the road waitress for the past 8 years.
I can completely understand real critiques - it's not funny to you, people feel the acting isn't the best, etc, but I'm really done with the crying about bum nikkas when i see the same folks in an empire, power, Atlanta, ballers, love and hip hop, ghetto ass street crime webseries, etc thread enjoying the shyt out of those same negative portrayals of black men
Read my piece here
Insecurity In Atlanta
Let me know your thoughts. I am attempting to keep an open mind towards the show.
dora_da_destroyer
Master Baker
I'll try to get to it tomorrow, but the fact that you have to work this hard to keep an open mind about this show but so easily accept Atlanta reveals you have an implicit bias...maybe it's because Atlanta is funnier (IMO) you let it slide, because I really hope it's not because she's a woman creating the character.
It's all in the article. It's not that I have to work hard to enjoy Insecure, it's that I have to work to understand to NOT become knee-jerk angry at what I consider stereotypical depictions of black males from upwardly mobile black women. What I, and everyone who I surround myself with (other black men) try extremely hard to represent in REAL life is the antithesis of that stereotype. We have steady jobs, we work hard, we make decent livings, we respect and cherish black women, and we don't c00n. So when I see someone like the Lawrence character; broken, unemployed, and living off the black woman as SHE supports both of them, it is offensive to everything I, and what I feel is the majority of young black men, truly stand for. It literally HURTS to see it. It literally HURTS to hear black women say, on national television, that black men don't want black women, or we only want one night stands. For someone like me, who combats racial stereotypes on a daily basis through both words and actions, the last thing I want to see is yet ANOTHER good for nothing who can't even make it through a job interview on prime time television...
And then I thought to myself, the EXACT same thing you said. Why was I willing to give Atlanta a "pass" when in the pilot episode, Earn is pretty much the EXACT same character archetype as Lawrence? It wasn't because it was funnier, Insecure's pilot had some genuinely funny moments. It all had to do with opportunity. Both within Lawrence's character and my own dismissiveness. The article is pretty much my apology to Issa for not giving her the same opportunity of optimism that I gave Atlanta.
I really hope you read it whenever you get a chance. I'm even thinking of tweetIng to Issa.
It's ok so far. My girl is in love with it
I thought the broken p*ssy rap was corny at first, but I was dead at how she was on stage cheesing and vibing and totally oblivious to her friend catching feelings in the cut
I thought the broken p*ssy rap was corny at first, but I was dead at how she was on stage cheesing and vibing and totally oblivious to her friend catching feelings in the cut
SuburbanPimp
Giving game to lames since the 90s
good ep......i'm assumin Issa's man will end up gettin his shyt together AFTER the relationship goes left....
If we being real, alot dudes don't get their shyt together until we realize the chick is REALLY leaving.....
dora_da_destroyer
Master Baker
ill definitely read it. And whatever your end feelings, I can give you more credence since you're thinking critically about it as opposed to some of the blanket statements dropped by other posters.
As for how she's approaching dealing with black men, It's a honest feeling a lot of educated black women have, I (along with my friends) have seen and experienced this. So I wouldn't be hurt by it, use it as an opportunity to learn about how we really struggle out here, especially in places like California where there already aren't a lot of educated/professional black men, black women in that demo outnumber them, and we do see us being forgone for becky's or "exotic" gf's and wives. Black women can either become bitter about it or have fun with it, she's choosing to laugh thru it.
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BlackStarLine
Pro
As a California native, no lies were told. Yeah the show's portrayal of the dating scene in Cali for black women in damn near spot on. One of the reasons I left the state. The show is absolutely hilarious btw.