What’s woody wood, grasshoppers?
Before I go on vacation, I wanna touch on a popular show…SCANDAL!...yep, the show that got Black women under hypnosis on Thursday nights and beyond
It’s funny because when I criticized Scandal about stereotyping the Olivia Pope character, I got BLASTED by other Black women for “hating” on Shonda Rhimes, the creator of the show…I was told that I have the “crab in the barrel” mentality and should be happy that a Black woman, in real life, and another Black woman, on the show, are making moves with their high positions
First off, just because I criticize Scandal doesn’t mean I’m “hating” on Shonda
When you can make wrong right, and right wrong, (like fans of the show rooting for Olivia to finally get with the murderous Fitzgerald), I tip my hat to your writing and good psychology by knowing your audience. Now that Shonda had grabbed the Black audience's attention, I wanna see her create another show with Black, positive and strong characters
Secondly, I’m not over-analyzing…I think the problem with society today is that they take everything for face value instead of looking at certain scenarios and situations from different vantage points
Lastly, Olivia Pope is not as strong or positive as many people think regardless of working for the White House
It's almost as if Black folks are obsessed with titles and accomplishments with nothing else besides the materalism of a career when it comes to defending Scandal
Before I go on vacation, I wanna touch on a popular show…SCANDAL!...yep, the show that got Black women under hypnosis on Thursday nights and beyond
It’s funny because when I criticized Scandal about stereotyping the Olivia Pope character, I got BLASTED by other Black women for “hating” on Shonda Rhimes, the creator of the show…I was told that I have the “crab in the barrel” mentality and should be happy that a Black woman, in real life, and another Black woman, on the show, are making moves with their high positions
First off, just because I criticize Scandal doesn’t mean I’m “hating” on Shonda
When you can make wrong right, and right wrong, (like fans of the show rooting for Olivia to finally get with the murderous Fitzgerald), I tip my hat to your writing and good psychology by knowing your audience. Now that Shonda had grabbed the Black audience's attention, I wanna see her create another show with Black, positive and strong characters
Secondly, I’m not over-analyzing…I think the problem with society today is that they take everything for face value instead of looking at certain scenarios and situations from different vantage points
Lastly, Olivia Pope is not as strong or positive as many people think regardless of working for the White House
It's almost as if Black folks are obsessed with titles and accomplishments with nothing else besides the materalism of a career when it comes to defending Scandal
The character Olivia does nothing to destroy the negative images of Black women, and plays so many stereotypes it’s not even funny...she’s known as the public relations “fixer,” or what I call “the magical negro,” a negro with special powers who’s always there to help white folks in time of need. Olivia is like the "mammy" that fixes the plantation when things go wrong, snaps at others, but tucks her tail when massa (Fitz) puts his foot down…or sleeps with him so he won't punish her when she steps out of line
I’m not necessarily on some racial shit because I think the show is more about what the white man stands for as opposed to a white man in itself (which is also a factor, but I'll get to that later). It's about the ultimate approval. The subconscious (the back of your mind) vibes that the show gives off is racial. It’s like Olivia has won for all Black women by getting a white man to drop his white wife when he's the President of the free world (a man of power is also part of the equation)
It’s the forbidden fruit of Olivia and Fitz's relationship that a lot of viewers are eating, but the point that many viewers fail to realize is Olivia had “won” Fitzgerald over, but at what cost? Dignity for one considering Olivia was on some Monica Lewinski shit by fuckin’ the President when she didn’t have to
It's crazy how a Black woman that holds some sort of power in a TV show is still scandalous (no pun intended) on some high class hoodrat shit
She could've hooked up with Harrison who was there for her, or even Senator Davis who wanted a relationship, but instead she goes after the bigger fish…Davis is the “nice guy” who finishes last while Fitz is the “bad boy” that gets the girls
That's actually a jewel from the show that dudes gotta peep…LOL
Olivia is a sista in charge, but when a powerful white man checks her by telling her to “stand down,” she does what she’s told…that’s not exactly being strong
It's crazy how a Black woman that holds some sort of power in a TV show is still scandalous (no pun intended) on some high class hoodrat shit
She could've hooked up with Harrison who was there for her, or even Senator Davis who wanted a relationship, but instead she goes after the bigger fish…Davis is the “nice guy” who finishes last while Fitz is the “bad boy” that gets the girls
That's actually a jewel from the show that dudes gotta peep…LOL
Olivia is a sista in charge, but when a powerful white man checks her by telling her to “stand down,” she does what she’s told…that’s not exactly being strong
Why can’t we have more Black love on television with all the talk of “niggas” and “bitches” ain't shit that's heavily circulating in the current stage of World War 3 between Black men and women???
Olivia and Fitzgerald's relationship not only reminds me of Thomas Jefferson’s relations with Sally Hemings (Jefferson had an affair with Sally who was a slave and reportedly fathered her children), but also a book by Dolen Perkins-Valdez entitled Wench
Wench is about a slave owner and a Black mistress slave named Lizzie...the owner bought Lizzie books, educated her, and even though she’s afraid of him (like Olivia is fearful of Fitz), she sleeps with him regardless because she’s vulnerable and doesn’t know what she’s getting into, just like Fitz pressuring Olivia to keep the affair going, and desires to leave his wife to be with her
The Olivia/Fitz scenario reminds of that scene in Harlem Nights when the mobster had called his wife to tell her he was leaving her to be with the Black call girl that got him sprung…LOL
Anyway, I digress
Lizzie in the book Wench still spends time with the owner and eventually views him as her “man” when other female slaves tells her that he's not her man…she's just a sex servant
Slave owners in general would take enslaved Black mistresses to resorts in northern states like Ohio for intimacy...some of the mistresses were afraid to break off intimate relationships with slave owners because they felt powerless to do so. In turn, the female slave used her control and authority over friends and family
Hmmmm…looks familiar?
I was told that Black men don't wanna see sistas with white men on screen, but let's not forget Black women lashing out at Tyler Perry when he chose Kim Kardashian to play a part in Temptation: Diary of a Marriage Counselor...let's keep it funky, people
And to keep it even more funky, a lot of Black women fantasize about sleeping with white men, so let’s not kid ourselves…it’s no different from brothas fantasizing about diggin’ out Asian and Latin women...real rap...it is what it is
Scandal capitalizes on the funky white boy with swag fantasy whether Black women want to admit it
Scandal is a fun television show…I don’t doubt that…I wouldn’t have a problem with Scandal if there were better representation of Black women on television…it’s bad enough that the world gotta see the ratchet shit that goes on in reality shows, urban novels, Worldstar and YouTube
It’s about BALANCE, baby…a BALANCE…I don’t see anymore shows like A Different World, The Cosby Show, Living Single, The Fresh Prince, and Family Matters to show Black folks in a light other than the regular hood shit
Stereotypes do exist, but for every movie like Pretty Woman, Fatal Attraction, and Indecent Proposal that shows white women wild, crazy and over-sexed, you have joints like Erin Brokovich, Ms Congeniality, the TV show Cybil or even the "help the negro" movies like Sunset Park, The Blind Side, Dangerous Minds, Losing Isaiah, and The Help that show white women as Samaritans or heroes
Shit…even Kill Bill showed a white woman kickin’ ass by using martial arts…LOL
With Black folks in movies, you’re either hyper-sexual, submissive to authority, a funny man, or a gun-crazed criminal…then you wonder why when Oprah traveled to Africa she was called a “nigga” by one of the natives without knowing if she was cool with it considering that “nigga” is acceptable in many Black American circles in the US
Speaking of words, let’s take the word “gangster” for example
Jews, Italians and the Irish are the original gangsters in America…they controlled the vices in American cities in the early to mid-1900s whether diplomatically or through violence like drive-bys, something you’ll later associate with Black gangs…a Black man hated if someone called him a gangster in the Jim Crow days because the image of a gangster was a white man…a Black man who dealt in the underworld in that era was a SPORT, because he didn’t have the muscle nor the political connections to live as a gangster
He needed GAME (pimpin' or hustlin') to get what he wanted in the criminal lifestyle
But now…
…the whole world thinks the AMERICAN Gangster is the Black man
It’s funny how things change…then again, I’m over-analyzing, right?
Speaking of words, let’s take the word “gangster” for example
Jews, Italians and the Irish are the original gangsters in America…they controlled the vices in American cities in the early to mid-1900s whether diplomatically or through violence like drive-bys, something you’ll later associate with Black gangs…a Black man hated if someone called him a gangster in the Jim Crow days because the image of a gangster was a white man…a Black man who dealt in the underworld in that era was a SPORT, because he didn’t have the muscle nor the political connections to live as a gangster
He needed GAME (pimpin' or hustlin') to get what he wanted in the criminal lifestyle
But now…
…the whole world thinks the AMERICAN Gangster is the Black man
It’s funny how things change…then again, I’m over-analyzing, right?
It’s easy for someone to say “it’s just TV,” but never underestimate the images that programs people to subconsciously perceive a person, place or thing…hell, you got folks thinking ALL of Africa is underdeveloped when that’s not the case…an imbalanced view of anything is dangerous
If an alien came down to America from another planet and turned on the TV, read a few books, and listened to the radio without first hand interaction with Black folks he’ll probably think they had no sense at all
He or she (or "it"...LOL) would think that art is intimating life than the other way around…so sistas, don’t be surprised when a foreigner sends you a picture of his dick on social sites because he thinks Black women are loose based on the imbalanced images he sees on TV
Thank God for Michelle Obama
And with that said, I’m Audi 5000
Peace
Nah’Sun the Great @ www.nahsunblaze.com
P.S.
If an alien came down to America from another planet and turned on the TV, read a few books, and listened to the radio without first hand interaction with Black folks he’ll probably think they had no sense at all
He or she (or "it"...LOL) would think that art is intimating life than the other way around…so sistas, don’t be surprised when a foreigner sends you a picture of his dick on social sites because he thinks Black women are loose based on the imbalanced images he sees on TV
Thank God for Michelle Obama
And with that said, I’m Audi 5000
Peace
Nah’Sun the Great @ www.nahsunblaze.com
P.S.
The Oakland branch of the Black Panther Party had FORCED the filmmakers of the classic movie The Mack to have Black consciousness in the joint
The Panthers didn’t allow Hollywood to film the movie in Oakland UNLESS a positive Black man was also portrayed in the film…Goldie's (The Mack) brother, Olinga, was placed in the movie as a Black nationalist who worked hard to get rid of the pushers, pimps and prostitutes in the community
Olinga was the opposite of Goldie in the movie
Balance, people…Balance
