Fresh prince itself was super political though, and it had episodes like the one where Will and Carlton got arrested for driving a car that was “too nice.” And Will talked about Malcom X a lot and had a poster of him in his room in early episodes.
girlfriendpleaser on
To be black and exist especially in the united states, means your existence is political
RedIsNotMyFaveColor on
Twisted Metal
DJ_Derack on
Black Panther isn’t a top 10 MCU movie. It’s the most culturally significant superhero movie and blockbuster of all time or at the very least of this generation, but in terms of quality it’s overrated and I will die on that hill.
GuiltyGuessing on
Really really liked Wonder Man and this was one of the reasons. You could have superimposed the character as being any race and it would have worked.
JoiningSaturn46 on
I can understand why writers do it but having minority characters have to constantly justify and fight to exist rather then simply be sucks.
It’s why a lot of Sam as cap doesn’t work.
writingwithwings on
Forever mad Grand Crew got canceled
holy_cal on
Even family matters had important messages.
I just miss the representation that was out there, sure the cast on some of the best shows out there is fairly diverse but was the last really good show that was an all black cast? Blackish? And I honestly never watched it.
ooboh on
*Fresh Prince* is one of the only sitcoms, Black or not, that I actually like to watch for this exact reason. It had its heavy moments but it was wonderfully silly (like the odd fourth wall break).
Ok_Translator4447 on
Fresh Prince was one of those shows that made you pay attention to family dynamic. How siblings get along and how a father is supposed to be (Uncle Phil, not Lu). But also every episode has a teachable moment outside of the humor.
Adventurous_Stick198 on
Superhero movies should be culturally relevant. Just so happens we’re able to tell a shred of our stories in the mainstream relatively recently.
Biore27 on
Black Panther was more badass in Civil War.
My expectations were too high for his stand alone movie. I was disappointed.
RMidnight on
Sounds like someone’s asking us to center Black shows for the white gaze.
chamberx2 on
We still have wacky adventures. Some of them happen to be animated. Like Craig of the Creek.
PK-Mal on
Give Craig of the Creek a try if any of you guys are curious . Its just kid a happy go lucky black kid going on adventures.
My wife reads a lot of fantasy novels and she makes it a point to support black authors and black protagonists. And she only really reads female authors and female protagonists. Point is, she is very tired of every black woman protagonist in a fantasy world being 0% humor, 100% salty. Like there’s totally a place for that. But do they need to be angry at the world every single time??
affectionateanarchy8 on
South Side on HBO was full of Black people shenanigans plus it was easily the funniest Black comedy Ive ever watched in my life
Ancient_Audience_467 on
There are two races, White and Political.
jethawkings on
My nerd ass thought you meant like the actual Black Panther comics and I was thinking about that Jack Kirby run where he travels with a dwarf and time travels via bejeweled frog.
Supreme_Salt_Lord on
Craig of the creek hello? I know a kids show but still good af and just wacky adventures.
Zibai1505 on
Abbott Elementary is good. Feels nostalgic somehow
Zygoatee on
So we don’t think a fish out of water show about going from the lower class to the upper class isn’t inherently political?
This is that dumb new stuff where people white wash the past to say movies and shows weren’t political in the past, then pick overt examples from shows today about issues they don’t want to hear about and say “thats what being political means”
This is the same simple thought as right wingers thinking Star Wars and Star Trek didn’t used to be political
Training_Reaction_58 on
The Black Panther fandom is sick of the “what if what if what iffffff T’Challa loses everything and his elite forces are somehow at the root of that loss because they echo the people who think T’Challa is a horrible king” storylines. It has happened three separate times now and every single time they walk it back. Yes T’Challa is black and a king in a world that fears him and he needs to think about every move he makes, but, he is a six foot tall super powered martial artist wearing a cat suit and can talk to spirits. Give him some JJBA.
RedIsNotMyFaveColor on
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur too.
mlkntea on
it’d be nice to see a better range of personality and roles for black people too. we can be more than just the aggresively sassy best friend.
shadowylurking on
Its not that Fresh Prince was perfect but that it was approachable by everyone, had layers, and was flexible enough to have many types of stories. Honestly it was crazy high quality writing and talent-wise. Hard to emulate or make more of something like that
SkiPolarBear22 on
Visiting white dude. Genuine question – can you separate the black experience from politics? Governmental and/or social. Or does that remain the goal?
To my understanding, there’s so much that goes into a white supremacy society like the US has, that simply existing in black-minority situations requires balancing politics with self. But given the post, I’d love some different perspective
ATXgaymer02 on
Not black (so maybe the litmus test is quite different), but would Abbot Elementary not be a good example of a show that isn’t specifically about black hardships?
Now, obviously a public school that serves a majority black population def has some serious moments, but I always considered this to be a light-hearted sort of “romp” and has a variety of Black professionals with fun/funny quirks.
I know that the lack of examples def proves the point, but they are existing and seem to be doing well when they get off the ground.
drebenzi on
Unfortunately, being Black is inherently political. There is no space in Western society in which Blackness isn’t a relative context.
Informal-Bother8858 on
black panther exists and is designed the way he is for political reasons
Deathstroke317 on
There was a tweet years ago that said something to the effect of: “why does everything have to be slavery, why can’t a nigga just fight dragons?” And it’s lived rent free in my head ever since.
I can’t begin to tell you how often I think about that since it’s so true. 95% of black media in the United States is focused on” Black Pain”: Like all movies have some combination of slavery, Jim Crow, hood dramas or sports. I then realized that those movies aren’t for black people, they’re for white people to make themselves feel better. They’re not interested in seeing black people have fun or doing heroic things.
And anytime there’s a actual movie made for black people with no Black Pain, guess what? Generally speaking it’s highly successful. So I say all that to say: Make more black sci-fi, more black fantasy, more black whodunits, more black everything. No more Black Pain movies.
OldVagrantGypsy on
Living Single! I was very young when I watched it though, but it was so good. I’ll never forget that theme song
weezyverse on
Who gives a fuck what the premise is…black folks should have the same crack at getting sitcom and tv drama deals as everyone else. No stipulations.
Evolutioncocktail on
The Good Place does a great job of acknowledging their POC characters’ identities (specific to this conversation, Chidi, but there’s many many others as well) to the point that their identities even affect the plot, without stereotyping anyone.
AdMountain6124 on
why no one ever saying to bring back In Living Color?
Snoo_72851 on
I think it’s weird that every time you get a moderately old black character in an American show or movie set in the modern day they always reveal they were in all the protests and in all the speeches and in that bus and they all kissed MLK in the lips with a little bit of tongue.
It’s meant to be empowering, and when done well (like with Robert in the Boondocks) it can give the character a comedic, Forrest Gump-like quality (only in favor of the Panthers instead of against, _Tom),_ but when it happens every single time it almost creates this idea that you had to be in the trenches back in the day or else you’re not a real one.
If you are a victim, you might not get to choose to be a hero, or even what kind of hero you are. The guys who played cowering simple-minded black underlings to racist heroes in movies from the 50s had families to feed.
ArizonaRon98 on
I liked little black kids getting to see a black super hero.
reParaoh on
Need a series where Jayden Smith gets sent back to the ghetto.
39 Comments
Fresh prince itself was super political though, and it had episodes like the one where Will and Carlton got arrested for driving a car that was “too nice.” And Will talked about Malcom X a lot and had a poster of him in his room in early episodes.
To be black and exist especially in the united states, means your existence is political
Twisted Metal
Black Panther isn’t a top 10 MCU movie. It’s the most culturally significant superhero movie and blockbuster of all time or at the very least of this generation, but in terms of quality it’s overrated and I will die on that hill.
Really really liked Wonder Man and this was one of the reasons. You could have superimposed the character as being any race and it would have worked.
I can understand why writers do it but having minority characters have to constantly justify and fight to exist rather then simply be sucks.
It’s why a lot of Sam as cap doesn’t work.
Forever mad Grand Crew got canceled
Even family matters had important messages.
I just miss the representation that was out there, sure the cast on some of the best shows out there is fairly diverse but was the last really good show that was an all black cast? Blackish? And I honestly never watched it.
*Fresh Prince* is one of the only sitcoms, Black or not, that I actually like to watch for this exact reason. It had its heavy moments but it was wonderfully silly (like the odd fourth wall break).
Fresh Prince was one of those shows that made you pay attention to family dynamic. How siblings get along and how a father is supposed to be (Uncle Phil, not Lu). But also every episode has a teachable moment outside of the humor.
Superhero movies should be culturally relevant. Just so happens we’re able to tell a shred of our stories in the mainstream relatively recently.
Black Panther was more badass in Civil War.
My expectations were too high for his stand alone movie. I was disappointed.
Sounds like someone’s asking us to center Black shows for the white gaze.
We still have wacky adventures. Some of them happen to be animated. Like Craig of the Creek.
Give Craig of the Creek a try if any of you guys are curious . Its just kid a happy go lucky black kid going on adventures.
https://preview.redd.it/n0y70ep0lsqg1.jpeg?width=864&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90e06c258bd3805ac953d109a3fa38badc39fff5
So Tyler Perry ?
My wife reads a lot of fantasy novels and she makes it a point to support black authors and black protagonists. And she only really reads female authors and female protagonists. Point is, she is very tired of every black woman protagonist in a fantasy world being 0% humor, 100% salty. Like there’s totally a place for that. But do they need to be angry at the world every single time??
South Side on HBO was full of Black people shenanigans plus it was easily the funniest Black comedy Ive ever watched in my life
There are two races, White and Political.
My nerd ass thought you meant like the actual Black Panther comics and I was thinking about that Jack Kirby run where he travels with a dwarf and time travels via bejeweled frog.
Craig of the creek hello? I know a kids show but still good af and just wacky adventures.
Abbott Elementary is good. Feels nostalgic somehow
So we don’t think a fish out of water show about going from the lower class to the upper class isn’t inherently political?
This is that dumb new stuff where people white wash the past to say movies and shows weren’t political in the past, then pick overt examples from shows today about issues they don’t want to hear about and say “thats what being political means”
This is the same simple thought as right wingers thinking Star Wars and Star Trek didn’t used to be political
The Black Panther fandom is sick of the “what if what if what iffffff T’Challa loses everything and his elite forces are somehow at the root of that loss because they echo the people who think T’Challa is a horrible king” storylines. It has happened three separate times now and every single time they walk it back. Yes T’Challa is black and a king in a world that fears him and he needs to think about every move he makes, but, he is a six foot tall super powered martial artist wearing a cat suit and can talk to spirits. Give him some JJBA.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur too.
it’d be nice to see a better range of personality and roles for black people too. we can be more than just the aggresively sassy best friend.
Its not that Fresh Prince was perfect but that it was approachable by everyone, had layers, and was flexible enough to have many types of stories. Honestly it was crazy high quality writing and talent-wise. Hard to emulate or make more of something like that
Visiting white dude. Genuine question – can you separate the black experience from politics? Governmental and/or social. Or does that remain the goal?
To my understanding, there’s so much that goes into a white supremacy society like the US has, that simply existing in black-minority situations requires balancing politics with self. But given the post, I’d love some different perspective
Not black (so maybe the litmus test is quite different), but would Abbot Elementary not be a good example of a show that isn’t specifically about black hardships?
Now, obviously a public school that serves a majority black population def has some serious moments, but I always considered this to be a light-hearted sort of “romp” and has a variety of Black professionals with fun/funny quirks.
I know that the lack of examples def proves the point, but they are existing and seem to be doing well when they get off the ground.
Unfortunately, being Black is inherently political. There is no space in Western society in which Blackness isn’t a relative context.
black panther exists and is designed the way he is for political reasons
There was a tweet years ago that said something to the effect of: “why does everything have to be slavery, why can’t a nigga just fight dragons?” And it’s lived rent free in my head ever since.
I can’t begin to tell you how often I think about that since it’s so true. 95% of black media in the United States is focused on” Black Pain”: Like all movies have some combination of slavery, Jim Crow, hood dramas or sports. I then realized that those movies aren’t for black people, they’re for white people to make themselves feel better. They’re not interested in seeing black people have fun or doing heroic things.
And anytime there’s a actual movie made for black people with no Black Pain, guess what? Generally speaking it’s highly successful. So I say all that to say: Make more black sci-fi, more black fantasy, more black whodunits, more black everything. No more Black Pain movies.
Living Single! I was very young when I watched it though, but it was so good. I’ll never forget that theme song
Who gives a fuck what the premise is…black folks should have the same crack at getting sitcom and tv drama deals as everyone else. No stipulations.
The Good Place does a great job of acknowledging their POC characters’ identities (specific to this conversation, Chidi, but there’s many many others as well) to the point that their identities even affect the plot, without stereotyping anyone.
why no one ever saying to bring back In Living Color?
I think it’s weird that every time you get a moderately old black character in an American show or movie set in the modern day they always reveal they were in all the protests and in all the speeches and in that bus and they all kissed MLK in the lips with a little bit of tongue.
It’s meant to be empowering, and when done well (like with Robert in the Boondocks) it can give the character a comedic, Forrest Gump-like quality (only in favor of the Panthers instead of against, _Tom),_ but when it happens every single time it almost creates this idea that you had to be in the trenches back in the day or else you’re not a real one.
If you are a victim, you might not get to choose to be a hero, or even what kind of hero you are. The guys who played cowering simple-minded black underlings to racist heroes in movies from the 50s had families to feed.
I liked little black kids getting to see a black super hero.
Need a series where Jayden Smith gets sent back to the ghetto.