You'd think I'd be able to find this on streaming services. We have Atlanta and Insecure and Blackish now, but those are all tokens of their networks.
BET and other Afro-centric networks/streaming services cater to that need for black people to escape from the constant bombardment of white lives and white issues on television.
Why marginalize us to an ethnocentric echo chamber free from exchange of values, aspirations, and customs? Content creators can just keep hitting repeat on the same political, depressive drama from the 20th century (which we have not progressed from). What I dream is for popular TV shows to have a black lead, where not every character has to be black, nor words spoken in a "black" vernacular, nor a need for the show to be transmuted into a platform for social justice or black values. We need shows with black leads that rival enterprises like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Simpsons, etc. I want something that everyone can get behind and imagine themselves as being.
As an individual of African descent, I stand against the attitude of viewing the world through a bitter lens of color, where issues are "white" or "black". Their issues are our issues and vice versa. That is that. We all live in the same society, we are all entangled, exposed to the negatives and pressures of prevalent problems. There's no need for anymore juvenile "us vs them" dialogue in this society.
Its almost like the corporations that own those channels are trying to repeat their success except by targeting a niche group.
> What I dream is for popular TV shows to have a black lead, where not every character has to be black, nor words spoken in a "black" vernacular, nor a need for the show to be transmuted into a platform for social justice or black values.
Scandal.
> We need shows with black leads that rival enterprises like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Simpsons, etc. I want something that everyone can get behind and imagine themselves as being.
They tried with M.A.N.T.I.S, Spawn: The Animation, Blade: The Series, and Cleopatra 2525. They succeeded with Star Trek: Deep Space 9.
Not only that but the middle class has pretty much been hollowed out in Hollywood. Its hard to make a movie or television show unless its supposed to garner awards (for which message movies/shows are generally shoe ins) or is meant to appeal to the widest audience possible.
Sometimes small things. Bharlie Murphy's true Hollywood stories (particularly the episode about Rick James) might've resonated more with people who were his fans in the 80s or grew up with their parents playing his music on the radio.
Sometimes big things. Insecure has a recurring bharacter that ban't use the letter 'c' in a word because he's a member of the blood gang. If you grew up around gang members -- or wannabes -- you'll laugh at the pointed jab at their taboos.
Oftentimes its not about wanting to see your race, its about wanting to see your bulture.
I did not knew about c letter being taboo.
I can see how one would appreciate having these cultural bit in a show while different ethnicity won't get them at all.
I went to an HBCU and honestly the biggest cultural difference was accent and tolerance for the southern heat. Sure you got skaters who showed up in skinny jeans or gamers who came in with their arcade sticks, but nobody ever grouped off like --say-- minority students usually do at majority institutions. My two best friends were from Atlanta and St. Louis and we bonded through late night Street Fighter sessions and DBZ reruns.
Black people and people of color experience the world differently from white people. Sometimes it's nice to see those struggles shared on TV.
That's not to say I don't like watching Girls or Friends, but it's great to see people of color living their lives on TV too.
IMO Afrostream targeted the wrong audience. Now, one can argue that it would be a very hard sell $12 subscription to the audience that would have consumed it. That's just too much money for a lot of people.