For those who don’t know, I detest most forms of “Reality” TV. I used to be roped in by it for the shenanigans, but hit a breaking point once I saw what most of it really was. I’m old (young) enough to remember when the social experiment, The Real World debuted. It was different, it was unscripted, it was genius! To take people from different parts for the country and have them live somewhere outside their comfort zones with each other was addictive television. Of course there were fights, hook-ups, and typical human behavior – but although it was entertaining, it showed that people are simultaneously similar and contrasting. The Real World was the Rose Bowl of Reality TV.
From the perspective of a man of color, I believe Reality TV took a sharp left with the inception of Flavor of Love, which gave birth to hideous spinoffs I Love New York, Real Chance of Love, Rock of Love, and For the Love of Ray J (did I miss one?). Then there’s the Real Housewives series and the Love & Hip-Hop series. Talk about train wrecks! In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve seen exactly one episode of Flavor, snippets of New York, and a season each of Real Chance, Rock, and Ray J (don’t ask). I watched a few episodes of Love & Hip-hop, thinking there was going to be some relevance or some deep, introspective look at Hip-hop culture and juggling romance. Boy, was I sadly mistaken! I was waiting for it to get better, but hell had a better chance of freezing over.
If those shows weren’t already distasteful enough, here comes Scandal (this is where I’d expect many to stop reading). I watched the first two seasons, before I had a wake-up call. What was I co-signing, by tuning in every Thursday? It took missing a few episodes, then attempting to catch up to realize why the show began to really rub me the wrong way. ***Disclaimer*** Some of the language used going forward in this post may be a bit colorful and controversial – and I’m okay with that. Basically, Scandal boiled down to the main character, who’s widely celebrated and adored, is nothing more than a well-dressed whore to the white man. I don’t know what’s more appalling: The fact that such a show exists, or the fact that many women who look like the main character, aspire to be just like the main character. There is something seriously wrong with that. I know some real-life women who aspire for that to be their type of life – do the master’s dirty work, have his wife’s sloppy seconds, while chasing a dream that master is really going to leave the madam and run away from you, while alienating the friendships and alliances he’s built over the years. To quote one of my Bible Study students: Man, bye. I have since been delivert from the oppressive shackles of that show.
I’ve done all this huffing and puffing to come to this: Last night Sorority Girls premiered and although I didn’t watch it, the tweets and posts that overwhelmed my timeline and newsfeed told me all I need to know. I saw one of the trailers for the show and although I’m not a Greek, that was some of the most awkward, tasteless, vile, and repulsive advertisement I’ve seen recently. Since when did it become okay for educated, civilized, black folks to act like they have no home training, self-worth, or idea of the perception they’re casting? When, Sway??? I’m all for the boycott of the show, for what it’s worth, but we need to boycott those who intentionally seek ways to shame us publicly, as a collective. My mom used to tell me, when I was younger, “Don’t be embarrassing me in front of company.” The same should hold true when you’re in a position to show the inside of public lives. I was taught to always put my best foot forward and not to willingly give outsiders fodder to use as ammunition against me later in life.
Shonda Rhimes and Mona Scott, although rolling in dough, are doing it at the expense of their own people – and their laughing all the way to the bank. Why can’t people use their talents (and these ladies are talented) to uplift and unite people instead of exploit? This is a furtherance of the imbedded slave mentality – acting like “house niggas” and “trustees,” if you will (and Viacom is “master”). Then we have a society of sheep that follow and eat whatever is presented.
I truly love my people and want to see us, and society as a whole do better, but this has to stop.
-MB
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