African American Audiences Deserve Better

This weekend the first buffoon comedy of the New Year debuts at a theatre near you. Perhaps First Sunday isn’t as idiotic and threadbare as the trailers make it look, although the early interviews I’ve read with Tracy Morgan don’t leave me much hope for the subject. While everyone has the right to earn a living and I’m sure there are plenty of fans out there who’ll be attending this one, it saddens (but doesn’t amaze) me that in 2008 the easiest way for any artistic property involving Black people to get made either in films or television continues to be accent the mugging, physical comedy, vulgarity and idiocy.

Frankly, until and unless enough people go out and support those things that don’t play to that type of audience there won’t be much, if any change. Without wanting to get into a lecturing mode, two of the finest films that I’ve seen in recent years (Akeelah and the Bee, The Great Debaters) haven’t exactly been huge box-office sellers. We can go up and down the line for hours about outstanding films that didn’t do much box office, but the sad fact is that buffoonery made money in 1958 and it’s still making it in 2008 (will probably be doing so in 3008).

My fondest wish would be for some genuine variety to emerge within Black cultural circles. Contrary to what some would like to believe, no one is asking that the only things out there for Black audiences be documentaries and period piece material. Some intelligent comedy would be welcome, as well as entertaining mystery, great science-fiction, a good piece with a sports or music theme, in general a series of shows and/or films that truly reflected the diversity of the Black experience on every level. There are Black folks who ride motorcycles, swim, ski, fly airplanes, attend classical concerts, hunt and fish, ice skate, etc. Why that can’t be reflected on film and television on a regular basis astounds me, but then it also baffles me that there can’t be dramas with Black leads.

You would think this type of dialog wouldn’t be necessary anymore, but if you look at the images and the numbers things seem to be going steadily backward. The fact that Kelsey Grammar of all people would be expressing amazement and indignation about the lack of Black faces on television speaks volumes about the problem. I’m not going to blame the audience for this because in many instances people will support almost anything when they don’t get much offered as an alternative.

I won’t be going to First Sunday, but even if it bombs that won’t really address the problem. Right now one thing all of us who care about integrity and quality in programming can do is insist that cable systems around the nation as well as both Direct TV and Dish Network satellite systems pick up TV One, The Africa Channel and the various BET music channels. These are outlets offering viewers something else besides the same old stuff. When viewers have a chance to really see something different, some of them will be inspired and informed.

The Law According to Robert Johnson

Former BET and current Charlotte Bobcats owner Robert L. Johnson has long known that the best defense is a good offense. Anyone who observed him a few years ago here at the Gaylord Hotel during a Black Enterprise conference turning the tables on those who dared question BET’s programming content knows he clearly understands that idea. Johnson’s explanation was a simple declaration that “We’re not trying to be PBS or appeal to Ivy League intellectuals.” That reflects his complete understanding of how to exploit the constant fear some African-Americans have of being deemed not part of the so-called “masses.”

Nobody Wins With Isaiah Washington Gone

There are three big losers in the Grey’s Anatomy fiasco. The first is Isaiah Washington, whose constant appearances and interviews continually erode his credibility because each time something new and different seems to emerge. While he’s consistent with the insistence that he’s the victim of a double standard (a reasonably fair proposition given the long list of on the set misbehavior from all types of male and female actors over the decades) he keeps making changes to the story behind his dismissal. On Larry King Live there was suddenly the entrance of a lengthy tale involving Patrick Dempsey that talked about perennial tardiness, an incident of disrespect involving a Teamsters member during a trip, and Washington’s own perception that he’d failed as a leader. None of this surfaced in the extensive interview that Washington gave to Newsweek’s Alison Samuels featured in an exclusive online piece.