Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Woke television

 I used to be bothered by the "woke" trend in the media, but now that I think about it, television might not have been so crappy for so long if we had more black people in the industry, back in the fifties onward.

I really wish I could have had a black tv show to watch instead of The Monkees, Gilligan's island, Dick Van Dyke and The Honeymooners. 

Although those shows have their moments, I've seen some of those episodes so many times that I want my time refunded, and a lot of them aren't even funny. The world would be better off without the existence of the "Hamlet the musical" episode of Gilligan, or that racist one about the Japanese sailor.

Understand me clearly: I don't want a black version of these "classic" shows. I want to have black people go back in time and come up with something that isn't crappy, to replace those shows. I would have loved to see a black science fiction program instead of enduring the Brady bunch.

For that matter, being more inclusive would have worked, too. 

Mayberry is a monochromatic world, in more ways than one. Putting African Americans in the story would have prevented it from being the most boring sitcom of all time.

  Again please note that I don't mean merely putting them in the cast. I'm sure there's at least one token already, and I'm sick of remakes. What I'd like to see is an honest picture of where black people belong in this wholesome Caucasian dominated universe. If Andy's such a good guy, we could see him maybe resolving a race conflict between the black character and the family of Ernest T Bass. The show was always a bit seriocomic anyway.

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