Hey there fellow bloggers and readers :)
So today I wanted to talk about everyone's newest favorite obsession for prime time television. A show that has garnered great reviews and ratings for it's first season and consists of a great cast with Taraji P. Henson and Terrance Howard. I want to talk about Empire.
Now I personally don't watch Empire but I will have to say that for a show to get so many views in its first season is pretty outstanding. Especially for a majority all black cast. That doesn't happen too often on prime time nowadays. Also the gifs that come out of it and hearing about Taraji's character, Cookie make me giggle as I see my timeline on twitter roar with excitement while raving about the show and it's dramatics. I also appreciate the fact that there is a gay story line to the show between two of the main characters. That is also very rare for a prime time show nowadays. But it wasn't until I had another talk with my friend @DCHomos on twitter that something was brought to my attention. Empire is right now statistically the number one show viewed by the Black population. But with having a gay story line and knowing the notorious struggle for acceptance from the black community in LGBT rights why is that? Why can a show like Empire gain so many ratings from members of the black community with a gay story line but can't seem to rally behind people in the LGBT community. I have my opinion on it so lets start discussing.
In the midst of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and Black History Month, black awareness has been stronger than ever. I've seen the black community come together for the most part in really making a stand to many issues of discrimination and injustice. However, with every group comes the lack of inclusion of others that share different view points and live differently than others. Some of the people who say #BlackLivesMatter on their twitter handle can be the same people that are denying rights to our LGBT members at the same damn time. Some of them are even killing LGBT members with their hatred which for a fellow LGBT Member who happens to be black is frustrating and scary. Sometimes I wonder why our community, who has enough hurdles to jump through as is likes to set up more hurdles for our own members just because we are different. The internalized homophobia can bring discord and ultimately shift the way we come together when it comes to ending the discrimination of our brothers and sisters. But alas I still hear the words such as "faggot" more from my brothers and sisters than any other group out there. Now don't get me wrong there many people in the black community that support gay rights. But there are a whole lot of people in the black community that don't. So why are shows like Empire, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder who all have a gay story line the top three most watched shows for the Black Community? I have two opinions.
My first opinion is that we know these shows aren't reality. You're probably thinking to yourselves, "Way to state the obvious Kareem." But think about it. When we watch these shows it gives us sense of a high and enough drama to watch without having to deal with it in our personal lives. The gay characters that are in the show maybe just like any other person in the LGBT community however, for us we don't have to interact with them or have to worry about them sharing their opinions and what not because the characters on the show aren't real. In return this gives us a sense of comfort knowing that we can watch this show and know that the world they live in is nothing like the world that we live in even though they are based off of parallel events and such. My second opinion is that all these shows have a black protagonist or antagonist as the main character. The fact that shows like Scandal, Empire, and How to Get Away With Murder are met with leads of color make it hard for the black community not to watch. Especially in a time where black excellence and raising awareness of black excellence is at its all time high. That generally may mean that they will compromise their views to help promote that black excellence and in return make these shows number one.
We may never know why there is internal hypocrisy with this subject but all we can do is continue to spread light on this subject and promote love and equality. Remember we are just shy of 50 years Brown V. Board of Education and we only got a lick of what people may call "equal". So why would you try to diminish the rights of someone who is fighting for equal rights with you? Think about it the next time you try and deny someone rights.
Until Next Time,
Peace. Love. Gratitude :)
So today I wanted to talk about everyone's newest favorite obsession for prime time television. A show that has garnered great reviews and ratings for it's first season and consists of a great cast with Taraji P. Henson and Terrance Howard. I want to talk about Empire.
Now I personally don't watch Empire but I will have to say that for a show to get so many views in its first season is pretty outstanding. Especially for a majority all black cast. That doesn't happen too often on prime time nowadays. Also the gifs that come out of it and hearing about Taraji's character, Cookie make me giggle as I see my timeline on twitter roar with excitement while raving about the show and it's dramatics. I also appreciate the fact that there is a gay story line to the show between two of the main characters. That is also very rare for a prime time show nowadays. But it wasn't until I had another talk with my friend @DCHomos on twitter that something was brought to my attention. Empire is right now statistically the number one show viewed by the Black population. But with having a gay story line and knowing the notorious struggle for acceptance from the black community in LGBT rights why is that? Why can a show like Empire gain so many ratings from members of the black community with a gay story line but can't seem to rally behind people in the LGBT community. I have my opinion on it so lets start discussing.
In the midst of the #BlackLivesMatter movement and Black History Month, black awareness has been stronger than ever. I've seen the black community come together for the most part in really making a stand to many issues of discrimination and injustice. However, with every group comes the lack of inclusion of others that share different view points and live differently than others. Some of the people who say #BlackLivesMatter on their twitter handle can be the same people that are denying rights to our LGBT members at the same damn time. Some of them are even killing LGBT members with their hatred which for a fellow LGBT Member who happens to be black is frustrating and scary. Sometimes I wonder why our community, who has enough hurdles to jump through as is likes to set up more hurdles for our own members just because we are different. The internalized homophobia can bring discord and ultimately shift the way we come together when it comes to ending the discrimination of our brothers and sisters. But alas I still hear the words such as "faggot" more from my brothers and sisters than any other group out there. Now don't get me wrong there many people in the black community that support gay rights. But there are a whole lot of people in the black community that don't. So why are shows like Empire, Scandal, and How to Get Away With Murder who all have a gay story line the top three most watched shows for the Black Community? I have two opinions.
My first opinion is that we know these shows aren't reality. You're probably thinking to yourselves, "Way to state the obvious Kareem." But think about it. When we watch these shows it gives us sense of a high and enough drama to watch without having to deal with it in our personal lives. The gay characters that are in the show maybe just like any other person in the LGBT community however, for us we don't have to interact with them or have to worry about them sharing their opinions and what not because the characters on the show aren't real. In return this gives us a sense of comfort knowing that we can watch this show and know that the world they live in is nothing like the world that we live in even though they are based off of parallel events and such. My second opinion is that all these shows have a black protagonist or antagonist as the main character. The fact that shows like Scandal, Empire, and How to Get Away With Murder are met with leads of color make it hard for the black community not to watch. Especially in a time where black excellence and raising awareness of black excellence is at its all time high. That generally may mean that they will compromise their views to help promote that black excellence and in return make these shows number one.
We may never know why there is internal hypocrisy with this subject but all we can do is continue to spread light on this subject and promote love and equality. Remember we are just shy of 50 years Brown V. Board of Education and we only got a lick of what people may call "equal". So why would you try to diminish the rights of someone who is fighting for equal rights with you? Think about it the next time you try and deny someone rights.
Until Next Time,
Peace. Love. Gratitude :)