Poll: Is it weird for a white guy to love shows like The Boondocks and Black Dynamite?

[Davroth]

Okay, so something I have been thinking about for a while now.

I can't help but really love those two shows, and part of me feels sort of guilty about it. As a bit of background, I'm German, I grew up in Germany and my touching points with African American culture have been slim at best. It basically boils down to a few Eddie Murphy movies and The Cosby Show.

That said, those two shows really captured my imagination for some reason. I'm not saying that they are a realistic portrayal of African American culture, but then again, they are both written (or created) by African American writers, so I think it's reasonable to assume that it's sort of told through their respective creators' lenses. That I find quite fascinating, and in a way enlightening, and surprisingly rare to find still to this day. But on the other hand I can't help but feel like those shows probably weren't made for me, and I wonder if the creators would object to me, a German guy who is about as white as white can be, enjoying their creation.

What do you guys think?

Also, if this is the wrong board for this discussion, I apologize profusely. I don't make a lot of threads on here.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

No, I think it's fine. I've never seen Black Dynamite, but I did watch The Boondocks on occasion. One of my favorite episodes was the one where Martin Luther King Jr. doesn't die, but slips into a coma and then wakes back up. I found that a very powerful episode, especially his speech at the end, and I'm white.

Liking something, or loving something, that is made by a different ethnic group than yours is not uncommon. I mean, what about all of us who enjoy ourselves a good JRPG, or a manga? And Bill Cosby is hilarious no matter what your skin color is.

I do however think that you might run into people who will be upset that you enjoy those shows as much as you do, whether they're black or white. Just be prepared to deal with them.

 

[Davroth]

No, I think it's fine. I've never seen Black Dynamite, but I did watch The Boondocks on occasion. One of my favorite episodes was the one where Martin Luther King Jr. doesn't die, but slips into a coma and then wakes back up. I found that a very powerful episode, especially his speech at the end, and I'm white.

Liking something, or loving something, that is made by a different ethnic group than yours is not uncommon. I mean, what about all of us who enjoy ourselves a good JRPG, or a manga? And Bill Cosby is hilarious no matter what your skin color is.

I do however think that you might run into people who will be upset that you enjoy those shows as much as you do, whether they're black or white. Just be prepared to deal with them.

Huh weird. I never thought of Anime or Japanese games that way. That is a pretty good point to make though. I guess the rareness of tv shows with an African American creator and voice cast is what sets it apart in my mind.

White gal here, absolutely love Boondocks. Would love to get the whole series on a DVD set someday. One of my favourite shows, there's a reason it has an 8.4 on IMDb. One episode of that manages to be more truthful and explicit than hours of reading literature regarding things like class and race relation, and while managing to be quite funny. The writer for the first three seasons apparently is behind Black Jesus, and MovieBob liked that, so you probably should go check that out.

As for Black Dynamite, I haven't seen it, but YourMovieSucks absolutely loves it, and thats enough to make me eventually check it out.

It's nice to know I'm not alone in this. XD

That said, Black Dynamite is a different beast then The Boondocks, should you check it out. You should be aware that it is a TV show based on a movie that was a parody of so called Blackxploitation movies, typically grind house movies that used the inclusion of African American actors as shock value at the time (though the tv show embraces the clichee in a rather... unique sort of way, let's keep it at that).

 

[Skatologist]

Nope, coming from a mixed guy with a lot of black relatives, not at all, and I don't even particularly care for either of the shows too much myself to be honest. Sure, there are tons of things to be enjoyed for both and I understand the fandom and everything, but it isn't exactly for me I guess. Haven't watched too much Black Dynamite, but I did enjoy Boondocks for quite a while. I think my favorite episode may have been either the lemonade or Christmas one.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem I have is Uncle Ruckus, for many reasons. I'm not a fan of the obvious bigot who just spouts hate for the sake of spouting hate so we can hate them[footnote] Unfortunately in the case of Ruckus, I've seen a lot of people love him ironically and unironically though. I seriously don't know why though. Is it that they feel the other characters are too smart or boring for them? [/footnote]. Do these kinds of people exist? Sure, but I much prefer examining acts of subtle -isms when they occur and maybe sort of humanize the bigots a bit. Also my brother constantly talks like him saying "I hate niggers! White power!" just for the sake of being annoying and only funny to himself. For everything else, I simply love the social commentary and animation and action and characters and everything from the show, but Ruckus just grates on me. I guess I kind of also dislike him because I also tend to have a great disdain for the Uncle Tom character type when it goes that far and he definitely goes too far.

 

[Foolery]

I'm a white Canadian with Scottish roots (I do have some Metis in my bloodline, but that's as ethnically diverse as it gets) and I love the Boondocks. I'm also secretly into old school Gangsta rap. I see no problem here.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I don't know what the viewer demographic for those shows is.

 

[Olas]

I didn't know they made a TV show spinoff of Black Dynamite. The movie is hilarious, even for someone like me who's neither African American, nor a fan of exploitation films.

What little I've seen of the Boondocks, I've liked. Unless you know absolutely nothing about African American history and culture, you should be able to enjoy it.

 

[L. Declis]

(No idea about Black Dynamite, but I know the Boondocks)

Well, no. It's a cleverly written psychosocial or satircal depending on it's mood love letter to the African American community written by one of it's own.

This whole "don't share media" thing is crap; like what you like regardless of the culture.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

Well, as far as the Boondocks go, while there is occasionally a lot of love for the culture and history, it's not like it is an exclusively black show. There's plenty to like as different races, and the show is very inclusive of many races and cultures, even if it does poke fun at them. Some of the stuff is just outright hilarious, and the animation detail superb. I've even read the comics, which carry much of the same material.
I'm sure it has a main audience or direction towards an African American community, but that should be irrelevant. Anyone who thinks otherwise is fucking stupid. No, I won't explain myself. I don't need to. There's no reason to make something exclusive to said audience because it seems to be made for said audience.
Besides, what artist or creator wouldn't want someone to enjoy their content? That's absurd. The only way I could possibly see them having a problem with it was if you started telling them what's what about black culture.

 

[TheArcaneThinker]

Wait , wait wait.. So.. you are saying that your skin colour somehow restricts or affects the choice of shows you watch ? I cant tell that if your joking or being serious.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

I'm sure Tumblr would say you're fetishising black people, or appropriating their culture, but no one likes Tumblr.

Can't speak for Black Dynamite, but Boondocks is HILARIOUS. It's on my backlog, but I've seen a few. It doesn't matter who made it, and I doubt the creators would be screaming about other skin colours enjoying their show. And even if they did, they could screw off.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Id find it weirder not to like boondocks and im whiter than sour cream.

 

[nightmare_gorilla]

Dude i LOVE black dynamite anyone who sees it and doesn't understand why i want micheal jai white to play luke cage is blind. i'm a white guy and i find i enjoy alot of "black" shows. granted i do have a black girlfriend but she didn't get me into this stuff i showed most of it to her. some might say i have a black fetish but i think they're just jealous because my gf is so hot!

 

[Rattja]

I don't quite understand how that could be in any way weird based on your skin.

Don't know much about Black Dynamite, but The Boondocks is one of my all time favorite shows. Even to this day I still almost fall out of my chair laughing whenever I watch it, and I am as white as they come.

As far as Boondocks goes, I think the humor is quite universal and it does not really matter who you are or what your backroud is. Things like pulling lines from Pulp Fiction, or having fun with religion is free game for anyone.
However if the "******" jokes is what you feel guilty about, don't. Those jokes are intended to be funny, you are supposed to laugh about how silly it is and how over the top it can be.
It's also done really really well, so don't feel bad if you lose your breath laughing when Uncle Ruckus tells you to not trust them niggers over there.

If anything, I'd say you are weird if you don't watch them.

 

[waj9876]

Is it weird for a black guy to watch a show primarily populated by white people?

No?

Then it's not weird.

 

[gargantual]

Great discussion. I won't lie, I remember the first sunday I saw boondocks appear in WaPo's commics section some 15 odd yrs ago. (I think). To say the least I was psyched.

But herein lies the problem with identity politics. Of course we want to be mindful if we're approving of ideas that may seem dangerous or widely dissaproved, but thats what education is for, and when it gets to the point that we're not supposed to enjoy other shows from diffrent racial perspective or creator's skews and comfort zones, simply because of the color of our skin, or what's between our legs are we TRULY learning about each other through media? We're only seeing what some viewers may be reticent about, but will be less treated to artists pouring their minds out to us.

Shows from white perspective, black perspective, Japanese perspective, male or female subjective worldview, even the rose-tinted vs raw depictions of history are all very telling to me as a viewer. Hence I don't mind catching a few westerns on boring saturday mornings every now and then. I know the history was way messier, racist and cholera ridden etc, but in direct and oppositional readings these stories are eye openers. Its more informative when people don't stop too far to cater to sensibilities, because the author is going to be unapologetic and honest.

 

[Verlander]

Those shows weren't specifically written for black people any more than Dallas or Baywatch were written for white people. Sure, they feature predominantly black folks, and deal with "black issues", and as such attract a larger audience in that demographic, but they're general entertainment first and foremost.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Wait , wait wait.. So.. you are saying that your skin colour somehow restricts or affects the choice of shows you watch ? I cant tell that if your joking or being serious.

Unfortunately, that is a thing. Lots of show are made starring generic cishet white males leads because anything else won't be "relatable" or soemthing, at least according to producer logic. Now, how many people follow this train of thinking is unclear, but there must be a fair few.

 

[Davroth]

Chances are I worry about nothing here, sure.

Wait , wait wait.. So.. you are saying that your skin colour somehow restricts or affects the choice of shows you watch ? I cant tell that if your joking or being serious.

Well I'm not joking.. XD

The point is that the whole topic of African American cultural identity is immensely loaded. And for lots of good reasons, too. And no, it doesn't affect what I watch. The question is if it's appropriate for white people to laugh about jokes about African American culture.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem I have is Uncle Ruckus, for many reasons. I'm not a fan of the obvious bigot who just spouts hate for the sake of spouting hate so we can hate them[footnote] Unfortunately in the case of Ruckus, I've seen a lot of people love him ironically and unironically though. I seriously don't know why though. Is it that they feel the other characters are too smart or boring for them? [/footnote]. Do these kinds of people exist? Sure, but I much prefer examining acts of subtle -isms when they occur and maybe sort of humanize the bigots a bit. Also my brother constantly talks like him saying "I hate niggers! White power!" just for the sake of being annoying and only funny to himself. For everything else, I simply love the social commentary and animation and action and characters and everything from the show, but Ruckus just grates on me. I guess I kind of also dislike him because I also tend to have a great disdain for the Uncle Tom character type when it goes that far and he definitely goes too far.

I suppose I can see that. It's rather hit or miss with him, I feel. For me, it always reminds me of Dave Chapelle's old sketch about the white supremacist who worked his whole life to further the cause, but who is also blind and doesn't know he's actually African American. Stretching a joke like that over 4 seasons might be stretching the joke a little thin though. Not to mention it's one of those things that clearly gets under white people's skin. Yeah, I will laugh about the joke on occasion, but I also think that this joke should not be entirely comfortable for everyone by its nature.