Tag Archives: hbo

Black People, television

There’s No Universal Way To Be Black

HBO 'Insecure' Panel at the TCA Summer Press Tour, Day 3, Los Angeles, USA - 30 Jul 2016
Mandatory Credit: Photo by Rob Latour/Variety/REX/Shutterstock (5810011a) Issa Rae HBO ‘Insecure’ Panel at the TCA Summer Press Tour, Day 3, Los Angeles, USA – 30 Jul 2016

 

My favorite mantra is “black people are not a monolith”, so I am happy to see Issa Rae address that in her TCA panel about her new HBO show, “Insecure”.

There is a “notion that there’s a universal way to be black,” Rae said at today’s TCAshow panel. “It’s been portrayed throughout media and has been accepted by mainstream media, [but] what does that mean if you’re not ‘black enough?’ Does that mean that I don’t fit into this box? I always find the humor in that because you can’t escape being black – it’s who you are.”

television

Backlash To ‘Girls’ Backlash

I have had it up to here (Imagine me at the 5ft marker of a pool) of the articles and blog posts about new HBO show, ‘Girls‘. Across the internet, the creative class is up in arms. I suspect that someone has a Lena Dunham voodoo doll and is poking her via the other hole. Their complaints are many but mostly trite. It doesn’t represent the diversity of New York. The characters are trust funders. It is a not a realistic portrait of young women.

Whatever! How can anyone hitch their hopes and dreams to one show? The cast of the ‘Girls’ reminds me of the band members of The Strokes. They are the scion of rich creatives.

Why the haterade? Is it because Lena is only 25? Is the outrage derivative of the Occupy Wall Street movement? Do people hate rich people so much? I am not implying that Dunham is a one percenter, but there is more class tension today then there was during The Gilded Age, but back then there was no blogs, twitter and other ephemera. Does nepotism still bother people? No one gets success by doing it alone and if you have family that can help, then so be it. Americans are not pioneers and this is not the wild west. Bootstrapping is some antiquated idea that I doubt even Clarence Thomas believes anymore.

I am not defending the show, mainly because it so ridiculously mediocre and none of the girls are likeable except for the Asian girl who drinks Vitamin Water and knows Photoshop. She would totally be my friend.

 

television

Angel

Last night my friend invited me to a free screening of “Iron Jawed Angels”, a HBO film. This screening was for the New York Women in Film and Television.

Now that I don’t have cable or even a TV, this was a treat to see! The film is about Alice Paul, a suffragist who fearlessly paved the way for the 19th amendment that granted women the right to vote.

Before the screening, there was a reception where I drank half a glass of red wine and planned to do some schmoozing with women in film. Ironically, the only person I chatted with was an older man who asked me what’s the best way to spread hummus on a pita without using fingers or cutlery. I suggested using another pita slice to do the spreading!