Last night I set my DVR for the Boondocks at 11:30pm like I usually do every Sunday. I got off work at 9pm then went home to finally relax, study a bit, and watch the Boondocks. For the last three weeks Aaron McGruder has not disappointed covering such issues as Obama's media hype, the reality of rapper's lives, the Chinese stealing the Olympics, and now self-hate and racism to the fullest extent.
As I began watching Season 3 Episode 4 I told myself I would try to count how many times the word "nigger" was used. I think I lost count at about twenty something. The episode follows one of the Boondock's supporting characters of the series, Uncle Ruckus (no relation). Uncle Ruckus is a self-hating black man who claims to have been born with a severe case of "Re-Vitiligo" which he explains as "the opposite of what Michael Jackson got. Every year my skin just get mo' blacker and mo' darker." Ruckus's favorite pastimes include yelling obscenities at black people, throwing bricks at black leaders, and of course listening to racist country music, which is the subject of the most recent episode. For those of you who haven't watched it yet, I won't give too much away...
About two minutes into the show my twitter timeline began to fill up with comments pertaining to the episode and viewers were tweeting fairly fast if you ask me. The tweets ranged from people who thought the show was hilarious to people who were offended to people who had mixed feelings and didn't know if laughing was appropriate or not. In any case, the episode featured a story line that constantly insulted African-Americans as usual in an entertaining satirical fashion. As I watched and laughed at the episode I began to think about all the twitter responses that were bashing McGruder and proclaiming how uncouth the show was. It seems as if some of the viewers are misinterpreting the hidden message or merely focusing on the language and offensive lines such as "I love you like niggers love welfare", "I love you like black girls love to wear fake hair", and my absolute favorite "Any way you figure, the president's a nigger to me."
I believe that art is designed to be interpreted by the viewer. The artist may impose his thoughts or beliefs to be reflected in his works but the ultimate perception of his art must be held to a relative reflection on the piece to be determined intrinsically by the viewer. The question that remains when the credits roll and the commercials start is that Are we taking what is being displayed and merely laughing at it? or Are we using this information to alter perceptions, challenge the norm, and strive for a higher degree of excellence?
That... is up for you to decide...
Check out the episode if you haven't already
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qieV8vpkxpQ
The president IS a nigger.
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