Lets Go On a Little Trip Right Here! (Part 2)

      I just finished reading the more of From African American Viewers by Means Colman and I must say that I am actually pretty disappointed. From the beginning to there to chapter four, I really enjoyed the way that Coleman wrote. I felt that they had a very firm grasp on the idea and history of the blacks in the black entertainment business. However, this section seemed to greatly lack. One of the main ways was that I felt that the chapter didn’t go into subjects as much as I felt was needed.
      The main focus of the chapter was television and the black culture. The chapter began with the accomplishment of the Cosby show. It mentioned how this show was able to make an upper middle class family of African Americans. It was oddly enough compared to Amos N Andy in term of success but that was about it. After this section of the chapter, I started to feel that it began to be very repetitive. The structure then became Coleman would mention a show, briefly explain it, and then say it was not as good as the Cosby show. For example, when the writers mention The Fresh Prince of Bell Air, they said that the say the character Carlton would scoot across the floor was similar to Black Minstrel shows. I disagree, I feel that it is just physical comedy and I would find it funny no matter the race. It was up lifting when they quoted Marlon Wayne when he said that it was acceptable for Jim Cary to do the same sort of physical comedy. This does bring up the point of where is physical humor can be funny and not offensive.

      A show that I am really wondering how the writers would view the television show is House of Pain. I honestly, don’t know how I feel about this show. It is about a family that lives and the father, son, and nephew are fire fighters. This show touches base on a lot of issues that family faces; for instance, the subject of divorce. Even though this show is often criticized, I do wonder if the writers would feel that this too is black because feed into stereotypes through dialogue and actions. For example, the father acts a lot like blackface actors because he make plays dumb and remarks every once in a while in not proper English.