#blackAF 1.05

yo, between you and me... this is because of slavery

Kenya sees a movie, by a Black director that he doesn't like. Joya and Drea went to see the movie with him. Joya loved it. Drea did not. They try to explain to Joya what was wrong with it but they don't get anywhere.

Kenya is supposed to do a panel after a screening of the movie a week later. He checks Rotten Tomatoes and the movie is blowing up. Everyone loves it. Kenya feels as though he can't come out as hating the movie. He feels pressured to say he likes it because the director is Black. He invites his extended family over to get their opinions. They all love it. He shows it to his writing staff, their opinions break down along racial lines. Mikala and Broadway like it. Leeza, Nelson, and Jerome have problems with it. 

He goes to see Tyler Perry and asks him for advice. He convenes a conference call of big name Black directors and producers (Tim Story, Issa Rae, Will Packer, Ava Duvernay, Lena Waithe) to discuss the situation. They aren't crazy about the movie either but in the end only Lena Waithe agrees to go to the panel with him and speak her mind.

Kenya and Lena do the panel with the director. Kenya asks the director about the end of the movie but that leads nowhere. Kenya finally comes out, in front of the audience and admits that he didn't like the movie. The crowd doesn't share his opinion and then Lena contradicts what she said on the conference call and says she liked the movie.

Drea is at the panel discussion. She is proud of her father.

Thoughts

There is also a plot thread in which Joya is concerned because she feels as if she hasn't taught her kids how to dance or raised them Black enough. This story didn't get anywhere near as much time as the one described above.

This was at 49 minutes a longer than usual episodes. All the other ones are 30 to 40 minutes. I think this one was as long as it needed to be. It didn't feel like there was any fat that needed to be trimmed.

I think I've been able to write about earlier episodes without mentioning race. There's no way I can do that here. This episode is about race and the way people treat other people on the basis of their race. Kenya doesn't want to get blamed for publicly saying he didn't like a movie by a Black director. He tries to find a way around all this but in the end he says what's on his mind.

The discussion that happens after Kenya screens the movie for his writing staff is both funny and uncomfortable. Neither side is specific about the movie. They don't do much when it comes to articulating what they did or did not like about it.

There were some laughs in here but there was also a lot to chew on.