Last fall Fox launched a new black prime time drama called “Empire.” For those unfamiliar with the premise of the show, here is a brief synopsis.
“Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard), a former drug dealer now turned hip hop mogul and CEO of Empire Entertainment, learns he has ALS. His life begins to cave in around him after his past sins come back to haunt him following his diagnosis. Lucious, looking to groom one of his three sons (Andre Lyon (Trai Byers), Jamal Lyon (Jussie Smollett), and Hakeem Lyon (Bryshere Y. Gray) to take over the family business, pits them against each other.[8] Empire also stars Taraji P. Henson as Lucious’ ex-wife Cookie Lyon, the mother of his three sons who somehow is released from prison.”
The first season of “Empire” concluded this past spring, and the show was a critically acclaimed hit for Fox.
Many people say that the success of this show will open many doors for black actors in Hollywood, that the show is an overall good thing for black Americans.
In the CNN Video below, hosted by Don Lemon, the guests were Michelle Turner, CNN Contributor and host of the show “Entertainment Tonight”; Chris Witherspoon, a CNN Analyst and entertainment editor for “thegrio.com”; and finally, Dr. Boyce Watkins, founder of “Financial Junteenth” an organization which focuses on “black consciousness” perspectives.
During the interview Lemon plays a clip from the show “Empire”. The scene features Henson’s character “Cookie” getting into a “cat fight” with his current wife “Rhonda Lyon” played by Kaitlin Doubleday. The two characters display the type of behavior you would expect to see on a trashy YouTube ghetto fight video. After the clip was played, Lemon, Turner, and Witherspoon were quite amused and entertained by the “exciting drama” they just witnessed. Watkins, however, was visibly not amused at all.
During the interview Turner suggests that the show “mirrors society” and could open lots of new doors for black television productions. Lemon notices Watkins disapproval and asks him to weigh in, after pointing out that Watkins had called the show a “Ghettofied Hood Drama” and “Coonery.” also stating that he refused to support it.
Watkins for his part, made some very good arguments. He touched on how in Hollywood, black actors and actresses seem to only get cast in roles which feature negative black stereotypes. He points out that if “Empire” was a show which featured a different premise, such as a oil dynasty or news paper business, most of the main actors in that kind of show would probably be white. His suggestion being that black actors are typecast into roles that feed into general misconceptions held by many if not most people throughout our society.
Of course the panel unanimously disagreed with Watkins, Turner even taking umbrage to Watkins calling the show “Coonery” as she said she could identify with characters from the show which mirrored her own family in many ways. They saw no difference in the dysfunction featured in “Empire” as compared to a white drama like “Dallas.” or any daytime soap opera. In the end the entire Panel, including the host, teamed up to dismiss all of points made by Dr. Watkins. Now keep in mind that this was an all black panel.
I found the interview to be telling of the state we face in black America. So few black Americans identify themselves as being “conscious” when it comes to black history and current black issues. The attitudes held by Lemon, Turner, and Witherspoon represent the great majority of blacks in America when it comes to how they view different forms media featuring black people. They see entertainment where conscious black people see toxic messages.
Here is the CNN Interview:
I agree with Dr. Watkins. Shows like “Empire” represent the sames spirit of black inferiority and negative stereotypes that older more blatantly racist media often would portray. Here is a quote from one YouTube commentator that seems to sum things up perfectly.
“Dr. Boyce Watkins. You are not the only guy that feels the way you do. Empire is an outstanding production, made great artistically by the efforts and hard work by Lee Daniels and every other professional involved. I would say that Empire is artistically as well as ethnically comparable to “The Sopranos”, another outstanding show. But the difference is, that after the white people watch the show, they go back to their productive lives as business execs, lawyers, doctors, restaurant owners, glaziers, building contractors, etc, while our people, after watching it, go back to what? What do we go back to after watching it?
“If we go back to nothing after having watched it, THAT SHOW to some will seem conclusively as the way to go. We already have a disturbingly large number of our black youth who will say “I’m gonna be a rapper!” and aspire to be that. Meanwhile, the white people of this country have to be tickled to death to be assured that there is an entire nation of people within their own nation, that will pose absolutely no competition at all, in literally thousands of trades and businesses that they freely prosper from. None!!!
“I agree, Dr. Watkins. Empire is an amazingly elegant production. But at our present state, it is not very good for us. It’s candy when we as a people need broccoli and brussell (sic) sprouts. [We] gotta eat our peas before we get the candy, and we’re going to be stuck at the table. Stuck at the table, looking out of the window, watching the white kids playing and eating ice cream. The longer we sit there with our arms folded and bottom lip poked out, the worse those peas are going taste when we eventually do eat them. Just saying.”
That commentator’s statement illustrates the hidden divide within the black community today. It’s not even close to an even divide, and it has little to do with financial status or even education level. The cultural war that’s being fought within the black community is a war of assimilation and popularism versus cultural identity and black consciousness.
Many people would say that people like myself and Dr. Watkins look at trivial things like a TV show too deeply, that it’s just harmless “entertainment.” However, I would suggest you consider the world we live in; where most black communities, especially in America, have no control over any of their community’s resources or, at the end of the day, over their own cultural image in the media.
For example, very few if any business class white Americans with Italian heritage face discrimination today due to the “Mob” stereotype. Tough and Aggressive Italian American business men and women can be highly successful in America and abroad without being called a “gangster.” However professional black men and women are still be compared to “Ghetto People”, especially if they lose their cool. The unfairly broad comparison is always there for blacks regardless of education or income level, not falling into those comparisons can be a precarious tight rope act with tiny microagressions nudging you to fall. This is why it’s important for black Americans to take their image seriously and reject toxic messages no matter how pretty the packaging they are delivered in.
Thanks, again, for taking the time to read.
