Source: Netflix / Netflix
Late last year, we wrote about the new Kenya Barris project coming to Netflix. At the time, the show, starring Barris and Rashida Jones, was titled “Black Excellence.” When Netflix’s Strong Black Lead Twitter account shared the image, people noticed that the cast was primarily light complected. And given Barris’ other shows, including “black-ish” “grown-ish” and “mixed-ish,” people were starting to wonder if Barris had an issue with colorism.
That was a few months ago. And a lot has happened since then. But the show, now called “Black AF” has resurfaced as a form of conversation. Recently, Netflix shared the trailer for the series and after people watched it, they had quite a bit to say.
First, check out the trailer below.
It begins with Barris speaking to several Black creatives on video chat. He takes a couple of jabs at Will Packer’s Night School and Tim Story’s Ride Along 2. Then it launches into the trailer. The first person we see is a Brown skinned daughter explaining to the audience that she’s making a documentary about her family.
As we reported before, the show is about what it means to be a “’new money’ Black family trying to get it right in a modern world where ‘right’ is no longer a fixed concept.”
From the trailer, it seems like it’s giving us an “Office,” “Modern Family” type of vibe. Also, there are a couple of similarities between this new project and “black-ish.” The father is pro-Black, references slavery often, likes to stunt, has more than the standard 2.5 kids, and is married to a biracial woman.
It’s a little hackneyed. From the trailer though, it does seem like there was some effort put forth in presenting Black people of various hues. We’ll see. Personally, I’d be lying if I told you I’d pass up the opportunity to watch rich Black people check White folks on their privilege and racism. I’ll definitely be giving it a chance.
The show will premiere on Netflix April 17. Since there was already chatter about this project last year, people were ready to jump back in to discuss. The opinions were varied. See what folks had to say on the following pages.
The people who have seen early versions of the show are saying some pretty great things about it. How this person would have seen the show, we don’t know but this review is certainly encouraging. We’ll certainly take all of the funny we can get right now. We need it.
I guess, given the fact that so many people are out of work right now, with many of them being Black and brown folks, the idea of wealth and luxury being associated with Blackness might not be reflective of a lot of folks’ realities right now. It’s a valid argument. But shows are created years in advance. And personally, I can’t say I’d sign up to watch a Black family struggle financially. With this argument though, I wonder why they decided to change the title from #BlackExcellence to #BlackAF.
In addition to being compared to his own shows, people have likened the documentary style format to other popular programs including “Real Househusbands of Hollywood,” any reality show, “Parks and Rec,” and Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
https://twitter.com/_Demetrius/status/1243187159051505664
There were other people who took issue with the fact that the premise of the story is entirely too close to black-ish. There’s a Black family amassing more wealth and access to wealthy spaces. This couple is raising their children in predominately White environments. They have more means to buy nice things. And the biracial wife grapples with proving her Blackness.
Lighting in pictures can be deceiving. So there’s no telling what actual shade these Black people are from a single image. But given Barris’ other projects and his tone deaf and slightly insensitive rationale for casting lighter skinned people, I think this is a criticism worth exploring.
https://twitter.com/carmikeall/status/1243177223005372416
For those who don’t remember, when the first image of the show was released, Barris said this about casting lighter skinned actors.
“And I’m also not gonna make up a fake family that genetically makes no sense just for the sake of trying to fill quotas. I LOVE MY PEOPLE!—
I’m going to say this and then let what happens happen… Colorism is a divisive tool used by the powerful to separate the truly powerful.”
And while there were a lot of criticisms, the trailer was strong enough to captivate the attention of more than enough people who were here for it, without question or even prior viewing. Can’t say I’m mad about this. The support for Barris’ project will hopefully open up doors for other people as well.
And then there were people who had criticisms about the show being starkingly similar to “black-ish” but were still down for this new iteration. There is something to be said about various stories being told from new money Blacks. It would be nice to see how the other half lives.
Norman Lear certainly knew how to stretch a concept. Most of his successful shows were spinoffs of one another. Still, I think the comparison is a false one. Lear took “All In The Family,” about a middle class White couple and spun it off into “The Jeffersons.” Having moved on up, the Jeffersons had an entirely different experience as rich Blacks than Archie and them had as middle class Whites.
There were also folks who seemed to approve of the exploration of Rashida Jones’ character defending and defining her Blackness. Even though we watched Rainbow do it on “black-ish” and I’m sure the characters on “black-ish,” including Tika Sumpter do it on “mixed-ish,” perhaps Rashida Jones will bring something new from her own perspective.
