Some of us have been wondering about this phenomenon for a while now. Read the rest here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/a...f-hollywood-and-lack-of-black-male-leads.html
Interesting read, but something can't die if it never existed to begin with. The black male romantic lead is something that was always exclusive to black-focused forms of media anyways. The only time it hit non-black audiences was with blockbusters and even then in was rarely the main focus of the film. Of course there are examples but I doubt any are memorable or I'm just not thinking hard enough.
Did you even read the article? And Milk and Coffee, true enough, it was never this force to be reckoned with in the first place. Its just interesting how now its avoided completely. Look at Donald Glover's character on Community. He's the 'jock' who somehow never gets any play from any chick, ever.
did you read? its trying to say that black men arent given sexy roles. here its says the following "The most romantically appealing character is Mr. Thicke, the soul singer, who is white, another comment on the diminished potency of black male leads." its also picking on kevin harts show. the point Im saying is.....its a comedy. no one should give a fuck. to go deeply robin is really to some extent playing himself..he suppose to be sexy. you see what Im trying to say
I'd happily "play" with him. :smt002 :smt045 Not going to comment on the romantic male lead thing, other than to say...we need more. But, I hope this show gets to Australia. I'd love to watch it and see what it's like.
I do find it funny that the Black jock did not get the girl. That is not surprising since the show was written by White males not, Black males. Like I said before I hope there is a list or our members vote for the best Black Male lead in a IR flick. I don't care if the flick is straight to DVD it is better than nothing.
Dude, he addressed that only in passing. The article focuses more on black male roles in general. He hardly complains or criticizes the show.
"Hence “Real Husbands” as commentary: Here are well-regarded actors reduced to parody....." What??lol Most of the guys on Real Husbands of Hollywood aren't serious actors. They're sitcom dudes, a used-to-be-big hip hop artist like Nelly, or comedians. That's the point. The show is a COMEDY. Most of the Black men starring on it are there to make fun of reality TV shows. That show is like a Black themed Curb Your Enthusiasm and sometimes it's totally hilarious. You don't critically evaluate a comedy to make a commentary on the lack of romantic leads for Black male actors.:smt089 Even Robin THicke playing himself is funny as hell. When Kevin Hart knocked him out at his house out for some shit, I forgot for what, I was rolling!!! For someone to argue Nick Cannon deserves more serious roles in Hollywood is comical to me. I love the way he's clowned on Real Husbands for being Mr. Mariah Carey.:smt053
I wouldn't consider Boris Kodjoe some sitcom guy. And really, I don't read the article as a criticism of the Real Husbands show. Its pretty obtuse to suggest the author is somehow lamenting Nick Cannon not getting more serious roles. He's not really criticizing the show. It mainly remarks on the irony of the show, and how you really can't find BM in romantic leads, period. Note his only frame of reference is comedies. Damon Wayans Jr, Donald Glover and Don Cheadle all star in comedies. That doesn't make the subject matter any less serious or worthy of critique.
Donald Glover is with Britta this season even though their relationship looks platonic as hell no kissing or bed scenes. Its the same critique I have of Raj on Big Bang Theory. Millionaire physicist but NEVER gets play even though the other characters do. Even asexual Sheldon has a girl
Yeah, I caught that. Even Abed the utter space-cadet put the mack down on Britta and Annie. The writers of Community are very identity conscious. They had an episode back in season one titled "The Politics of Human Sexuality." They go through great pains to avoid showing Donald Glover's character with any female. The few times they did try, his character tends to explode into these emotional tantrums and nothing ever transpires.
But highly informative. Why are there no more black sitcoms these days?? When i was growing up in the 90's thats all there was for awhile.
There are black sitcoms, mainly from the Tyler Perry brand, but the better question is...why aren't there black sitcoms that has cross cultural appeal? And this isn't a difficult question to answer, especially when it's right under our noses...and it has a lot to do with...viewership.
Hell, I didn't even know this show was on. I say, as long as there's no gratuitous cooning, good for them.
The show is great. Its on my list of things to watch. I love this kind of programming for BET. [YOUTUBE]http://youtu.be/o89RR4ztG2Y[/YOUTUBE]
I really hope BET nurtures this show. It's a combo of Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm, but presented like a reality TV show. It's a 'fake' reality TV show, but at the same time you get a tiny glimpse into these celeb's lives.
