Our Favorite Black TV Show Characters Were Problematic
Reflecting on the black television of yesterday, analysing their strengths and weaknesses show by show.
For the past few weeks now, we have all gotten a chance to binge-watch nostalgic blacks shows through the power of on-demand streaming services. Shows such as; ‘Moesha’, ‘Sister, Sister’, ‘The Game’ and ‘Girlfriends’ are all one click away. Finally, we can watch shows with a predominantly black cast without compromise.
Also, it is noted a lot of the nostalgic black TV showcase black women with a variety of different skin tones. These shows touched on numerous topics including; racism, colourism, internalized colourism, classism, homophobia, interracial relationships and many more.
Spoiler alert if you have not seen the shows listed above like Moesha or Girlfriends. There may be plot points spoiled as we dive in, so apologies in advance.
Re-watching these shows with a modern social context will leave your head spinning. Viewers could question whether certain jokes or themes would be allowed today without black Twitter going furious.
As we take a train to nostalgia street, we come to terms with the fact our favourite characters were problematic. The 90s sitcom Moesha is a prime example of the issues at hand. Starring R&B singer and actress Brandy Norwood, the show ran for six seasons.
Looking back, you never notice how much of a bad of a friend Moesha, the title character was. She did everything from making fun of her friend Kim’s weight to butting in Hakeem’s home life. Also, let us not forget the time she outed Hakeem’s cousin. Some pretty toxic behaviour for the main character on a lighthearted sitcom.
Moesha could be ungrateful at times. This is perfectly illustrated in the sixth episode from season one ‘Driving Miss Moesha’. Moesha’s father, Frank surprises her with a brand-new Saturn and Moesha refuses to take it. Moesha, in turn, tries to bargain with her father to get her the car she truly wants.
On the other hand, Moesha’s father had problems of his own. Moesha’s father had tendencies to be misogynistic. Frank often took advantage of Dee, Moesha’s step-mother. He viewed her as a cook and cleaner of the house, a very backwards and narrow lens to view women.
Furthermore, Frank often made passing judgments on Hakeem coming over to eat at their house. Frank did this despite knowing that Hakeem was a lot less financially stable as the Mitchell family. Frank would also go as far as calling Moesha a “tramp” for wearing a crop top showcasing her brand-new tattoo. Who can forget the episode where Frank praised and encouraged Hakeem to date a woman that was far older than Hakeem?
Moesha’s relationships with friends and family can be awkward to look back on now. Moesha fat-shamed her close friend Kim. At one point, Moesha and Niecey ridicule Kim on the phone behind her back because of her weight. On the flipside, Niecey is made fun of for being too skinny.
Despite Moesha and her family welcoming Hakeem regardless of his personal situation, Moesha still makes a big scene about him owing her money. Moesha embarrasses Hakeem in front of everyone at Andell’s fruit restaurant. Moesha doesn’t even act up when she releases Hakeem take advantage of Kim. Moesha’s inability to act allows Hakeem to continue to manipulate Kim for his own personal gain.
The point is that we never realize how toxic these characters were. For instance, the show Girlfriends touched on a multitude of social issues and concepts. In season one, episode four titled ‘Hip-Ocracy’, both Toni and Joan try online dating. This is noteworthy as online dating was uncommon in the early 2000s.
Today online dating is a lot more common than how it was in the 2000s. I digress, Toni and Joan find dates through an online dating site. Joan hits it off quite well with her date. On the other hand, for Toni’s date, she didn’t quite envision a second date with the guy she went out with.
Later in the episode, Joan gets ready for her second date with Marcus. On the flipside, Toni tells Joan and the rest of the girls she won’t go forward with her second date. Toni refuses to go on a follow-up date with her online partner because “he’s too black”. Toni has a brown skin complexion and explains she does not want to date anyone darker than her. The episode goes on to lightly show a message of internalized colorism.
Toni’s character is burdened with the fear of birthing children that are darker than her. This is because she believes they might be ridiculed and made fun of for having a darker skin tone. The episode also pokes at Joan’s discretion with finding out her date Marcus has “hips” that brings out how judgmental Joan could also be as a character. This is all on top of highlighting Toni’s insecurities of having a somewhat dark skin tone. They further this point by bringing up the fact that Joan and Toni were younger, Joan called Toni a “tar baby”.
The truth is, Joan and Toni had a tumultuous relationship. Their friendship made Issa and Molly’s look ten times as worse. Joan and Toni often could be seen as classists. Season one, episode ten, highlights the time when Joan pretty much dismisses Maya’s wedding ideas. Joan even goes as far as to look down on her wedding choices for them not being extravagant enough. The reality of their differing tastes is because of their drastically different upbringings. Maya did not grow up in an affluent household in direct comparison to her friends. In every episode of Girlfriends, Toni displayed classism only pursued men with money.
Moving on to the show ‘A Different World’, there is a lot to discuss too. The characters Ron and Dwayne seem to have a great friendship on paper, but a closer look reveals it’s pretty dysfunctional. At a point in the show, there was a huge fight Dwayne and Ron had over Dwayne throwing his success in Ron’s face. Ron wanted credit for an idea he and Dwayne had brainstormed together weeks prior. Dwayne decides to forward with the plan for monetary gain without Ron.
Dwayne proceeds to downplays Ron’s intelligence and call him jealous. Dwayne exclaims that Ron is jealous of his success as he graduated before Ron. The ridicule goes as far as Dwayne pointing out the fact that he married a girl whom which Ron had been fawning over since college.
These televised relationships are so troublesome you question why these characters are friends in the first place. On Girlfriends, Toni brings Joan’s ex-boyfriend to her birthday party in the pilot episode of the show. A great indicator of the characterization to come. At one point, Toni slaps Joan on their Jamaican holiday trip. The holiday happened in the first place because Joan wanted Toni to feel better after her breakup. The catalyst behind the couple’s split was actually Joan telling Toni’s boyfriend about Toni’s infidelity. Strong friendship, right?
Looking back these friendships, more needed to be done for the positive representation of black people in the media. Joan also was often taken advantage of by her other friend Lynn who frequently slept at her place for long periods. Although these characters had problematic tendencies, they still came through for one another and fixed their problems with one another. Joan also decides to go to therapy. This is done despite the storied issues the black community has with the practice in real life. This could be seen as a commentary on the conflict/correlation between black people and therapy, or it could be a misguided solution in-show.
On the other hand, shows that we’ve talked about as well sitcoms like ‘Living Single’ have helped reshape representation for black women in the media. Black women rarely had television shows showcasing an all-black cast. Let alone a cast starring all black women with different skin tones tackling issues within the black community.
These shows even pointed out struggles black women go through. Shows like these even helped representation within young black girls who want to see girls who look like them on television. The variety in black portrayal within the media is intrinsic to our cultural DNA.
The sad reality of black people within TV and film is it stretches beyond just black shows. Black women wanted the same storylines as seen on shows like ‘Boy Meets World’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother’. The black community wanted to characters that were nuanced and layered, and not stereotyped or the butt of an insensitive joke. Today, Issa Rae, Michaela Coel and even Marsai Martin are taking the industry by storm. Shows like ‘Insecure’ show great promise to leave a lasting legacy with their accurate portrayals of black people.
They showcase black women with varying tones without compromise. These women are making shows that don’t stereotypes or mock black people, but also hire more black writers and producers. Historically, shows like ’30 Rock’ featured a plethora of black jokes but only had one black writer in Donald Glover. We don’t want outsiders making sweeping statements for our culture, that’s not fair. The new generation of black television is a step in the right direction with creatives having the opportunity to become executive producers and start their own production companies.
For more of Chris K’s work, check out the podcast and ForTheHomies hosted by Chris K, Dre and Rocky on Spotify here. Also, check out their merch site here.