Required for every American: A trip to the “Boondocks”

The Boondocks (Sunday 11:30 PM et/pt on Adult Swim)

Aaron McGruder occupies perfectly the space between perception and reality with a no holds barred attitude towards educating his audience about an alternative black opinion in his comic trip turned television show “The Boondocks”. He shows the exact amount of distressed non-accomplice blackness that has arisen as a response to the minstrel-ed characterization of African-Americans in the media. But I just can’t always be the one to bitch about what’s wrong with Black folk, that’s how Bill Cosby got “got”. So in the Black media we tread lightly because those with money and power continue to perpetuate a single minded version of African-American life and society for one reason, its extremely lucrative. (I will resist the urge to elaborate on why these misogynous male centered, even violent and nonsensical images are so appealing to today’s society) And in all honesty it HAS provided a monetary “out ” for a plethora of urbanites with very little else at their disposal.

In the Boondocks, McGruder skews perception and perspective to the extent that is audience regardless of race sees the eternal quagmire that 400 years of slavery and another couple hundred pining for identity and respect can do to a whole race. He prances around the most sensitive subject matter with the grace of herd of buffalo. This is exactly what is needed to serve an ignored demographic, and a cartoon starring children is perfect for conveying perspective with the accuracy of a needle eye. From the “mouths” of babes we hear only what these children have seen and heard from the adults in their lives, and to hear those same impressions repeated to us, uncensored, provides the distance we need to chuckle at our inconsistencies, just SAY “nigga,” and maybe get over “it”.

So let me explain “Boondocks” to those of  you who don’t understand. Boondocks is about a couple of kids who get moved to suburbs by “Gandad” to get a better education and a better life, blah,blah,blah. Riley and Huey have very different reactions to this (and everything else). Riley represents what is perpetuated disproportionately by media; a persona that does exist in the black community in many many variations. Huey was like me growing up: Black Power, Marcus Garvey, Powernomics, steady distrust of the world, and the overall burden of being DuBois’ “talented tenth” aka the savior to African-Americans because, “well, someone has to do it…”.

Take for instance, the two personalities’ response to President Barack Obama:

“…I heard the presidential limousine is going to be a crazy pimped out cadillac with rims and machine guns and lasers…”
~Riley

“Hope is Irrational.”
~Huey

McGruder refuses to glaze over the most difficult subjects with this same either/ or attitude. In seasons 1 and 2 he takes issue with the “moving-up” mentality, where instead of like George and Wheezy, Black folk want it done like P-Diddy. He makes fun of misogyny in Hip-Hop by instead of touting the nonsensical nature of hating women; he just called all the girl-hate “gay”. And if you ever played “the dozens”, “nigga (pause) you gay.” trumps every time. He evens satires rumored homosexuality in the hip-hop world by doing a satire on what a gay rapper would look like. It wasn’t that different,  pearls instead of diamonds, a lot of pink, and stomach bearing wife beaters, “so you can see my “gat”…” He even dared to touch on the very unstable “Waiting to Exhale” black female mentality in “KungFu Wolf Bitch” (a personal favorite)

Its by examining these drastically different perspectives we realize neither is completely accurate; but together, they somehow expose the space in-between, where the truth is hiding somewhere. McGruder does all of this using a medium so funny no one can argue with him. What’s funny is that in a world that concentrates so much on black and white, there is so much to be gained by enjoying the spectrum of often hilarious gray.

So try as they might cancel him for low ratings, as long as he comes back with content that we don’t have on TV, anywhere, (especially NOT BET) Boondocks will have a place on TV. (THANK GODDESS)

Oh Adult Swim, me, my insomnia, and my inner frat boy loves thee forever.

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