MICHAEL DAVIS: In The Ghetto

Michael Davis

Master Of The Universe, Lord Of All Media, Most Interesting Black Man In the World, Sexiest Man on Earth, Mentor, Writer, Artist, Producer & Uppity.

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5 Responses

  1. Elayne Riggs says:

    Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts about this show, Michael — when I saw that report on Olbermann I thought of you immediately 'cause I wanted to see you do a column about it. (By the way, Olbermann's guest host for that day, Alison Stewart, whom I usually quite like, screwed up major on another report later in the show for which Olbermann apologized the following week — he sounded extremely pissed that it had run at all. Not blaming Stewart necessarily, it could have been the producer, but between the Vitter dress mess and the BET "expose" I don't think she's in real good graces at the moment.I do disagree on one point you made — I seem to recall lots of protests from white folks over the years about the horrid white trash depictions on Springer.

  2. Vinnie Bartilucci says:

    I always considered Jerry Springer to be an equal opportunity show – people from every race and creed made fools of themselves on it.The "place" of blacks on television has always been an odd one. We got a lot of maids for years (and most of the time, they were the smartest person on the show, something people usually forget), a lot of "fish out of water" comedies (case in point, the recely released "Who's Your Caddy?") and a handful of characters in positions of success and responsibility, usually played by Bill Cosby.I remember the problems people (from all sides) had with The Cosby Show, claiming it was "unrealistic" to portray black people on TV as lawyers and gynecologists. Cosidering the average protrayal of black people on comides has been getting progressively clownier, I'm not surprosed it's getting to this level. Have we forgotten the lessons taught by "Homies in Outer Space"? Spike Lee came damn close to nailing it in Bamboozled. A great piece of satire…right up to the moment where he forgot to give it an ending, and tacked on his perennial "Shame on you" coda.But banning or protesting are the two worst ways to get something taken off the air, and one day people will figure that out. GOD I want new Boondocks strips. Aaron'd be ripping people new ones left and right over this.

  3. Glenn Hauman says:

    All right then, Michael, let me ask: what's the impetus for running the show? Clearly it's making some folks upset– even some folks at BET, who have renamed the show "We Got To Do Better", which seems to indicate a particular purpose in showing it.Is it possible that some folks are upset because, to really mix metaphors here, it's a shunda for the goyim?

    • Michael Davis says:

      I think renaming the show is a big mistake. That new name clearly says to me that this IS a major part of black life.

      • Adriane Nash says:

        According to the article Glenn linked it would seem that the name change put people off the show. With all the noise over "Hot Ghetto Mess" changing the name may have confused folks into not watching, rather than persuade thwm to tune in. If I, for example, had had my curiousity piqued by he backlash and then saw "We Got to Do Better" on my cableguide I wouldn't have changed the channel to watch I would have assumed BET opted not to air the show at all.