TV Review - #blackAF

I have to be honest. I did not watch all eight episodes of this series. After the first episode, it became quickly apparent to me that I wasn't going to like the series and I would find little enjoyment in it. In the teaser or trailer for this series, there is a scene from Episode 5 that suggested something interesting. Sharronda Williams of the Pay or Wait YouTube channel had also remarked that she didn't enjoy the series but that Episode 5 was one to check out otherwise. Instead of scrapping the review all together, I decided to give my thoughts on those particular episodes, the first and the fifth. For a broader and more comprehensive look at this series, I recommend Williams' review.

As many other critics have also pointed out, this series is a rip-off of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm, a brilliant comedy series, created by Larry David. This series, created by Kenya Barris, has him putting himself in the Larry David role. It's not that crazy. There are some parallels to Barris' trajectory and David's trajectory. David created a hit sitcom, Seinfeld, which garnered him a lot of success in Hollywood. David then decided to turn the cameras on himself and do a fictionalized series about his life or experiences in Hollywood where he got to be the ultimate curmudgeon and complain about all the things that bother him. Barris also created a hit sitcom, Black-ish, which garnered a lot of success in Hollywood. Now, Barris wants to turn the cameras on himself and expose all the things that bother him as well.

Kenya Barris, however, is no Larry David. I'm not that familiar with Barris' background. Obviously, he's a comedic writer and he probably has experience as a stand-up comedian. Yet, he doesn't seem like he really honed his chops as a stand-up. David has a way of carrying himself and expressing himself, even when he's just walking that suggests he's been trained on a comedy stage. Barris doesn't appear to have that same kind of training. Barris just doesn't feel like he's never really had to play a comedic character or be a comedic force onto himself. He comes across as a kind of curmudgeon or sardonic, but at times it also comes off as him barely trying or him lazily going through the motions. I suppose it's just his character being frustrated or dismayed.

On its surface, the series looks like it could be a spoof of something like Run's House (2005), which was the reality show that followed the life of Joseph Simmons, formerly of the rap group Run-D.M.C. Because of his success in the music business, Simmons became a wealthy black man with a wife and the same number of children as Barris. Yet, Run's House was a better show, if for nothing else than because Simmons was a more engaging person and he in fact had a personality unlike Barris here. The reality spoof The Real Husbands of Hollywood (2013) was doing what Barris is doing here as well, so if anything Barris' series feels tired.

These are just my impressions from the first episode alone. I did fast-forward to the fifth episode because some of the hype around it. Barris addresses the issue of criticizing black film or black television. The episode is prompted when Barris' character sees a film by a black man that he doesn't like or doesn't think is good. He then has to host a panel discussion with the filmmaker and he debates on whether or not he should be honest or just be polite and say nice things, essentially lying. He thinks this is a broader issue among black artists in Hollywood, not being honest with each other about each other's works. He also takes issue with the reviews about black films versus those about white films, or films about or that have predominant white casts.

I agree with Williams that this fifth episode is good and arguably the best of all eight. It's a good conversation about how black people see certain films, as opposed as to how certain critics see those same films. If the episode fails though, it fails in that Barris has a whole episode about film criticism, but he doesn't include any critics. He has black celebrities like Tyler Perry and Lena Waithe in the episode, but no black critics. Barris must be aware of the African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA). It's a group that consists of black film critics. This is a conversation that he should have taken to that group. In 2012, Wesley Morris won the Pulitzer Prize, one of the only black critics to do so. Why he wasn't in this episode baffles me? Without black critics, this episode has a huge blindspot but Barris does explore the issue with aplomb.

Rated TV-MA.
Running Time: 1 hr. / 8 eps.

Available on Netflix.