There are only 5 plot lines Black scripts most commonly use: 1.”Thug life” 2. Racism/oppression 3. The police 4. Fatherlessness 5. Slavery BET was always happy to represent and remind it’s viewers of all 5.
Amen Family Matters A Different World Martin Living Single The Cosby Show Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Malcolm and Eddie The Wayans Bros. Other sitcoms from UPN before it got swallowed up and became the CW. The above are a list oh shows off the top of my head that either avoid those topics completely or have devoted the one-off episode here and there. But to say that the five items in that list is all that black-focus shows focus on either ranks of sheer ignorance or a poor attempt to troll.
I’m not saying you are trying to imply anything racial, but in case someone were to take this that way i’d love to tack on the additional fact that this decision was made by the SAME(white) executive who decided to remove free college level courses from TLC and shift to reality tv
The Onion made a satirical remark saying “the sale of BET to a white supremacist group results in no change in programming.” That basically sums it up.
As a rural (white) American who sees the kind of things that rich urban media execs market and promote for my demographic, I can imagine how he probably feels before even watching the video. It’s a protest against ghettoization, in a more traditional sense of the word. Of being put in a separate little box, told that this is your area, and told that this is who you are and who you have to be. I like country music and do, in fact, own a truck, but after the fourth or fifth song in the row playing on the radio where some guy is talking about his truck, you get the feeling that the people selling you stuff are just going for the most surface-level details of a life they don’t actually understand at all.
Huey’s subplot in Riley Wuz Here is perfect because it’s a parody of the documentary Super Size Me. It’s a metaphor that BET is junk food for the mind.
@@LegendStormcrowI actually learned a lot of good science and nature facts from TV. Now it's all gone. Everything is propaganda even science and nature
Even channels that were educational have been dumbed down considerably. The Learning Channel is now nothing but an endless parade of exploited children and the morbidly obese.
@@LegendStormcrowdude, a huge chunk of television has been junk food for the mind basically always. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with mindless fun, but it’s best not to over-indulge. I suppose that’s a good analogy to junk food.
I think the problem is bet glamorizes the behavior the boondocks is criticizing Some of their shows are wild and feel like they come straight out of the mind of the most rabid racists out there
I thought it was clear that BET was for white people in much the same way as mainstream rap music. It plays on the stereotypes because that's more profitable with a white audience. Chappelle talked about how real racists loved his show without realizing the critique that was occuring.
The Boondocks isn’t directly criticizing many behaviors, really. It’s more about criticizing mindsets and how ideologies manipulate those mindsets and create destructive behaviors and outcomes. It criticizes adults that are unaware or unwilling to become aware of how their mindsets enable these behaviors in both themselves and the children they influence. The point of the show is that these mindsets are so clearly destructive, that a child like Huey thinking responsibly is seen as being a recluse and anti-social.
@@jrodri14ii you're right, boiling it down to just behaviors is a bit reductionist like if some guy is acting like an asshole and you leave it at that instead of looking into his past and realizing that he isn't an asshole he was just raised by assholes and believes acting like an asshole is normal so he behaves "normally" but we all just see him as the asshole it's more about the mindset behind the behaviors that the boondocks is critical of
The scene was pretty genius too. He didn't switch to the news or anything like that, he switched to a nature documentary about lions. Something that is simultaneously African buy also doesn't involve any visible humans, thus making it clear that it was the educational part the brought him back.
I once heard an interview with Nick Stewart (Lightnin’ from *Amos ‘n’ Andy*) from the mid-1960s where he pointed out that TV at the time would rather do stories about animals than Black people.
I'm a white guy and I've never watched BET but from what I've heard about it just sounds like the country music channel of black people I.E. something that panders to surface-level identity without actually talking about anything new. The one thing I heard about was the movie "Karen" where they took the concept of Karens and made it about racism to sell it to black people.
Good comparison.But the issue is the actual damage and impact this type of media has on the community in question. BET is toxic and designed to keep the system of self oppression standing. A country music channel does the same thing, maybe but it preserves a system of power and privilege.
I saw a commercial on the network once that basically turned me off from the entire thing. The commercial had one line akin to "black people can do anything white people can but better." Personally, I find it disgusting. Morally, I find it reprehensible. Objectively, it's indefensible.
I feel like Boondocks was the last cultural phenomenon to warn the black community of what modern media is trying to turn them into. A bunch of stereotypes.
As a black person who’s constantly consuming black media with this message, you need to get out more😂. Like my assumption is that you are either a non-black person who has NO clue what black people consume except for what you see in the few spaces you are in with black people or that you are black, but like… the kind with only white firends, maybe even a white parent or two, or goes to a pwi, has no black coworkers etc 😂
@@HarringtonsApocyblack dude here with black family and coworkers. Most most media consumed now do nothing but stereotypes. Cardi B, sexxyred, most of the big black shows being about gangs, hip hop or race. Our entertainment basically became the stereotypes boondocks warned of
@@ColbraxCardi B tried to make nonsexual music but folks wasn't vibing it. She addressed this and said it's part of the reason she went back to making sexual music.
Unpopular opinion, alot of black ppl dnt fk with BET, back in the day it was cool almost coming up like how MTV was and then I think they switched owners or something and you could see the decline. Then they started adding canceled black TV shows no new episodes to the channel. There are so many networks for white ppl most of them, we just wanted BET to produce shows that really represent us and actually stand behind it so it doesn't get cancelled. There's numerous of black celebs that have worked for them and don't have nice things to say. Ijs maybe Aaron was on to something...
When I was around middle school I used to Watch BET all the time around the 2009s and then when Bow-Wow took over 106 and Park is when I stopped watching tbh. I check Bet now and again but only when someone else have it on.
That is your issue. "We want shows for us", that sentence is your smoking gun, and why BET can do as it does. Your "us" are "black people"....but have you even thought was is a "black person"? From my perspective what is a "white person"? I hail from the original Ukrainian people, before the Cossacks. What is similar from me to a dutchman, to a brittish man? It's all skin deep. Skin is an important factor humans use to distinguish groups, but this leads to that issue in the first place. "us". When "us" is only ever skin deep, not cultural, not value based, not even region based, it will end as hollow as it started. Your "us" should be the shared culture of the people around you that you agree with and share with, regardless of external factors. So long as "us" to you remains skin deep, it will never last. To further illustrate my point...do you watch African tv? A lot of it is English, or French, but do you? No? Because it doesn't represent you. The "so many white people networks" is a result of numbers, and roll the dice enough and that's what you end up with more of. Divisive if you let it just be skin deep, nonrepresentative if you let the inclusion get too big, it feels like a catch 22 no? Genuinely, if you want a solution, here's an example. Theater. Having smaller theater allows the local culture to show, and doesn't need to force discriminatory boundaries that divide, since those preforming will be locals to that culture.
As a Black millennial; there was a lot of "Black"shows that portrayed a lot stereotypes that hurt the perception of Black people. Tyler Perry is also another entity that has added to the problem. Luckily today; we have many creative Black voices like Jordan Peele; who make movies with Black characters and not, "Black Movies".
BET I S a plague on this planet that needs to be eradicated: There, I said it for you. The Boondocks comic strip was much more political than the TV version, but I can assure Aaron McGruder is not the first Black man to take issue with BET's low brow content. BET's quality has ebbed and flowed since it 1st became available to me in 1988, but the downturn was noticeable after it was sold to Viacom in 2000.
I have never seen an educational show on BET. I've always found that disparaging especially considering I've been watching BET since like the mid-80s up until around 98 and I just gave up. The music and the messages that were presented to us changed drastically. The network also began to fall into many stereotypes that seem to breed.
I agree... we had to sit there and watch it devolve... the first through 6 or 7 years was phenomenal, each year digressively less though, we didn't have alternatives, and the later BET2 for sure doesn't count... I also don't think BET needed educational shows though, they just should NOT have purposely allowed themselves to devolve, another comment spoke how eloquent Donnie Simpson was... they gave us people to look up to and learn from, then they removed them slowly but consistently... the first 6-8 years are BETs golden age.... the silver age was miniscule... maybe a year or three...
I will defend the function BET filled with a quote i heard regarding George Lopez as a Mexican comedian. BET was necessary to be black entertainment so entertainment could so happen to be black. Original George Lopez quote: "George Lopez was a Mexican comedian so we could have Comedians that so happened to be Mexican"
Aaron has had beef with BET since the mid 90s. Readers of the college comic strips know. His criticisms of the programming were not invalid. How that played out over time is unfortunate though.
@@Attmay Lmao did you miss the part in the video where they clearly responded to him? Whether they read the comics or not, they still knew what he was saying. You dumb mfs always trying to throw a monkey wrench into something.
I grew up watching BET in the 106 and park era. I fell off as I got older because African American media around that time was dominated by Tyler perry and his merry troop of black actors that he throws money at to keep in his projects. And tyler perry has had a bit of an exaggerated and unrealistic portrayal of what black families and communities are like and that's pretty much been BETS identity till now. Just Tyler Perry. That and he makes being black and successful look like your constantly at odds with your wife, one of your friends is a borderline predator, the other is lazy but funny, and your the man. Have the job and all the drama. It's just so damn goofy. Long and Short BET has always exaggerated african American culture for profit and Mr. Perry refined it. Like his shows dominate BET+
@@albertthepeacock8020 To make money. He became a millionaire off of his plays and shows and since BET has been starved for content pretty much since its inception, Tyler perry is who they mainly fall on to this day
I disagree, the things he shows in his plays/movies are things that happen in black households just about all the time. What I think is that he can't make good movies (plays are better), and he's rehashing the same stuff over and over.
Bet is still to this day mocked but praised for essentially fucking up the youth but helping the black community in the worse way possible. Promoted them as individuals that early 70’s and 80’s black communities fought against. Wild times.
Let's be honest the boondocks was kind of prophetic. When boondocks came out BET wasnt as bad as they portrayed it to be. Watch boondocks now in 2023 and watch BET in 2023 and BET is 10 pounds of shit in a 4 pound bag
Lol it was definitely that bad when Boondocks premiered. Have you never seen BET after dark? Or Creflo Dollar’s bitch ass every Sunday morning? Bet’s been shit since the late 90’s
Nah BET was just as bad as they portrayed it always. I only watched Comic view and once in a really rare while 106&Park. But around all that the channel was the filth of black ppl.
Not wrong, I remember reading the comic strip in college and then watched some various BET adjacent content from my folks that talked about the "offensive" and "controversial" Boondocks due it dropping the n-word. I think the press just made more folk like myself look it up. I think in the end, the channel (like majority of cable) became the delineation between Black Boomers and everyone after.
Huey Freeman, in trying to deal with bet or rather trying to reform it or stop it, was absolutely demoralized and hit hard. It totally makes sense to the creators of the show probably went through a similar experience
Funny how one woman in that episode says that to her BET stood for "Black _Evil_ Television" rather than "Black _Entertainment_ Television" as if BET was evil.
Something people of all races can agree on. “Black Culture” sucks. People need to stop thinking of themselves as Black or White and start identifying as Americans. That’s what the Italians, Jews, Scotts, and Irish did, and now they’re all considered “White” by most.
I wouldn't say that they used UPN as a stand in for BET. That's a heck of a stretch considering that at that point, they were like BET but for broadcast.
Bruh UPN itself by the 2000s felt like “BET for poor people” only broken up by WWE and Star Trek. And daytimes of the affiliates were just as bad with shows like “Jerry Springer” and “Maury” making up the schedule
I really can't blame Aaron in some aspects it's true they put on Tyler Perry then BET Music came along and fuck all of that up The Return of the King have a valid point BET is a corporate contradiction
I always wondered as a kid why the channel rubbed me the wrong way. I never identified with many of the shows personally bc I was a nerdy black kid and none of the "stereotypes" these hows portrayed resonated with me. If anything, it only made growing up rougher when I associated with other black kids or even non-black ones. Good on Boondocks for calling them out 😂
Aaron McGruder talked extensively about BET in his newspaper comic strip, "The Boondocks." I'm several minutes into this video and his detailed takedowns of BET or "butts every time" aren't mentioned. I'm pretty sure if you wanted to know Aaron McGruder's objections you'd start with his written work.
I watched BET in the late 80s and early 90s especially to see Donnie Simpson's "Shoot for the moon and even if you miss you'll be among the stars". The network missed the mark just by not looking up around them and taking a risk on content. The History Channel and The Learning Channel all followed the same formula and produced garbage because that makes the most money. I would have loved to see them pioneer history, art, science, literature, and other meaningful subjects to get the youth to dream bigger. I hated the fact that I was in my 40s when I learned about the Harlem Hellfighters, the Tulsa Massacre, and Katherine Johnson. Move over Bill Nye the science guy, I would've totally have watched "Neil deGrasse and his science ass" to learn about physics. How about a mini series period piece about Charles R. Drew? BET became the intellectual equivalent of a food desert with endless corner stores but it could have been a lush bountiful Eden. But that's just my thought.
you could look at something like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, it was black people but it had nothing to do with being black just good characters in a slice of life comedy
@adj788 The fresh prince was 100% about being black. it was about a poor black guy moving into his rich black relatives an they dont act the same due to money and lifestyle. its a comparison of culture and lifestyle based entirely on being black. with many episodes focusing on black issues.
@@xeykdeyk I think what they meant was the overall premise of fresh prince. It was a rags to riches story that didn't have to be about black people. Some of the Will and Carlton dynamic, especially early on, was about black identity in a predominantly affluent white area, and they did address it occasionally, but it wasn't the show's central theme
If Boondocks continued after season 4 and acted like the season 4 finale never existed and was just a bad dream, then the Boondocks would have made an episode or 2 making fun of the Lifetime Channel.
To me, the change from Bob Johnson owning BET, to Viacom ownership was when it became the worst version of itself. Any original programing was a copy-paste version of what was on MTV. 106 and Park, College Hill, etc were just TRL and The Real World clones. Once upon a time BET had nightly news, HBCU sports showcase and a Rap City that actually played a variety of artists, not what was just on Viacom and Clear Channel.
I’m black and a fan of Boondocks. I’ve watched BET. But never been a defender of it. Just what was on. I used to think it had something contrived to it. Could never put my finger on it. Honestly reading real books (not all fiction) as well as books of different ethnicities and cultures is healthier than the stereotypes that TV would often serve.
@@Scornfull I was always thinking that, but was way too afraid to mention it around other folks of color. But at the time the thing that bothered me was how it was always being sold as, “Aw yeah! White entertainment been doin’ it like that but now we gat da power to do the damn thang betta - just cuz, that’s our genetic ace in da muthafuckin’ hole yo….” As opposed to, ‘Okay. How do we spotlight our cultures brand of entertainment in a productive light - while avoiding the miasma of regurgitated replicated formulas?’
The way Aaron McGruder put it about B.E.T. at that time, [paraphrasing] "MTV, VH1 and all of American media show Black people in a negative light. Why is the most well known Black Network doing the same?" And he wasnt wrong. B.E.T. got rid of its positive programming like _Teen Summit_ and whatnot, and would still play _Uncut_ a couple hours before playing *church* on Sundays. Also that comment one episode made about taking shitty MTV shows from 5 years earluer and creating Black versions of them was spot on. B.E.T. has gotten better as far as I can tell, and I think the rightful criticism they'd gotten was a huge part of that.
@@Attmay I think it touched on his friend going to work for BET or something..It doesn't take much to see why BET sucks but you're right, if you're gonna do a video on it you should do it right.
As a non-American Boondocks is the only reason I've ever even heard about BET. I remember being extremely shocked to find out that everything is so racialised in the US that you even have whole TV channels *explicitly* marketed towards a specific race, which in Europe would be considered extremely strange, racist, and off-putting. When they air 'black' stuff like Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and whatnot over here, they just show it on regular TV channels.
@@ChronicUnderachiever420 Yeah I suppose that makes sense, it just feels weird from an outsider poiny of view that they'd be so *explicit* about it, literally calling the channel *Black* Entertainment, lmao
The US expresses individuality over a greater national identity. So if someone were to say move to your country you'd probably expect them to gradually adapt to your culture and become a member of your country. In the US the expectation isn't there. So there is individual racial culture, religious culture, and all sorts of various groups and subcultures entirely independent of National Identity
@@DaveGrean calling a person or a cultural product “black” isn’t derogatory. It’s how black Americans refer to themselves and a more accurate term than “African American.” Many black Americans have literally zero “African” identity.
I'll be honest. I am currently a thirty five year old white person. When boondocks first came on the air. I was a young teenager and I loved it . I really associated with Huey because of his understanding to look at the world for what it really is not what the world tries to tell you it wants to be. . And I appreciate that brash and honest acceptance and the ability to be able to just say the truth without fear. Something that a lot of people. Don't have the ability to do. Either because society or their own culture tells them that it's wrong to speak your mind. But he never had that. And a lot of the things that he pointed out are actually issues that I had noticed in my life but never noticed anyone actually bringing them up. But things that Can apply to everyone regardless of what your race or background is. Issue such as the economy. Bad neighbors. Scam charities. And that 1 person In the neighborhood that nobody likes. But nobody feels as though they can call them out because they'd all feel bad. Things like the issue of class. In particular when we see ed wuncler the 3rd. A rich guy who could have the world served to him on a platter. But decides to live as though he wants to be in Poverty and involved in crime. In fact His own grandfather. Put it best when he was talking with robert. " In fifteen years that Boy is going to be the next president of the united states. And he'll still be a fing idiot! You and me robert were of the old school." And granddad Freeman recognizing game recognizes game simply. Agrees and Raises a glass with him. In a toast to the old school. Because both of these men had seen what the world had done, they had put in their time, they had succeeded in their lives all well, running things in the old way of the old school. But that Moment also signifies that the old school ways were ending. That a new school was starting. One that would have people like huey and to a lesser extent, Riley( Boy has good business sense And good talent for Spray can art ) who were intelligent Free thinkers. And people like gin rummy and ed the 3rd who are complete and total idiots.
"Looking too deep..." Nah brah, not deep enough, you have 0 understanding how the people who were aware and actually experienced BET felt. Aaron is not wrong at all... There is no reason to try to understand why no one "Should think highly of BET". Your examples are off base and come from an "outside" looking in perspective. I don't know your nationality/race/ethinicity, but an entire people got to watch a ship sink, a huge and important ship, of it's own doing, for over 2 decades... We did not have an alternative, so we all got to watch it sink together.
Vids like these is what I don’t like about this era of content we live in. Anybody with a computer can make content about a topic they wasn’t even around for.
I mean it’s pretty obvious why they hated BET. IDK if this is still the case, but at least back then all it did was promote negative stereotypes. And agreed. Even though they were making jokes, doesn’t mean there wasn’t a message. Boondocks often had a message in their comedy… which then went over a lot of peoples heads lol. I mean in the episode where the CEO of BET is Dr Evil he basically spells it out for you that he thinks the network is a detriment to the black community and is pandering to the lowest common denominator and therefore “making people stupid.” I honestly feel the exact same way about shows like keeping up with the Kardashians. Like 1.) this is what we’re glamorizing? And 2.) I feel like it’s making it’s viewers stupid and look up to idiots. Plus I personally don’t find a bunch of spoiled girls showing off their money and whining on the couch entertaining. I guess some people do tho.
It’s always interesting to see this kind of stuff from an outsider perspective. Like, there’s a particular kind of rights advocate (across basically any oppressed group) Who is nonetheless highly critical of what they perceive is the worst aspects of their own culture As a queer person nothing in boondocks resonated with me more than “You may wonder why you bother sometimes, but at the end of the day they’re your people.”
I totally get it. I found stuff like RuPaul's Drag Race to be total trash. I saw an animated queer comedy on Netflix called Super Drags and it was the most annoying, obnoxious, stupid thing I'd seen in ages. I know camp is part of queer culture, but sometimes it gets really grating. I sometimes wish for more serious reflection.
Your use of the Q-slur is verbal violence against Gay men and Lesbians and is a reflection of the same internalized homophobia that sellout shit like RPDR represents.
Netflix is gr00mer trash. They even ruined Julie Andrews. B--h used a kid’s show to promote tr-nscult propaganda. Yet another reason they should have given the Oscar to Audrey Hepburn for *My Fair Lady.*
Funny thing? Remember that "Karen" film from 2021? BET made it for their streaming service! Yup. The Boondocks is still on the money when it comes to BET.
Not gonna lie I tried to watch BET but kinda felt bored after an hour.. but I gotta agree with Huey (if he was ever real) media can make a person more stupid as part of the norm. Show enough violence then they won't be as phased (Probably). Wouldn't be surprised if a media channel does that for a profit cause it gets more people on couches watching.
Who buys advertising space on the network? That would answer a lot of questions about who is really pulling the strings and what their motivations are. But this video doesn’t focus on that, it just goes around in contextless circles saying what we already know: BET is racist.
The word "blaxplotation" existed for a reaaon. Its a shame its kinda disappeared from the vocabulary since thats what BET was, just like the movies "airplaine" and "barbershop".
If riley has been effected by BET and he is still intelligent enough to start several lucrative businesses and be a markettinf wizard... the fuck do you think he would be capable of if he stopped? Huey was on it less than a year and he was practically brain dead.. And ontop of that be a very talented freehand artist. (Spatial awareness, pattern recognition and hand eye coordination have to be Off the charts.. fluid IQ at least 110 to 115)
Nah, The point isn't black television that's bad. It's the fact that for a long time, BET was happy to amplify voices of the most ignorant amongst us. Given the time period the boondocks was made, which was during the time of BET was at its height but doing this, it makes sense why the show took the stance it did. Black television is bad, but trashy black television is.
If you think the show was unsubtle about it's BET hatred, you should check out the comics. Huey might even hate BET more that George Lucas after episode 1.
To a lesser note this was also a parody of Super Size Me, that documentary in which a guy ate at McDonalds every day for a month. Gaining crazy weight and apparently suffering mentally because of it. Some people tried to recreate it and while yes people did gain weight it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the documentary and no one suffered the mental health issues the guy in the documentary was claiming. I know this is all about BET sucking as a network I just wanted to point that part out.
Was never a fan of BET, but explained by my late grandmother: BET was never "owned by black folk" all the funding came from white folk who got their say in what would air. The only title BET owns really is that the first "publicly stated 'black owned' network" and just used that title moving forward as some badge of honor.
You don't have to justify that a comedy show can criticize or make statements. Also you're breaking down the evidence too much. A lot of the criticism was on the nose.
The information in this video could be conveyed in five or six minutes. Instead, it’s over 11 minutes because reasons. I don’t think Helen Reddy sang “leave me alone” that much in that song she quit show business just to get out of singing as this guy says BET.
I enjoyed the sitcoms growing up. I’d watch all the sitcoms that aired on tv back then. I still have fond memories of My Wife & Kids, Family Matters, The Jeffersons, and Fresh Prince. There might’ve been others I’m forgetting. I’m a bit of a sucker for sitcoms. If I wasn’t watching the children’s channels, I was watching a sitcom of sorts. Sometimes I might’ve disagreed with the messages in shows, but that happened with just about any show I consumed if I had watched enough episodes of it. I never really watched the movies on the BET channel so I can’t say anything there. I didn’t watch the music on the channel either. I exclusively watched the sitcoms when they were on.
Nooo. The reason they used Upn.. Because at the time UPN was another channel that syndicated B.E.T and very similar to B.E.T Shows. They are better known for being the channel that Aired WWE Smackdown.
The way bet and other outlets Portray life in the hood is always soo one sided I’m from a middle class family born in the hood and have many experiences outside of what is normally showcased from a community garden to different brotherhoods that didn’t just revolve around gangs or drugs or crime or anything struggle related. It’s sad because a lot do fall victim to the hood mentality fed to us by such programming but many that leave even just once understand how much more there is and have a yearning to separate from what ever the stereotypical image they have been engulfed in.
I haven watched TV in a long time, so I don't know if it is true today, but the way BET was portrayed in the Boondocks was definitely not unusual compared to what many people's opinions on the network before at the time. I remember one of the funniest headlines I saw at the end of a video by The Onion (A company that made satirical news articles, parodies of various cable TV news shows, and even funny, fictional audio "news" segments in the form of the Onion Radio News. And one of their video segments ended with a headline that said something like "Acquisition of BET by the Ku Klux Klan results in no changes to programming"
owww this show was as acid as it was B E A U T I F U L ♥ but as a foreginer... i never understood what a "B.E.T" was so i jsut assumed it was a hiphop channel with the usual toxic culture we get pumped down here... thanks for the context. now the episode makes even more sense and is funnier
Boondocks is a black show so to say Mcgruder feels some kind of negativity towards black shows is poor analysis. As an intellectual looking to uplift his people, Huey sees BET in the same light as world star and rap music videos, only on a bigger scale. Well done video and Boondocks is amazing, everyone should watch!
![Yeat & Summrs - GO2WORK [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/NEFEwfPcXRA/mqdefault.jpg)
There are only 5 plot lines Black scripts most commonly use:
1.”Thug life”
2. Racism/oppression
3. The police
4. Fatherlessness
5. Slavery
BET was always happy to represent and remind it’s viewers of all 5.
Thats why spiderverse is peak, its got none of that. Maybe a little oppression but how can you not give at least a nod to it
@ijneb1248 Well, Spiderverse does have police. I don't think it's impossible not to acknowledge it.
@@CMan-x7kThe police was Miles dad bruh. It’s not the same dynamic as on BET or more black shows
Amen
Family Matters
A Different World
Martin
Living Single
The Cosby Show
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Malcolm and Eddie
The Wayans Bros.
Other sitcoms from UPN before it got swallowed up and became the CW.
The above are a list oh shows off the top of my head that either avoid those topics completely or have devoted the one-off episode here and there.
But to say that the five items in that list is all that black-focus shows focus on either ranks of sheer ignorance or a poor attempt to troll.
@@CMan-x7kand fatherlessness...
As a consumer of BET's programming during the late 90s to mid 2000s, The Boondocks ain't wrong
same
*f a c t s!*
agreed
I know right
It was straight trash.
_"I'm 102% Black.... with a 2% margin of error!"_
Blacker then most blacks at this point.
So, what you're saying is that Uncle Ruckus is 104% Black.
@@Saavrynhave you ever noticed his skin seems to get blacker and darker and more blacker.
So possibly 104%?
@@Saavrynno, they added the 2% to his already 100% making the 102%
Remember when BET took BET jazz off the air because it was too intellectually stimulating?
It's like this network is allergic to anything smart or worthwhile
Wait, seriously. That was BET's logic?
I’m not saying you are trying to imply anything racial, but in case someone were to take this that way i’d love to tack on the additional fact that this decision was made by the SAME(white) executive who decided to remove free college level courses from TLC and shift to reality tv
That explains why I haven't seen it again
It's a wild thing to do considering Jazz is huge contribution to society.
The Onion made a satirical remark saying “the sale of BET to a white supremacist group results in no change in programming.”
That basically sums it up.
Ah, I just posted something like that and didn't know the Onion originated that. It absolutely struck a bullseye though.
I was hoping someone would bring that up. That explains the issue with their programming hilariously well.
Nice play on words tho. Programming as in "racist indoctrination" and "channel" both fit.
Literally the first thing I thought of!
But that basically applies to Boondocks too
As a rural (white) American who sees the kind of things that rich urban media execs market and promote for my demographic, I can imagine how he probably feels before even watching the video.
It’s a protest against ghettoization, in a more traditional sense of the word. Of being put in a separate little box, told that this is your area, and told that this is who you are and who you have to be. I like country music and do, in fact, own a truck, but after the fourth or fifth song in the row playing on the radio where some guy is talking about his truck, you get the feeling that the people selling you stuff are just going for the most surface-level details of a life they don’t actually understand at all.
Get this man a ticket to the cookout.
@@radmax and the quinceanera
Country fans actually don't like hearing every song be about, trucks or beer? The sameness gives a crazy bad impression.
@@MayorofHopeville You forgot tobacco and women
Hit the nail on the head
Huey’s subplot in Riley Wuz Here is perfect because it’s a parody of the documentary Super Size Me. It’s a metaphor that BET is junk food for the mind.
I went to school with Morgan Spurlock's nephew.
That whole family is fucked.
Hell, most modern TV is like that now, especially that which used to be cultural and ironically that which used to be educational
@@LegendStormcrowI actually learned a lot of good science and nature facts from TV. Now it's all gone. Everything is propaganda even science and nature
Even channels that were educational have been dumbed down considerably. The Learning Channel is now nothing but an endless parade of exploited children and the morbidly obese.
@@LegendStormcrowdude, a huge chunk of television has been junk food for the mind basically always.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with mindless fun, but it’s best not to over-indulge. I suppose that’s a good analogy to junk food.
I think the problem is bet glamorizes the behavior the boondocks is criticizing
Some of their shows are wild and feel like they come straight out of the mind of the most rabid racists out there
Facts
I thought it was clear that BET was for white people in much the same way as mainstream rap music. It plays on the stereotypes because that's more profitable with a white audience. Chappelle talked about how real racists loved his show without realizing the critique that was occuring.
There was an old Onion article where the KKK buys BET and changes nothing.
The Boondocks isn’t directly criticizing many behaviors, really. It’s more about criticizing mindsets and how ideologies manipulate those mindsets and create destructive behaviors and outcomes.
It criticizes adults that are unaware or unwilling to become aware of how their mindsets enable these behaviors in both themselves and the children they influence.
The point of the show is that these mindsets are so clearly destructive, that a child like Huey thinking responsibly is seen as being a recluse and anti-social.
@@jrodri14ii you're right, boiling it down to just behaviors is a bit reductionist
like if some guy is acting like an asshole and you leave it at that instead of looking into his past and realizing that he isn't an asshole he was just raised by assholes and believes acting like an asshole is normal so he behaves "normally" but we all just see him as the asshole
it's more about the mindset behind the behaviors that the boondocks is critical of
I liked how Huey snapped out of his BET induced trance the second he changes the channel to something educational.
The scene was pretty genius too.
He didn't switch to the news or anything like that, he switched to a nature documentary about lions.
Something that is simultaneously African buy also doesn't involve any visible humans, thus making it clear that it was the educational part the brought him back.
I once heard an interview with Nick Stewart (Lightnin’ from *Amos ‘n’ Andy*) from the mid-1960s where he pointed out that TV at the time would rather do stories about animals than Black people.
nigga put on the animal planet
Yeah, it was like someone threw a bucket of cold water in his face. The result was instantaneous.
I'm a white guy and I've never watched BET but from what I've heard about it just sounds like the country music channel of black people I.E. something that panders to surface-level identity without actually talking about anything new.
The one thing I heard about was the movie "Karen" where they took the concept of Karens and made it about racism to sell it to black people.
This is spot on tbh.
Good comparison.But the issue is the actual damage and impact this type of media has on the community in question. BET is toxic and designed to keep the system of self oppression standing. A country music channel does the same thing, maybe but it preserves a system of power and privilege.
karens are racism. lol
I saw a commercial on the network once that basically turned me off from the entire thing. The commercial had one line akin to "black people can do anything white people can but better."
Personally, I find it disgusting. Morally, I find it reprehensible. Objectively, it's indefensible.
BET used to be cool and actually fun celebrating black culture but this is pretty much true.
I feel like Boondocks was the last cultural phenomenon to warn the black community of what modern media is trying to turn them into. A bunch of stereotypes.
As a black person who’s constantly consuming black media with this message, you need to get out more😂. Like my assumption is that you are either a non-black person who has NO clue what black people consume except for what you see in the few spaces you are in with black people or that you are black, but like… the kind with only white firends, maybe even a white parent or two, or goes to a pwi, has no black coworkers etc 😂
@@HarringtonsApocyblack dude here with black family and coworkers. Most most media consumed now do nothing but stereotypes. Cardi B, sexxyred, most of the big black shows being about gangs, hip hop or race. Our entertainment basically became the stereotypes boondocks warned of
Have you seen they cloned Tyrone
@@ColbraxCardi B tried to make nonsexual music but folks wasn't vibing it. She addressed this and said it's part of the reason she went back to making sexual music.
@@rerenanabananaSo she sold out like 75% of musicians.
Lets put it this way, boondocks was never wrong about anything they discussed. Enough said
S4 idk 🤷♂️
Uncle Ruckus is always right
@@ALASTOR101. dude said slavery didnt exist. I know u dont understand the meaning of the show.
@@throwaway147Meanwhile the people you find rational are trying to get 12 year old white kids to take responsibility for slavery.
@@throwaway147 Uncle Ruckus is always right. Sorry, but he's never been wrong about anything. How could he be wrong?
Unpopular opinion, alot of black ppl dnt fk with BET, back in the day it was cool almost coming up like how MTV was and then I think they switched owners or something and you could see the decline. Then they started adding canceled black TV shows no new episodes to the channel. There are so many networks for white ppl most of them, we just wanted BET to produce shows that really represent us and actually stand behind it so it doesn't get cancelled. There's numerous of black celebs that have worked for them and don't have nice things to say. Ijs maybe Aaron was on to something...
When I was around middle school I used to Watch BET all the time around the 2009s and then when Bow-Wow took over 106 and Park is when I stopped watching tbh.
I check Bet now and again but only when someone else have it on.
Wtf are white people networks? Just because the characters aren’t all black or don’t say the nword doesn’t make a show white lmao
God, I miss the days when wanting segreation was a bad thing.
That is your issue. "We want shows for us", that sentence is your smoking gun, and why BET can do as it does. Your "us" are "black people"....but have you even thought was is a "black person"? From my perspective what is a "white person"? I hail from the original Ukrainian people, before the Cossacks. What is similar from me to a dutchman, to a brittish man? It's all skin deep. Skin is an important factor humans use to distinguish groups, but this leads to that issue in the first place. "us". When "us" is only ever skin deep, not cultural, not value based, not even region based, it will end as hollow as it started. Your "us" should be the shared culture of the people around you that you agree with and share with, regardless of external factors. So long as "us" to you remains skin deep, it will never last.
To further illustrate my point...do you watch African tv? A lot of it is English, or French, but do you? No? Because it doesn't represent you. The "so many white people networks" is a result of numbers, and roll the dice enough and that's what you end up with more of.
Divisive if you let it just be skin deep, nonrepresentative if you let the inclusion get too big, it feels like a catch 22 no? Genuinely, if you want a solution, here's an example. Theater. Having smaller theater allows the local culture to show, and doesn't need to force discriminatory boundaries that divide, since those preforming will be locals to that culture.
They got bought out by Viacom, which is, you guessed it, run by a bunch of geriatric, white, out-of-touch, farts
As a Black millennial; there was a lot of "Black"shows that portrayed a lot stereotypes that hurt the perception of Black people. Tyler Perry is also another entity that has added to the problem. Luckily today; we have many creative Black voices like Jordan Peele; who make movies with Black characters and not, "Black Movies".
is TP also gay?
No show is gonna hurt the perception of black people a racist is just racist they don't need justification for their anti blackness
@@aceous99 maybe 😅
I'm black and his movies are pretty dull.
Keep in mind though his goal is to give black people a voice in horror though. I get you though.
BET I S a plague on this planet that needs to be eradicated: There, I said it for you. The Boondocks comic strip was much more political than the TV version, but I can assure Aaron McGruder is not the first Black man to take issue with BET's low brow content. BET's quality has ebbed and flowed since it 1st became available to me in 1988, but the downturn was noticeable after it was sold to Viacom in 2000.
Idk why this creator is acting brand new…
Viacom has been accussed of racism several times...🤔
I have never seen an educational show on BET. I've always found that disparaging especially considering I've been watching BET since like the mid-80s up until around 98 and I just gave up. The music and the messages that were presented to us changed drastically. The network also began to fall into many stereotypes that seem to breed.
I remember Donnie Simpson being a host on a bet show where he sat down with artists and had articulate interviews.
I agree... we had to sit there and watch it devolve... the first through 6 or 7 years was phenomenal, each year digressively less though, we didn't have alternatives, and the later BET2 for sure doesn't count... I also don't think BET needed educational shows though, they just should NOT have purposely allowed themselves to devolve, another comment spoke how eloquent Donnie Simpson was... they gave us people to look up to and learn from, then they removed them slowly but consistently... the first 6-8 years are BETs golden age.... the silver age was miniscule... maybe a year or three...
So I wasn't a crazy kid for not enjoying BET? Honestly just felt bored then ever..
I mean the word "entertainment" is literally in the name so I wouldn't expect the to be educational shows but
I will defend the function BET filled with a quote i heard regarding George Lopez as a Mexican comedian. BET was necessary to be black entertainment so entertainment could so happen to be black. Original George Lopez quote: "George Lopez was a Mexican comedian so we could have Comedians that so happened to be Mexican"
Aaron has had beef with BET since the mid 90s. Readers of the college comic strips know. His criticisms of the programming were not invalid. How that played out over time is unfortunate though.
BET doesn't air anything that is intelligent or reduces ignorant ass behavior in it's black audience. That needs to be shut down.
Why not valid
@@brandonandujar2289 He said "not invalid"
It's not just the cartoon, the comic strip was much harsher than the show ever got.
The likelihood that anybody high up at BET actually read those is not high because that would involve reading.
@@Attmay i highly doubt Mr Mcgruder was doing it for them...
@@Attmay Lmao did you miss the part in the video where they clearly responded to him? Whether they read the comics or not, they still knew what he was saying. You dumb mfs always trying to throw a monkey wrench into something.
I grew up watching BET in the 106 and park era. I fell off as I got older because African American media around that time was dominated by Tyler perry and his merry troop of black actors that he throws money at to keep in his projects.
And tyler perry has had a bit of an exaggerated and unrealistic portrayal of what black families and communities are like and that's pretty much been BETS identity till now. Just Tyler Perry.
That and he makes being black and successful look like your constantly at odds with your wife, one of your friends is a borderline predator, the other is lazy but funny, and your the man. Have the job and all the drama.
It's just so damn goofy.
Long and Short BET has always exaggerated african American culture for profit and Mr. Perry refined it. Like his shows dominate BET+
That how they want your life to be, they're programming you.
Sounds like black people who are racist against other black people
As a black person I never understood the Tyler Perry movies and never cared for them much like BET why did he do all those things that you mentioned?
@@albertthepeacock8020 To make money. He became a millionaire off of his plays and shows and since BET has been starved for content pretty much since its inception, Tyler perry is who they mainly fall on to this day
I disagree, the things he shows in his plays/movies are things that happen in black households just about all the time. What I think is that he can't make good movies (plays are better), and he's rehashing the same stuff over and over.
Bet is still to this day mocked but praised for essentially fucking up the youth but helping the black community in the worse way possible. Promoted them as individuals that early 70’s and 80’s black communities fought against. Wild times.
Let's be honest the boondocks was kind of prophetic. When boondocks came out BET wasnt as bad as they portrayed it to be. Watch boondocks now in 2023 and watch BET in 2023 and BET is 10 pounds of shit in a 4 pound bag
Lol it was definitely that bad when Boondocks premiered. Have you never seen BET after dark? Or Creflo Dollar’s bitch ass every Sunday morning? Bet’s been shit since the late 90’s
Nah BET was just as bad as they portrayed it always. I only watched Comic view and once in a really rare while 106&Park. But around all that the channel was the filth of black ppl.
Not wrong, I remember reading the comic strip in college and then watched some various BET adjacent content from my folks that talked about the "offensive" and "controversial" Boondocks due it dropping the n-word. I think the press just made more folk like myself look it up. I think in the end, the channel (like majority of cable) became the delineation between Black Boomers and everyone after.
Take a shot every time "BET" is said.
You want to kill someone?
I'm fighting for my life rn
Alcohol poisoning, followed by death
Bet
Dude he's said it like 20 times already in less than 2 minutes... are you trying to kill ppl?
Huey Freeman, in trying to deal with bet or rather trying to reform it or stop it, was absolutely demoralized and hit hard. It totally makes sense to the creators of the show probably went through a similar experience
Funny how one woman in that episode says that to her BET stood for "Black _Evil_ Television" rather than "Black _Entertainment_ Television" as if BET was evil.
Booties
Everywhere
Twerking
BET is the reason why we have modern African American culture. I dont blame them for hating BET.
Something people of all races can agree on. “Black Culture” sucks. People need to stop thinking of themselves as Black or White and start identifying as Americans. That’s what the Italians, Jews, Scotts, and Irish did, and now they’re all considered “White” by most.
oh you mean social programming.
Not the sole reason, but it didn't help.
@@josie6564rap
Nah it wasn’t the whole reason
I wouldn't say that they used UPN as a stand in for BET. That's a heck of a stretch considering that at that point, they were like BET but for broadcast.
Bruh UPN itself by the 2000s felt like “BET for poor people” only broken up by WWE and Star Trek. And daytimes of the affiliates were just as bad with shows like “Jerry Springer” and “Maury” making up the schedule
Yup, at the time UPN felt like a sister channel to BET. As a matter of fact The Parkers were a BET spinoff of UPN'S Moesha.
@@BobaFetish2124moesha get it right
@@raw5889 Sorry, auto-correct.
UPN- U Pick a Nigga Network 😂😂😂😂
I really can't blame Aaron in some aspects it's true they put on Tyler Perry then BET Music came along and fuck all of that up
The Return of the King have a valid point BET is a corporate contradiction
I always wondered as a kid why the channel rubbed me the wrong way. I never identified with many of the shows personally bc I was a nerdy black kid and none of the "stereotypes" these hows portrayed resonated with me. If anything, it only made growing up rougher when I associated with other black kids or even non-black ones.
Good on Boondocks for calling them out 😂
It really boiled down to the dwindling Quality of that Network over the decades and The Boondocks called it out
BET is garbage, Boondocks had the balls to say it out loud.
McCgruger was a comedic genius...the show captured black irony and face the truth and reality of black culture through the comedy
It’s not hard to see why it hates the channel. It perpetuates all the stereotypes good and bad, but especially the bad
Bilibili is China's BET these days
Boondocks would HATE Zeus if it came out now. It's far worse than BET ever was lol
what is zeus
Zeus??😊
I didn’t know the boondocks had beef with Greek gods
@@starb1ight it's the network that makes the most ratchet reality shows like Baddies etc
Js y'all know, Zeus Network is modern black TV and hosts shows like Baddies including the tumors that are Natilie Nunn and Chrishean Rock..
Aaron McGruder talked extensively about BET in his newspaper comic strip, "The Boondocks." I'm several minutes into this video and his detailed takedowns of BET or "butts every time" aren't mentioned. I'm pretty sure if you wanted to know Aaron McGruder's objections you'd start with his written work.
That’s like taking a video about *The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show* and calling that a comprehensive look at all of Peanuts.
@@Attmay The Boondocks was a newspaper strip for a long time before the TV show, and they had a LOT to say about BET.
Man don't expect people to actually read these days. We can't have well researched opinions up in here.
I watched BET in the late 80s and early 90s especially to see Donnie Simpson's "Shoot for the moon and even if you miss you'll be among the stars". The network missed the mark just by not looking up around them and taking a risk on content. The History Channel and The Learning Channel all followed the same formula and produced garbage because that makes the most money. I would have loved to see them pioneer history, art, science, literature, and other meaningful subjects to get the youth to dream bigger. I hated the fact that I was in my 40s when I learned about the Harlem Hellfighters, the Tulsa Massacre, and Katherine Johnson. Move over Bill Nye the science guy, I would've totally have watched "Neil deGrasse and his science ass" to learn about physics. How about a mini series period piece about Charles R. Drew? BET became the intellectual equivalent of a food desert with endless corner stores but it could have been a lush bountiful Eden. But that's just my thought.
you could look at something like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, it was black people but it had nothing to do with being black just good characters in a slice of life comedy
@adj788
The fresh prince was 100% about being black. it was about a poor black guy moving into his rich black relatives an they dont act the same due to money and lifestyle. its a comparison of culture and lifestyle based entirely on being black. with many episodes focusing on black issues.
@@xeykdeyk I think what they meant was the overall premise of fresh prince. It was a rags to riches story that didn't have to be about black people. Some of the Will and Carlton dynamic, especially early on, was about black identity in a predominantly affluent white area, and they did address it occasionally, but it wasn't the show's central theme
I'm sure there were episodes that dealt with that but it wasn't a central theme of the show @@xeykdeyk
If Boondocks continued after season 4 and acted like the season 4 finale never existed and was just a bad dream, then the Boondocks would have made an episode or 2 making fun of the Lifetime Channel.
To me, the change from Bob Johnson owning BET, to Viacom ownership was when it became the worst version of itself. Any original programing was a copy-paste version of what was on MTV. 106 and Park, College Hill, etc were just TRL and The Real World clones. Once upon a time BET had nightly news, HBCU sports showcase and a Rap City that actually played a variety of artists, not what was just on Viacom and Clear Channel.
I’m black and a fan of Boondocks. I’ve watched BET. But never been a defender of it. Just what was on. I used to think it had something contrived to it. Could never put my finger on it. Honestly reading real books (not all fiction) as well as books of different ethnicities and cultures is healthier than the stereotypes that TV would often serve.
To me there was very little substance on that network even when I was a little kid something was just artificial feeling about the network
@@Scornfull I was always thinking that, but was way too afraid to mention it around other folks of color. But at the time the thing that bothered me was how it was always being sold as, “Aw yeah! White entertainment been doin’ it like that but now we gat da power to do the damn thang betta - just cuz, that’s our genetic ace in da muthafuckin’ hole yo….” As opposed to, ‘Okay. How do we spotlight our cultures brand of entertainment in a productive light - while avoiding the miasma of regurgitated replicated formulas?’
The way Aaron McGruder put it about B.E.T. at that time, [paraphrasing] "MTV, VH1 and all of American media show Black people in a negative light. Why is the most well known Black Network doing the same?"
And he wasnt wrong. B.E.T. got rid of its positive programming like _Teen Summit_ and whatnot, and would still play _Uncut_ a couple hours before playing *church* on Sundays. Also that comment one episode made about taking shitty MTV shows from 5 years earluer and creating Black versions of them was spot on.
B.E.T. has gotten better as far as I can tell, and I think the rightful criticism they'd gotten was a huge part of that.
They got rid of BET Jazz. That fucking killed me. I loved it.
your short led me here, that was a good way to attract people to your channel
Same
As I teenager I thought this show was hilarious. I still find it hilarious as an adult, but it's for a different reason now.
BET got worse when they got bought by Viacom (now Paramount) in 2001 and became black MTV
MTV wasn’t even MTV anymore by that point.
BET was sold to Viacom back in 2000 and that was when the drop off began.
For context upn aired very similar tv to bet at the time so the joke was just about upn not a stand in for bet
The Boondocks was just telling the truth about BET, what are you talking about!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This isn't a very informed description of what boondocks communicated about the messages portrayed in black television.
How so?
@@ChaseDaOrk3767 It's a very mild review for the most part, really no crticism one way or the other
@@tomsnowden6201 it says nothing about what was ever actually on BET at any point in time, specifically which shows made Aaron McGruder dislike it.
@@Attmay I think it touched on his friend going to work for BET or something..It doesn't take much to see why BET sucks but you're right, if you're gonna do a video on it you should do it right.
@@tomsnowden6201exactly. it just comes off as a wishy-washy wikipedia entry of a celeb controversy despite being 10 mins long
As a non-American Boondocks is the only reason I've ever even heard about BET. I remember being extremely shocked to find out that everything is so racialised in the US that you even have whole TV channels *explicitly* marketed towards a specific race, which in Europe would be considered extremely strange, racist, and off-putting.
When they air 'black' stuff like Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and whatnot over here, they just show it on regular TV channels.
Fresh prince has aired on a lot of channels over the years. BET exists in America because there is a unique and identifiable black culture in America.
@@ChronicUnderachiever420 Yeah I suppose that makes sense, it just feels weird from an outsider poiny of view that they'd be so *explicit* about it, literally calling the channel *Black* Entertainment, lmao
The US expresses individuality over a greater national identity. So if someone were to say move to your country you'd probably expect them to gradually adapt to your culture and become a member of your country. In the US the expectation isn't there. So there is individual racial culture, religious culture, and all sorts of various groups and subcultures entirely independent of National Identity
@@axis1247 I think it would be more accurate to describe American culture as comprised of many sub-cultures, which share overarching themes.
@@DaveGrean calling a person or a cultural product “black” isn’t derogatory. It’s how black Americans refer to themselves and a more accurate term than “African American.” Many black Americans have literally zero “African” identity.
I'll be honest. I am currently a thirty five year old white person. When boondocks first came on the air. I was a young teenager and I loved it . I really associated with Huey because of his understanding to look at the world for what it really is not what the world tries to tell you it wants to be. . And I appreciate that brash and honest acceptance and the ability to be able to just say the truth without fear. Something that a lot of people. Don't have the ability to do. Either because society or their own culture tells them that it's wrong to speak your mind. But he never had that. And a lot of the things that he pointed out are actually issues that I had noticed in my life but never noticed anyone actually bringing them up. But things that Can apply to everyone regardless of what your race or background is. Issue such as the economy. Bad neighbors. Scam charities. And that 1 person In the neighborhood that nobody likes. But nobody feels as though they can call them out because they'd all feel bad. Things like the issue of class. In particular when we see ed wuncler the 3rd. A rich guy who could have the world served to him on a platter. But decides to live as though he wants to be in Poverty and involved in crime. In fact His own grandfather. Put it best when he was talking with robert. " In fifteen years that Boy is going to be the next president of the united states. And he'll still be a fing idiot! You and me robert were of the old school." And granddad Freeman recognizing game recognizes game simply. Agrees and Raises a glass with him. In a toast to the old school. Because both of these men had seen what the world had done, they had put in their time, they had succeeded in their lives all well, running things in the old way of the old school. But that Moment also signifies that the old school ways were ending. That a new school was starting. One that would have people like huey and to a lesser extent, Riley( Boy has good business sense And good talent for Spray can art ) who were intelligent Free thinkers. And people like gin rummy and ed the 3rd who are complete and total idiots.
"Looking too deep..." Nah brah, not deep enough, you have 0 understanding how the people who were aware and actually experienced BET felt. Aaron is not wrong at all... There is no reason to try to understand why no one "Should think highly of BET". Your examples are off base and come from an "outside" looking in perspective. I don't know your nationality/race/ethinicity, but an entire people got to watch a ship sink, a huge and important ship, of it's own doing, for over 2 decades... We did not have an alternative, so we all got to watch it sink together.
And every other cable channel aimed at the same demographic follows the same template.
Vids like these is what I don’t like about this era of content we live in. Anybody with a computer can make content about a topic they wasn’t even around for.
I mean it’s pretty obvious why they hated BET. IDK if this is still the case, but at least back then all it did was promote negative stereotypes. And agreed. Even though they were making jokes, doesn’t mean there wasn’t a message. Boondocks often had a message in their comedy… which then went over a lot of peoples heads lol. I mean in the episode where the CEO of BET is Dr Evil he basically spells it out for you that he thinks the network is a detriment to the black community and is pandering to the lowest common denominator and therefore “making people stupid.” I honestly feel the exact same way about shows like keeping up with the Kardashians. Like 1.) this is what we’re glamorizing? And 2.) I feel like it’s making it’s viewers stupid and look up to idiots. Plus I personally don’t find a bunch of spoiled girls showing off their money and whining on the couch entertaining. I guess some people do tho.
Uncle ruckus was 102% African with a 2% margin of error
I watched BET in early 2000s. Boondocks nailed it.
That was very clever when roasting BET. I was laughing uncontrollably at the hunger strike. The show is clever satire.
It’s always interesting to see this kind of stuff from an outsider perspective.
Like, there’s a particular kind of rights advocate (across basically any oppressed group) Who is nonetheless highly critical of what they perceive is the worst aspects of their own culture
As a queer person nothing in boondocks resonated with me more than “You may wonder why you bother sometimes, but at the end of the day they’re your people.”
Fellow queer reporting in and god ain't that the truth
I totally get it. I found stuff like RuPaul's Drag Race to be total trash. I saw an animated queer comedy on Netflix called Super Drags and it was the most annoying, obnoxious, stupid thing I'd seen in ages. I know camp is part of queer culture, but sometimes it gets really grating. I sometimes wish for more serious reflection.
Q--r is a slur.
Say Gay or say nothing.
Your use of the Q-slur is verbal violence against Gay men and Lesbians and is a reflection of the same internalized homophobia that sellout shit like RPDR represents.
Netflix is gr00mer trash. They even ruined Julie Andrews. B--h used a kid’s show to promote tr-nscult propaganda.
Yet another reason they should have given the Oscar to Audrey Hepburn for *My Fair Lady.*
Nice vid. A lotta points I didn't think about watching the show
His script was 80% BET.
i feel like looking at the comics too also has a lot of good examples. Aaron has been drilling BET from the jump lol
Funny thing? Remember that "Karen" film from 2021? BET made it for their streaming service! Yup. The Boondocks is still on the money when it comes to BET.
Not gonna lie I tried to watch BET but kinda felt bored after an hour.. but I gotta agree with Huey (if he was ever real) media can make a person more stupid as part of the norm. Show enough violence then they won't be as phased (Probably). Wouldn't be surprised if a media channel does that for a profit cause it gets more people on couches watching.
The Boondocks is basically Thomas Sowell lectures in animated comedy format.
Martin Luther personally roasting BET was peak Boondocks, that show was amazing.
I can't watch BET because I'm white 😢
Don’t worry it’s 2023 you can be transblack now.
@@gerardomartinez3920I laughed to hard at this
Typical white logic
“Itd be racist if we had a WET!”
@@gerardomartinez3920 Joey Lawrence was ahead of his time.
Crazy what’s going on now with BET they loosely predicted it. Genius
Man I wish we could get a new season.
this is a really well made video man i hope you keep making more
We need to make a drinking game for Everytime he says BET (im not responsible for your death if you actually do this btw)
I don’t really remember what was on BET much but from what I remember, it perpetuates negative stereotypes of black people like it’s nothing.
Who buys advertising space on the network? That would answer a lot of questions about who is really pulling the strings and what their motivations are. But this video doesn’t focus on that, it just goes around in contextless circles saying what we already know: BET is racist.
The word "blaxplotation" existed for a reaaon.
Its a shame its kinda disappeared from the vocabulary since thats what BET was, just like the movies "airplaine" and "barbershop".
one of my black friends described B.E.T. in the late 2000's as "the black ignorance channel"
My high schools cafeteria TVs always had BET on. One time a white guy tried to change it and he got beat up pretty badly.
What was he trying to change it to?
@@Attmay
Doesn't matter. He was just some white guy that couldn't fight and had no back up.
Amanda Waller: “Anything else?”
Killer Croc: “BET.”
If riley has been effected by BET and he is still intelligent enough to start several lucrative businesses and be a markettinf wizard... the fuck do you think he would be capable of if he stopped? Huey was on it less than a year and he was practically brain dead..
And ontop of that be a very talented freehand artist. (Spatial awareness, pattern recognition and hand eye coordination have to be Off the charts.. fluid IQ at least 110 to 115)
"What is this, a moon shoe? I'm not walking on the moon, I'm walking to the liquor store."
Nah, The point isn't black television that's bad. It's the fact that for a long time, BET was happy to amplify voices of the most ignorant amongst us. Given the time period the boondocks was made, which was during the time of BET was at its height but doing this, it makes sense why the show took the stance it did. Black television is bad, but trashy black television is.
As a non white european this concept of my color skin being what defines a TV Channel is... curious to see the least.
You could X out the in shot logo by watching like a 1 min ad bro, props to you for making it work with what you got
If you think the show was unsubtle about it's BET hatred, you should check out the comics. Huey might even hate BET more that George Lucas after episode 1.
Boondocks was and still remains correct. The eerie Simpsons effect.
To a lesser note this was also a parody of Super Size Me, that documentary in which a guy ate at McDonalds every day for a month. Gaining crazy weight and apparently suffering mentally because of it. Some people tried to recreate it and while yes people did gain weight it wasn't anywhere near as bad as the documentary and no one suffered the mental health issues the guy in the documentary was claiming. I know this is all about BET sucking as a network I just wanted to point that part out.
I like the small detail that Huey became more like Riley and sounded more like Riley as he watched BET.
0:14 They ain't taking shots they're preaching the truth.
Boondocks knew back then if only people took the lesson
Was never a fan of BET, but explained by my late grandmother: BET was never "owned by black folk" all the funding came from white folk who got their say in what would air. The only title BET owns really is that the first "publicly stated 'black owned' network" and just used that title moving forward as some badge of honor.
Hearing a *very* white guy analyze a black show that itself is analyzing the black community is a surreal experience and im all for it
The Parkers was/is a pretty good show actually.
5:10 that guy in a prison jumper dancing is something a pneumonia sufferer couldn't dream up.
UPN was an actual channel as well. It aired alot of black shows on a local level as opposed to BETs cable TV.
Everytime I turn on BET I see a show that feels like something a 50 year old white guy would think black people would enjoy.
You don't have to justify that a comedy show can criticize or make statements.
Also you're breaking down the evidence too much. A lot of the criticism was on the nose.
Just came from your short bro!
If I drank a shot of vodka every time you repeated yourself, I would die of liver failure.
The information in this video could be conveyed in five or six minutes. Instead, it’s over 11 minutes because reasons. I don’t think Helen Reddy sang “leave me alone” that much in that song she quit show business just to get out of singing as this guy says BET.
probably because BET is not exactly lifting up it's own community
You want uplift, get a bra.
I enjoyed the sitcoms growing up. I’d watch all the sitcoms that aired on tv back then. I still have fond memories of My Wife & Kids, Family Matters, The Jeffersons, and Fresh Prince. There might’ve been others I’m forgetting. I’m a bit of a sucker for sitcoms. If I wasn’t watching the children’s channels, I was watching a sitcom of sorts. Sometimes I might’ve disagreed with the messages in shows, but that happened with just about any show I consumed if I had watched enough episodes of it. I never really watched the movies on the BET channel so I can’t say anything there. I didn’t watch the music on the channel either. I exclusively watched the sitcoms when they were on.
Nooo. The reason they used Upn.. Because at the time UPN was another channel that syndicated B.E.T and very similar to B.E.T Shows. They are better known for being the channel that Aired WWE Smackdown.
Came here from your short
Thanks for this info 💯
The way bet and other outlets Portray life in the hood is always soo one sided I’m from a middle class family born in the hood and have many experiences outside of what is normally showcased from a community garden to different brotherhoods that didn’t just revolve around gangs or drugs or crime or anything struggle related. It’s sad because a lot do fall victim to the hood mentality fed to us by such programming but many that leave even just once understand how much more there is and have a yearning to separate from what ever the stereotypical image they have been engulfed in.
I haven watched TV in a long time, so I don't know if it is true today, but the way BET was portrayed in the Boondocks was definitely not unusual compared to what many people's opinions on the network before at the time. I remember one of the funniest headlines I saw at the end of a video by The Onion (A company that made satirical news articles, parodies of various cable TV news shows, and even funny, fictional audio "news" segments in the form of the Onion Radio News. And one of their video segments ended with a headline that said something like "Acquisition of BET by the Ku Klux Klan results in no changes to programming"
UPN was an actual station that aired mainly black shows
owww this show was as acid as it was B E A U T I F U L ♥
but as a foreginer... i never understood what a "B.E.T" was so i jsut assumed it was a hiphop channel with the usual toxic culture we get pumped down here... thanks for the context. now the episode makes even more sense and is funnier
The entertainment industry is full of scum, so when someone throws this kinda shade, I trend to believe it
Boondocks is a black show so to say Mcgruder feels some kind of negativity towards black shows is poor analysis. As an intellectual looking to uplift his people, Huey sees BET in the same light as world star and rap music videos, only on a bigger scale. Well done video and Boondocks is amazing, everyone should watch!