This is actually a revival, not a new story. Yeah, it’s a bit tired, but there’s a lot of other Black characters in the show. She’s certainly not the sole representation of Black women in the story, nor does she fall into the trope of a mammy figure.
This is so reductive. The whole point of the show is to centre the black maid that is so often the side character in media and merely there to support the journey of their white employer. It also subverts the angry black woman trope by giving the character plenty of very good reasons to be so angry all the time, you'd struggle not be to angry when you're a single mother of four with no prospects thanks to a society that failed you while you're being subject to micro-aggressions all day by your carelessly racist employers. In essence the show is an ode to all those struggling black mothers who had to sacrifice their own dreams but in doing so could afford their children the ability to bring about a brighter future. I know that so often black stories centre on trauma and pain and suffering, and it would be nice to get more stories that centre black joy and success, but the show is not all doom and gloom and it ends triumphantly with hope for the future. I'm not trying to say the show is flawless or that there aren't things to critique in its portrayal of black people (or Jewish people for that matter) - when you aim to subvert tropes and stereotypes you inevitably run the risk of falling into those stereotypes instead - but I think to dismiss it as another black "maid" story is to do a disservice to a show that has a lot to say and deserves to be treated with more nuance.
both are brilliant
Love these. I love Cassie Levy. Thank you very much
Great work!!!!!!
Another Black “maid” story…hmmm
This is actually a revival, not a new story. Yeah, it’s a bit tired, but there’s a lot of other Black characters in the show. She’s certainly not the sole representation of Black women in the story, nor does she fall into the trope of a mammy figure.
Ikr...
It's so much more than that.
This is so reductive. The whole point of the show is to centre the black maid that is so often the side character in media and merely there to support the journey of their white employer. It also subverts the angry black woman trope by giving the character plenty of very good reasons to be so angry all the time, you'd struggle not be to angry when you're a single mother of four with no prospects thanks to a society that failed you while you're being subject to micro-aggressions all day by your carelessly racist employers. In essence the show is an ode to all those struggling black mothers who had to sacrifice their own dreams but in doing so could afford their children the ability to bring about a brighter future. I know that so often black stories centre on trauma and pain and suffering, and it would be nice to get more stories that centre black joy and success, but the show is not all doom and gloom and it ends triumphantly with hope for the future. I'm not trying to say the show is flawless or that there aren't things to critique in its portrayal of black people (or Jewish people for that matter) - when you aim to subvert tropes and stereotypes you inevitably run the risk of falling into those stereotypes instead - but I think to dismiss it as another black "maid" story is to do a disservice to a show that has a lot to say and deserves to be treated with more nuance.
Stfu this was written by a Pulitzer Prize winner and is about HER. It’s not the help.