Rushing the mother through the trauma was a message in itself. Often, black women don’t get the time to grieve or live through their trauma. On the other hand, the husband thought he was doing the right thing by moving the family to a new situation and what he believed to be a better situation. That was my takeaway from these part of the show. As a married man, I could definitely relate to the husband’s mistakes. I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Some of the subplots were unnecessary, but I felt it was a good show nevertheless.
The husband didn't make any mistakes. He moved because he got an engineering job with the company in California. They both had suffered terrible traumas, him from experiments done on him during the war and her from the terrorizing of the South. It was the REALTOR who actually showed him the home and moved him into an all white neighborhood, which she knew would be hostile having them live there. They were however, flipping the neighborhood and paying the police to keep the peace which is called BLOCK BUSTING a very real thing. People are mad at this series because they don't know their own history.
I definitely agree with everything you’re saying. Especially on the fact of why people aren’t liking the show. However, even though the realtor did sell him the home, he has family in California. He should’ve asked them for advice. In my experience, that’s what we do anyways when we move somewhere and family is there. Also, when I say mistakes I am not only talking about the husband’s decision to move the family to a new location. There were other mistakes the husband made throughout the show that in my experience I could relate to.
It did seem like a mistake to move his wife and kids into a white neighborhood after the trauma his wife faced at the hands of the white men and woman in episode 5. I would think that they would want to be far away from white folks knowing how cruel they are. Also, you’re right about asking family before moving into a neighborhood. I assume he may have thought that the California whites were different from the southern whites but a quick call to his cousin and he would have found out that they are all the same.
Yeah, this video is a lot of nitpicking without attempting to understand the plot much less the subtext. I think it's ridiculous to watch a horror show and be mad that you didn't get a happy payoff. Black life was just a big ball of endurance in the 50s and this was afterall the generation raised by parents who were raised by slaves. Add to that the toxicity of manhood in the 50s, this is the realest depiction of what would happen to a woman struggling from rape trauma. The father meanwhile thinks that upward mobility and respectability is the best thing he can give his kids, that's why he moves them there but once there they are trapped by the mortgage. The teenage girl is haunted by a spirit that teaches her that her skin is inferior. The younger girl is haunted by a spirit that tells her that her mother is inadequate. These are both statements on internalization of misogynoir but all this RUclipsr can think about is "it's a bad message that they are judging their mothers mental illness". ITS NOT AN AFTER SCHOOL SOECIAL. ITS A HORROR!
Let’s say the tables were turned and a scene showed a white baby being spun around over and over and slung on the floor until the blood seeped through. I am sure the production would have been pulled if it ever even made it on screen in the first place.
I thought the husband was gonna shoot that white pregnant lady in her womb after being called the N-Word to teach that white dude a lesson but didn’t go that far.
@@seanmcclanahan9366 I thought many times during the series when the antagonists went too far that there would be a recourse but there wasn’t. Such a let down. This is right in line with the experience for melanated people in America. I keep thinking that an ill action from the oppressor will result with a serious counter but then I look up there’s not much of a recourse. So disappointing.
@I'm a gamer I agree. I just look for the day when people of color stop selling their souls by doing the devils deeds for a pay check. This behavior is prevalent in so many aspects of life beyond entertainment. It’s in politics and street culture just to name a few. It’s really old.
Anytime I see Lena’s name on anything, I know it’s about to be some bullshit. Idk what her problem is but her whole identity as a “creative artist” is rooted in black trauma.
Your opinion is valid. I think Lena did better with The Chi and her show “20s” as it’s not centered in that thank goodness. Probably why I like those more. Couldn’t make it through the first episode of “Them” though.
I walked out of the room when the mother was being raped in episode 5. Who wants to watch a woman being raped and a baby being brutally murdered for play?I understand that these things happened but there's a point where it doesn't need to be displayed.
@@justnessaaa1459 they could've shown then breaking in the house. Then shown through flashbacks what happened to the baby with the cut shots of her face to tie it together.
It was truly horrific and gut wrenching ... why did they not seek revenge? I desperately wanted the satisfaction of seeing those killers suffer and pay 🥺😡
I was hoping that they show a flashback where the husband visited those people at night and killed each one of them military guerrilla style then moved his family to California
Showing racism it one thing.. Showing the violence from racism is another.. I’m almost cried in episode 5 .. I’m not sure who the target audience was for this .. I haven’t been this depressed in a watching a movie since Precious
After they killed the baby, not sure I can watch anymore. I would not even want to tell others about the show and risk them having to deal with more trauma. The actors here do an amazing job. I hope the children who were actors here, don't suffer any trauma.
I was most definitely triggered,but I couldn't stop watching because I was HOPING for a good ending where all the neighbors would either be burned up or laid out in the streets.
Nope I totally thought they were gonna take this damn family out in a blaze of gunfire at the rate this show was going! The ending was so anticlimactic so that really made me feel like it was all for nothing. I’m not about to sit here with a smile on my face as if this perseverance makes this family stronger🤨 “I need to speak to the manager “ 🤦🏾♀️😫
I totally agree with you. You can’t rush grief. Our people have a bad trait with this. When I lost my brother; People couldn’t see my trauma, and tried to make me get over it. And now, I’m no longer friends with those people nor have any relationships with my family members!
I agree that the show was definitely emotionally draining. However, I feel like the father trying to force the mother through her trauma was very realistic. I mean let’s be real the strong black woman role and honestly being a strong black person in general is real. We have to continue to push through traumatic experiences and there was no thing as mental health awareness and therapy back then. It was just shown as weakness, also I feel like the horror aspect of the show is what made it iffy some parts were rushed and not together. The storyline of ruby wanting to be white could’ve went somewhere because that is also realistic. I feel like the storyline had a lot of potential tbh just needed better directions ESPECIALLY in the horror aspect.
Yes the elements were there but the writing was off to me because they were trying to put every scenario into a 10 episode series when each individual story could have been a different season it is a anthology show. Thanks For Watching ❤️
Bro it was very realistic with Ruby wanting to be white and the family didn't fully know what happened to the mom so how could they fully help her. This reviewer honestly didn't understand what she was watching. Black people bashing black shows or movies but watched FRIENDS every week amazes me. I'm learning there's different forms of UNCLE TOMS LOL
@@StruggleReviewzTV yes there were some weird parts like the Betty milk man story and how sometimes they reused scenes and other things but I think my rating for the show is 8.5/10
The moment you said Lena Waithe I knew it would be some mess. Unpopular opinion but her work is trash. The hype from The Chi opened the wrong doors for her.
I agree, she loves to use black people to push homosexuality(nothing wrong with being gay) and trauma. There’s just always some sort of trauma in her storylines.
I never watched the Chi or movies like Queen and Slim because I just had a feeling I thought this would be different though with her just acting as producer but it clearly it wasn’t .
@@StruggleReviewzTV queen and Slim was terrible. I suggest you watch it just to dissect the way Lena Waithe depicts us as a people. Everything you said in this review mirrored a lot of what went on in that movie but without a horror spin.
I wish people would stop attaching Lena Waithe solely to THEM! This really is NOT her story being told. Its solely Little Marvin's story. And I absolutely loved every bit of it. Trauma or not. Its Racist smacked in your face. Why do people act like in 2021 that in the 40's that white people werent this vile, evil and racist🤷🏾♂️ If you're going to show racism back then. Then fucking show it and dobt dumb it down.
I would have you check it out yourself because everyone’s POV is different I had other content creators find humor in the show and the trauma “not that bad/ I’ve seen worse” or that favorite word THE SYMBOLISM! I personal didn’t see past what was front and center heavily displayed on screen. Thanks For Watching ❤️
It was sadistic watching it in my opinion. I believe some of these film, media makers and movie producers are purposely sucking us into participation in evil rituals while watching and engaging our spirits in what we are seeing. I was just saying the same thing about Tyler Perry’s ruthless series. It’s like these black writers who put this type of extreme trauma content out is part of the evil team who have sold their souls. I need to stop watching tv in general and pick up a book. Lol. I am tiiired.
Exactly. I stopped watching after the episode 5. That scene with the baby was just too triggering and I couldn’t. I wish I never started watching in the first place
I wouldn’t be surprised if they were media and music is very powerful sadly I always except more form our own people so I watched. It’s feeling like their trying to normalize and desensitize us to events like this. I only finished to see redemption and sadly there was none 😔
@@StruggleReviewzTV I see what your saying but a lot of ppl are already desensitized to things going on this world. People are dying everyday still. We are so divided as a people we think oh well not my issue I gotta worry about me. And it’s that...that keeps us desensitized. People are dying from hate everywhere not just in this country but in other countries as well why aren’t people doing anything about that? That’s normalizing it. Every time we hear about issues we just ignore it and go back to our creature comforts. Or we feel bad for two seconds then go back to the life we view as “normal” us as a people not doing anything right now to make the world a better place is normalizing terror.
The reason why it feels like some deliberate attempt to lure you into watching some evil ritual is because the writers assume you know your history and are familiar with the atrocities that black people faced in the 1950's. You clearly are not and obviously were not prepared for what you saw, which is basically the truth. Blacks were terrorized by whites in the South, not just the Klan, not just cross burnings but sadistic torture and senseless murder with impunity. The Army admitted to using black soldiers for experiments, which is why the father was so screwed up. Everything in the film was based on historical truths. Sounds like you have simply avoided that reality so now when you watch something real, it feels sinister and evil.
This hit different for me because it’s almost exactly how my family ended up here in California w/ my grandfather moving here from Georgia after he served in WWII
YAAAAAASSSSS!! Literally half of my family is in Louisiana and the other half in California. So I'm so familiar with the history of this that I thought the series was GREAT!
I completely agree! I also was so annoyed with the fact that so many things are not properly addressed either by the characters within the show or as a whole. Like when the boy is peeing on the sheets in the backyard and when she chases him down the street and the neighbors start attacking her, never does she just explain that she is chasing him because of that, to anyone, at any point! Then the whole disgusting "cat in the bag" fiasco... Who were those people? Why did they choose them?, How did they know that the family lived there with a baby, and that the father was gone at that time? And why would they do such a thing to complete strangers? It's like they get so cought up in the, "white people are evil" trope that they don't even try to explain it. They are just simply evil for no reason... Sorry but No. I did not like the show at all. I'm over this whole narrative. It is divisive, predictable and lacks anything new.
I don't see it as a trope, many times evil is visited upon black people simply because we exist, or they were unwanted in that area...i mean..a certain gunman recently entered a church..worshiped with black parishioners for hours, then slaughtered them for no apparent reason...then just like the case of many in this particular story, walked away unscathed..even offered a cheeseburger..the nail techs (i believe Asian women) were killed...gunned down for no apparent reason...i could on forever, but i digress...the idea that someone could be randomly evil to strangers without provocation (especially THEM) is a little laughable.
@@christanwatts9889 The definition of "Trope" is: a common or overused theme or device. So to me this is definitely a trope and one that is being fed over and over again to the black community in knowledge that it will be readily received and eaten up by viewers, who in reality have little to no chance of ever experiencing the levels of racism being touted in our current society. They are divisive lures that keep ignorant people focused on ignorance rather than seeing their own opportunity and forward movement. It boasts a victim mentality that is holding black people hostage against seeing what we have gained and is instead keeping us "stuck". On average, most black people live in a mild or peaceful co-existence with white people without issue. However, when shows like this are presented, added with the constant reporting on black men being killed by cops, and social media being riddled with home videos of racial discrimination against people of color, naturally we walk away feeling angry, ignored and triggered. Further dividing us and keeping us from seeing and being inspired by the leaps and bounds that we are making and have made. Why don't we know how many black students graduated from accredited colleges in the last few years? (#saytheirnames) Why don't we know who our local leaders are that aren't celebrities? (#saytheirnames) What about all of the gifted black children who haven't been gunned down and are on the path to become the next great Scientist, Mathematician, Psychologist, Philanthropist, Botanist and so on... Why are these stories never the ones that the news reports or the videos that break the internet? I'm not dismissing the tragedies that have occurred, but those pale in comparison to what is actually happening on a daily basis in the black community and we're missing it because we're so hungry to be angry at white people and looking for them to be our reason for being "just victims" when there is so much more going on within our community to celebrate. So what exactly did "THEM" offer us?
agreed , i'm sitting there like girl explain !!!!!! but i knew she would just put the stick down. Not like anyone would've believed her anyway. I'm only on episode 6 but it's like i can't take it
This review is on point! "Who was this for?" good question! I feel as though they put black faces on this with THEM people pulling strings behind the scenes. I could have done better things with my time than watch 10 episodes of this. And the only reason I watched all 10 was for the "big payback" in the end and it never came. Don't waste your time with this torture porn filth.
First of all Please stop sayin dumb shit. “Trauma porn” is a made up word with no concrete definition so you’re clearly just repeating what your heard. And secondly you and the black person that made this video and all the black people that agree are obviously missing the whole entire point of the “trauma” in the first place.
@@StruggleReviewzTV you obviously watched the series with the intent to judge based off of what you heard about it from it trending. I get so tired of black people like YOU using social media platforms to overshadow good depictions of what our people went through with negative feedback like it being “trauma porn” have you ever sat back with and elder that actually lived during the times of Jim Crow and the great migration?? I bet you wouldn’t dare tell them to stop talkin because they’re past isn’t as pretty as you would like to see or hear. The rape scene and the baby scene was very horrific but it was needed because people in today’s time have become ignorant to what our people with through and still going through. If you can’t stomach the truth you won’t teach it to your kids and they won’t teach it to theirs. And when history repeats itself (because racism has NEVER went away) boys are being shot dead for being in the wrong neighborhood till this day! So please think a little harder on the topic of discussion before you make a video cause you’re completely lost.
@@mrssmithh4312 I'm not black, and went into this series totally unaware and wanting to like it, cause I liked the movie US and the child actress was in here as well. Instead, I gave myself 2 anxiety attacks and was left wondering what is wrong with me, that I still kept watching, till episode 10. Please, stop preaching to others and start focusing on you. If 1 worthy message I got from this series, that's it.
@@deliaalvis2630 the series was about racism point blank period. Racism was not comfortable to those affected by it all these years so why should it be portrayed in a way that covers up the truth?
Chile- I live in “the most diverse suburb” of Texas and this show got me watching my neighbors extra close 👀👀👀 I don’t trust them and this show gave me anxiety 😂😂😂
I thought it was good. Intense... Yes! But nothing worse than I’ve seen before. I think a lot of it was symbolic. I started NOT to give it a chance but I’m glad I did. The main cast was PHENOMENAL as you stated🙌.
Rightttt.....these comments by black people are crazy. It's funny how hard we are on own people vs how we analyze white shows. This show in my opinion has so many more postives and the main cast should receive Golden Globes and dammit this not show anything like US or Get Out smh so tired of hearing that. Only black people would compare a black show to other black shows🙄
@@IamNateTaylor they sleep...racial trama? Bro what?! 😂 this show hit home in alot of scenes. I enjoyed it and it was what I thought “us” was supposed to be
I completely agree with you. I am a horror movie/show addict. I think to simply this series to overused tropes and unnecessary traumatic experiences is selling it short. Maybe it's an age difference but I feel that the horrific and "traumatic" events had to be shown. We have suffered 100 times worse than this as a people, they will never show on TV the complete atrocities suffered by us because it would be too traumatic for "them." But they attempt to delve into the surface and I feel that yes it hurts and yes there's no happy ending but does it still hurt today do we have a happy ending today then what exactly were you expecting from it. A false sense of comfort and reality? I have to agree to disagree it's a hard watch because as she says "I saw everything coming, its all been done before" that's because we're still watching the show today in our own lives. So the question is, "Is the show for us or "them", and if you have to ask then maybe it's not for "you!"
I watched the entire thing and it was very good. Yes, some things were a little hard to watch but it needed to be seen. Even the song choices were on point. I really think you need to give it another shot.
Guuuurl the fact that the husband wanted to disregard the wife’s trauma was enough to make me stop watching for months! I now had to stop after episode 6….the opening scene was 🤢🤢🤢😤
It's sad to see black people not get that there are a plethora of stories to be told about the variety of our experience. Our ANCESTORS deserve to have their stories told and we should not be ASHAMED of their suffering just as the Jews, NEVER FORGET about their Holocaust. The Racial TERRORISM our people experienced has hardly been seen on the screen when you understand the SCOPE of that horror. We can have contemporary love stories like "The Photograph" or movies like "Black Panther" AND series like "Them" coexisting in the same space. I think a lot of hesitancy to embrace the TRUTH of our painful past on the screen and this impulse to want to " move past struggle" is SHAME and self loathing. Our ANCESTORS were giants, the strongest and smartest of the bunch, surviving what is only best described as DEMONIC treatment. We owe it to them to at least be able to appreciate their stories. The horror genre is a brilliant choice to show this period which has NOT ceased if you watch what was a LYNCHING of GEORGE FLOYD. Think critically not reactively avoiding the truth of where you live. Wt people act in this manner because they don't like to admit what they did. We should make art that shows the world what was done to us and we're STILL standing. It's a triumphant statement not shameful 🙄
You have beautifully shared my exact sentiments. When I watched the series, I was like “Finally! An honest depiction of what happened to our ancestors!” Tell the truth and shame the devil.
i don’t get why writers don’t seem to understand you can have black horror films and not have it be all about black trauma it’s triggering, disgusting, and just overplayed
No more trauma porn for me thanks. I don't watch content like this because its just triggering. After seeing glory, Amistad, roots, and a time to kill as a youth I'm good.
That show felt like racist trauma porn! This show feels like there is a sadistic writer who wants to torment a black family. It's probably not, but bad writing makes it feel like character torture. On top of the ending not being happy and nothing good happening to this family, IDK how this show can be taken seriously!
It definitely gave me Lovecraft Country vibes. White people in 53 definitely would have gone to jail for killing their black neighbors in Compton. Black people in LA didn’t play that shit.
That’s good to know because I just KNEW dude was putting a lot on it. But in the end he still brutally attacked that family and tried to hand a man to no consequence just ended up part of the mob outside smh
@Hubb The Poet I'm born and raised in California. My grandparents moved to Watts from Louisiana. You are absolutely right! That crime would not have gone unpunished!
It was a hard watch but it was also a historical drama. Our people lived a real life horror movie in 1950’s south and when migrating to the west thinking that life would be better. I don’t think anything in the film was far fetched, maybe enhanced for dramatic purposes. Just listening to the stories my grandmother would tell me, I’m sure there are some of our elders that could relate.
And that’s so TRUE I think the show could have benefited from not adding the horror elements because they already exists without thats. The mix of the two here in particular just didn’t work for me.
Great point and I am so grateful for the sacrifices our elders made to give us the opportunities we have because MAN, even the depictions are tough to witness. Couldn’t imagine living through it.
@@tionakBut we are currently living through it. Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland and a plethora of others. When you hear MAGA followers say “Make America Great Again,” the thing me period portrayed in this movie is what they are referring to.
This was a WS wet dream! *We did not need to go through that* If "one" can be diassociated from the atrocities, then "one" can enjoy the movie and pick up on gist. I felt much like you about this torture. Appreciate your post Sis 🥰
I didn’t mind this show. I liked the story it told. The grim reality is even coming through all of that (which is a stigma today in our community so it’s like times 10 back then) they were still black in America. It’s like they beat one devil to step outside and face the real devil.
I agree! It seems like the only pay off attempted was each of the family members defeating their personified demons which...after all that show mentally and emotionally put me through...that wasn’t enough! I ended it feeling so disappointed and angry.
It's clear that it was meant for white audiences. If you want to educate white people on the history of violence done to black people in America, then that's fine. Do a drama or a documentary. Us as black audiences have been wanting to see films and shows with us as leads that stand outside of the mold that we're used to seeing. Hereditary for example, is a film at its core about generational curses. Get Out is about the racism of liberal white people and how we're seen as aesthetics for the taking and not people. THEM takes the surface levels of these ideas and wants to see what kind of shocking things they can put on screen. There's no real commentary and characters are there just to go through messed up things to show white audiences. Trauma and torture porn doesn't equal scary. That was the biggest grievance of horror films from the 2000s.
Yassssssss! I didn’t get that I also didn’t get him constantly leaving the wife in the house alone just assuming she was okay with tension high as soon as they arrived! And the same can be said about sending the daughter to school. I’m not expecting anyone to be on high alert 24/7 but damn 🤦🏾♀️
OJay88 you put it on the nail. After the evil in North Carolina how could you even hint to moving in a home amongst all white people? Smh...And Struggle Reviewz TV great point....why would you leave your wife and kids alone in such tension. And who would stay in that home after what they did to the yard? I would of been gone after they had been sitting in lawn chairs in front of my house. I wouldn't want a house that bad. My goodness.
Regardless of how triggering the show is.... I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. It’s like a BLACK American Horror Story to me. The cinematic lover in me just enjoys seeing Black BLACK faces telling a story (especially a horror story) from our perspective. I definitely agree that the layers to the narrative were shallow and could have given us a more resolved ending. I think the trauma was representative of the very real experiences of America.
I love me some American Horror Story the storytelling, pacing, plots and horror elements are always so good (season 1-4) so even though things are gruesome I’m still very much interested in the plot but the plot here was so not interesting to me I was actually bored episodes 1-3
There's a lot of layered symbolism throughout that everyone misses, especially with the messed up white folk. I'm a white dude but this show had me wanting to show up to a "white lives matter rally" and start throwing some haymakers. Basically the show is about "HATE" and how it lasts for generations, is part of our collective memory, and rots away people's minds creating horrors, violence and systemic misery. I thought it was exceptionally well done and thoughtful. I also think it might be a bit too layered for a casual viewer looking for an entertaining TV show. Sometimes symbolism and metaphors can be too much. It sure sticks with you and makes you think though, and that's the sign of a well done show. The acting was also out of pocket. I thought the Emory's were all fantastic.
I saw majority of that symbolism that you saw within the series but it wasn’t enough for me to see the beauty in this show or what Little Marvin wanted to say that warranted such intense torture. The 2 main themes I took away were that HATE is a learned behavior and the Black people have been demonized for so long constantly being seen as a threat yet we persevere. We were on this tiresome journey with this family so by day 10 episode 10 and it just felt like all that to get us here? What’s this 😫
This series was done great to many here just couldn't get past their emotions and see the many great messages and not with just the blk family......it's funny I never seen so much hate for a show these are the same that have nothing to say at the many tyler perry garbage it's hilarious to be honest
@@laverledugger1563 I dislike this show and Tyler Perry's equally. If I wanted to watch black trauma,then I would've watched one of the MANY movies showing it or even a documentary.
@@Brittjb612 there are lessons that can be learned in this series, lesson's that too many of us still haven't learned yet like loving one's self but ok let's do what blk folk do best and that's ignore our issues and do nothing to fix them
@@laverledugger1563 What are we ignoring? We can turn on our local news for these issues. All this series did for me was justify my feelings toward religion and yt folks.
I just found you on this review and I was left this same question and this is after I stopped at episode 5 I couldn't stomach it anymore. The cast was beautiful I just wish that they were introduced to us in different media cause this was just painful. I could see if the family had a win towards the end or even halfway through the series but the fact that it just kept going and going like I don't know why this particular story had to be told as it didn't give insight to anything.
🗣I barely made it through the entire series and in the review my words either couldn’t be found or I was fumbling all over the place but I tried to edit the best way I could to make this review coherent. I thank you guys for watching my hot mess of a explanation because STRUGGLE WAS STRUGGLING! 😂
I love that you dug deep into this! I absolutely agree that the main question becomes “who is this for?” I was extremely disappointed with what they came away with in the end versus what could have been done. Too soft on empowering these characters and not the darker parts of the cast. The narrative was too much about trauma and not the strength that it actually took to be black in that era. At any rate thank you for your review and doing such good job of it!
I totally agree. That whole cat in the bag scene was unnecessary. I was thinking that this would be similar to Lovecraft Country but I was disappointed this had so much potential too. 🤦🏾♂️
The racism was the horror. It is the monster. It’s the monster in real life that one wants speak on it. Episode 5 was traumatic, but it’s a reality for but it seems not to the world.
Thanks for voicing this perspective. Was this supposed to be entertainment? Educational? Who was the target audience? Did it need to be this graphic to make the point? Was the audience expected to feel sympathy for the evil people in the show because they had a backstory? ???????????
This series gave me nightmares. That "cat in the bag" gave me depression. Why show that writers? Y'all love reminding black people of pain in the guise of "let's learn". This was a racists wet dream. Later episodes with the preacher was just horrifying. As a black woman I don't need to re-live trauma. Thanks but no thanks writers.
Man, this show was lacking content all over the place. They would brush on certain topics and pass on them, but when it came to the black family they wanted to abuse them every step of the way. The racist white woman must be racist because she was being abused by her father. That's basically what they tried to paint. They basically gave the white racist a pass for their racism while condemning the black family in the midst of their trauma. The racist white man who was a trash husband to his wife is only racist because he was worried about this white house mom that lived next door. The woman who sold the house only sold the house because she's secretly gay and she doesn't have a voice at her job and people were going to brutalize her for selling houses to black people. Or the husband who was painted as a cheater is not racist only because he's gay but he stole his wife's money. But no. Let's make this black man seem like trash because he accepted a good job and moved his family to a white neighborhood regardless of what his wife has been through. What happened to the gang that raped the mother and killed the child? What happened to the housing market? What happened to the milk man? So many questions. And how u gonna make getting your hair hot combed so traumatic? I know plenty of women who got burned by a hot comb. It wasn't that serious, but let the show tell it that it was a traumatic experience that will stay with u until you get older. Smh. It's just trauma porn on the black family alone. Black father doesn't pay attention to his family. He's just there to work and come home. The black mother is just crazy. Nevermind that she's been through something traumatic, she's just crazy. And the children not wanting to be like their mother. Smh. Just trash.
You brought up so many great points, most of all...what was the message or point of this whole journey🤷🏾♀️ It hit so hard in the beginning that I thought "Surely, it is going to have a point, a message, a triumph...something..." Nope! I mostly got a lot of highly shocking parts and confusion, a bunch of parts that went nowhere, dissapointment at all the times I thought we were going to find out a reason for these wild rides we were taken on only to be lead down a blind alley and left in the dark. I agree with you, I don't think a second part is worth a watch but oddly, I feel like I invested so much time that I'm owed something from "Them"🤦🏾♀️ This show has worn my nerves.
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective about the show. I honestly agree with what you’re saying 100%. It makes me feel so upset that they conveyed the show in a certain light and I feel like some scenes were not necessary to see like how the mother was raped and the child was being tossed so carelessly. It was heart breaking to see that.
For the life of me, I can not understand why someone would make this series. It is straight insanity. It's sad that series like this keep getting made. There are so many topics to explore that would encourage society toward positivity.
That pie scene confused me bc Idk what was going on even with the back story, the girl with the cereal threw me for a loop, the milkman being a murderer that we clearly weren’t supposed to care about (I guess)🤷🏽♀️, the super angry neighbor man all over that other mans wife was out of control, the wallpaper tearing we never really got into, Princess Tiana and Navene in the wheelchair 🤷🏽♀️, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE $6000 and WHY WAS THAT DAMN BLUE BIRD IMPORTANT?? They created soooo many unnecessary and unanswered questions 🙄🙄😒😒
The wallpaper tearing I understood. Remember how she said that once one black family moves into the neighborhood more will come and “they” grow like mold? And underneath her wallpaper was black mold. But I do still want to know why her husband took that $6000 out of the bank. There was so much self hate that she had not being able to get pregnant and being molested by her father.
You are so right. Do gay clubs back in the day charge alot? Was he paying rent somewhere else? 🤷🏾♂️. What happened to the milk man? What happened to the gang who raped the woman. Did they get locked up? Did they not get in trouble? Nobody called the police? What happened to the lady selling houses? It's just lost.
@@ATOWNFONTAINE I’m sure we were supposed to care and solely focus on the black family which is fine but don’t spend 50% of the show giving us their character traits and backstory! I felt like we knew ALOT about Betty for no reason since none of the questions in her storyline were answered.
i thought the wallpaper represented her thinking that her home was about to start falling apart ( when they first moved in ) because the first time the wallpaper was starting to peel only a little , then the second go round she completely ripped the wallpaper off the wall because she felt like her home was falling apart all because they were still there and there attempts to get them to leave didnt work . also because she got back handed for calling them the n-word . just my thought
You are very talented at reviewing media! A lot of the other reviewers on RUclips focused way too much on their own political ideologies instead of the show itself. Many videos were more like annoying lectures rather than an actual review of the series. I had a lot of the same thoughts as you did about each episode. Great video!
Lena Withe is a coward. She constantly shows her black characters being victimized, traumatized with no positive powerful ending. I think that's the only reason she's a loud to make them.
I know this times are getting dark and people more disconnected. I watched the first 3 episodes and it was too demonic. I wanted to see more of the beautiful family but could not go on. Glad I listened to the holy spirit. I agree with u and her but I look at agendas. Hollywood is satanic the executives, directors, and all famous actors. Trauma is used to open your spiritual doors. Anyhow I could go on.
This show triggered me and gave me extreme anxiety. Couldn’t finish it. Give me a show with some normalcy, fun light heartedness, and a pinch of drama please.
The purpose of the movie is the trauma, and the effects on our people. The main key is the preacher revealing scripture of who we really are, TRUE ISRAEL!!!
Best BREAKDOWN EVER!! I watched 1-3 like this shit is frustrating. Went to 10 and was like huh? A ghost, wtf? Came straight to this page and you are my feelings in detail! Thanks for giving it straight no chaser
It was pretty disappointing. Just so little empowerment that I do not understand who this for... And it felt like this series had no soul. There where no character moments. No emotional settling. No joy. No sorrow. Just unrelenting brutality. That can work in a fictional setting with diverse cast. Yet, when you have a story rooted in historical moments within the dark underbelly of prejudice. This has to have a message with heart and soul that endure and overcome the adversity. Just an unbearable series that feels more like exploitation than a cross examination into 1950s. Truly feels like such a waste too an amazingly casted and beautiful family.
I remember seeing the trailer for this show and thinking “this feels like it’s trying to be Us” and then I saw the title “Them” and was like “goddammit.” Like this show is very clearly hopping on the trend of black art taking elements of the HBO shows Watchmen and Lovecraft Country but trying to elicit the Jordan Peele crowd with that trailer. I genuinely hope this doesn’t become a trend of “HEEEEYYYY it’s black trauma again!!! But this time in the 20th century and it’s kinda spooky 👀.” Like the story of black people is so expansive, but it feels like only 4 are being told. And they’re being told in like 2 or 3 different ways.
Horror is meant to something scary and well written, something you can look back on and say "wow i love that movie/ series" cus its welll written, executed amazingly, it is meant to be entertainment, THIS WAS NOT ENTERTAINMENT, this was just trauma on top of trauma.
I just said so much of what you are saying to my brother, FILM CREATORS PLEASE STOP TURNING OUR HISTORICAL TRAUMA INTO PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR, WE ARE STILL LIVING THIS ITS NOT ENTERTAINING! CAN WE GET A PREDOMINANTLY BLACK CAST IN A MONSTER MOVIE OR VAMPIRE MOVIE WITH NO RACIAL UNDERTONES OR SUBPLOTS PLEEEEASE🤦🏽♀️😫
I absolutely agree with everything you said and every point you made. This could have been a great show with great stories to tell but, damn. It was so worried with being edgy and making its audience uncomfortable the stories of the characters suffered.
I had absolutely no interest in this movie when I seen this trailer. I’m so sick of movies displaying the trauma us as black people have been through/ still going through. There’s Enough movies out there already. This only makes me more angry and disgusted towards that race.
To me, it's fine if they do it right (like Get Out, Us and Lovecraft Country), but this wasn't thought provoking like any of those. It was just straight up torture porn.
I agree but at the same time it’s too many people that don’t have any clue of the extent these people would go to kill us and our babies....from alligator to bait to what they are doing now
The scene were she zoomed in on the husband at work and he was posed like Malcolm X was maybe the best part of this show. I did not understand why any of this had to be like this. They made racism of the devil, and not something that you can unlearn.
I figured the milkman would shoot Betty if she left the bunker. His obsession made no sense. It was also clear that the child in episode 9 was not a child.
I really enjoy ur reviews and thank God I didn't watch this show. The whole black struggle thing as much as I appreciate it, it's really saying things that we already know.
Your take on this series is right on! I just finished the series and I tried to stick around to get an understanding of why and the message of the movie. It was just suffering toward a black family, unnecessary characters and their development instead of the main characters, and a family just going insane. The graphic parts of the abuse of the wife, baby, and the black couple at the end was just horrible and didn't need to happen. I'm not sure what the writers and producers were trying to relay here. It just made you mad and confused at the end of the day.
Aside from the excessive on screen trauma and the anticlimactic ending, was the way that the writers just dropped any thought of threat of consequence for the black family. We know that they were facing many obstacles because of their color and the white citizens were so ready to see them gone one way or another. So what did the Emory’s expect to happen when it was found out that Henry killed a white man? What would happen if it came out that he was in his boss’s home alone with the wife? What will happen when they discover that he killed the police officer and why did no one hear it? They seem to hear everything single OTHER sound that takes place outside. What happens when Betty never comes home and the Emorys are suspected of her disappearance? What will happen to Henry since the neighbors all saw him in the street beating a white man and pointing a gun at him? What will happen when they find the dead white man, killed by a teenage black girl, in the basement? What will happen when the psych ward realizes Lucky has escaped and has also attacked an employee there? Regardless of redemption, it can only be assumed that this family is dead. Killed in the yard by indignant police officers. It’s like holding your breath in anticipation only to be thrown into a pool where you still can’t breathe. Who was this show made for, indeed.
This series had the black woman being unprotected and having to fend for herself and her family in the end. The only time the husband defended himself was when those three white men came to his house to start something with him while he was in the roof. Dont count him running up behind a man knocking him unconscious nor shooting the police officer in cold blood. Near the end he was tied up and his daughter Ryby was the one who took an axe, struck one of the tormentors in the house and cutting him loose. It should had been written in the series that the husband and his friends visited the men and woman who raped his wife and killed the baby. When the husband and his boys snuck up on the murderous group he had used military guerilla tactics ti kill all of them and never being detected nor caught and accepting a job in California moving his family there. But this wasn't written in the script probably to push the agenda of the Black woman even being married always is unprotected and having to fend for herself and her family
Im sure the actor who played the husband was held back from showing the characters full potential. It should had been written in the script where he had done a revenge kill. If that had happened to a white family bets would be off when the husband would had sought revenge and the wife would had told him whom had done it and encouraged him. This is why I find it hard to believe that a Black man produced this series for most men including my nerdy self would had made the man of the house a hero kicking A#$ and taking names. This smacks of feminism behind this
@@stickshiftdriver1832 That would have changed the narrative completely.. The flight to Compton to escape persecution after killing the individuals (Think of Sam Jackson in A Time To Kill) and that would have changed the narrative in FIGHTING BACK as a family.... The balance between containing your rage and being complacent to survive..
@@WonderWoman780 and besides didnt he kill a cop in cold blood for no reason at all? That same energy could had went to his wife's rapist and son's murderers
Da tap dance man is the embodiment of violence and hatred towards the white people His design was amazing i loved the makeup and the outfit amazing character
The way you pause, the long sigh under your breath and that facial expression when you discuss a part of the series that ticks you off, have me totally weak!!! 😂😁 I love it! Keep up the great reviews!
For me personally, i don't get or understand what audience is this show exactly for? I don't have to watch a show about black folks being assaulted and condemned for the color of our skin. My father has plenty of real racial horror stories of his own that he has told me. We as of 2021 have such a greater understanding of all the racial intolerance and inequalities that have occurred throughout history than we have before.
But see a lot of black folk don't know history that well, and there's a lot of whites that overlook the insensitivity on the topic. Some wouldn't even believe there are evil ppl that go that far. I believe it did in racial terror that Lovecraft country and Watchmen didn't have. Back then we didn't always get that revenge that Django falsely implanted. It was sad entirely but, I enjoyed this story nonetheless.
@@Cecil_Crow Okay, there are plenty of books that are written by black authors who definitely provide more details about our history. We all know there are things they won't ever show us on a TV show or movie. It is cool if you enjoyed the show, but the show was missing the mark with me in certain ways. We are more than just trauma. I appreciate your reply.
@@cdub1988 most definitely, and media is a evil itself. Steady we're almost making films almost a snuff. Not many black folks (youth in general) are down to read a book about the traumas. Because you're right many books that go way in deep. But in film, execution is the best delivery to the Majority Why read it when u can watch it basically. When it always comes to the majority, that's probably the best execution method. Go with the masses.
@@Cecil_Crow Yes exactly, they believe that black people don't read books so they can get away with showing whatever they want us to see. I have learned so much from the books I've read.
I couldn't watch it anymore, I saw it pop up on amazon prime it was recommended to me, but I've watched a few episodes and honestly I feel very uncomfortable, ... this triggered me, I ended up having a physical reaction. I'm done watching black trauma fueled movies/series. All my friends are watching it I can't, but I am enjoying your review on the series...I'm listening from London.
10 episode was a waste of time and I was waiting for them to get to the point. I have to give this a 2/10 just because I like the actors and actresses.
Everything in me told me the moment I saw Lena Waithe's name that I didn't want to see this series and I'm so damn glad I listened. I'm STILL pissed about Queen & Slim and this is not about to get added to my problems. We watch TV for release not to be further traumatized by the shit we know happens! Especially not right now.
Same.. It was strange how he was my favorite character and I wanted more... The scene in the dinner made me wonder who he truly was... At the dn of Ep 10 we discover he is a White man in black face. Man I wanted more of this character.. I thought of him as Pennywise but for Black folks lol..
@@WonderWoman780 YES EXACTLY , i felt he was actually HELPING and speaking FACTS the whole time. A slave that died and now is back to speak facts and give the father some courage is how i saw it. i know the script probably says different or what not.
I PEEPED THAT TOO! I also see that they wanted the dad to go through the same trauma as the mom did with the baby Chester. When he was captured and beaten in front of his girls and almost hung I’m sure he was feeling helpless and felt for sure those men would have killed his girls even though her begged for their life !
Girl I am SO glad you commented on my video so I could find your channel. WHAT A REVIEW 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 I thoroughly enjoyed your perspective and omg you are BEAUTIFUL! Great video!
I have a different take on the pie scene. The young daughter told the dad that they seen a ghost in the basement and the father was angry with the wife for not letting go her trauma. Again, he wasn’t listening to his family. In spite, the wife fed him the pie in order to show him that he isn’t over his trauma and the dad forced himself to eat the pie in order to show the wife that she needs to push through her trauma.
My main issue is that, even if this tv show was greenlit before "Lovecraft County" and "Watchmen", it's not giving what they were. In both of these shows i can argue that Black people were the main focus, and were given powers to fight back against the oppressive characters. With both of these shows i literally watched each episode back and forth. With this? I rushed through every episode, skipped the entirety of episode 9 just for the ending to be.... underwhelming. I feel like if anything, the White characters had more power than anything. Hell, at least in Django, he was shooting mfs left and right. Personally I don't think I'd watch this again, nor recommend this to anyone cause it doesn't do anything for anyone but maybe white audiences?
Exactly! Because I enjoyed both lovecraft country and the watchmen. Even though there was trauma and plenty of tasteless events on screen that I didn’t care for it was done in a way that kept you guessing and turned a lot of tropes on there heads and injected something new into this narrative. That’s why I’m not understanding why people would say you shouldn’t expect to see anything new here when it comes to the topic of race theres nothing new under the sun there isn’t but it’s all about the way it’s presented, the plot and the storytelling and it just wasn’t in the series for me. I felt like maybe episode nine should have been placed near the beginning maybe episode three to give some clarity and flow to the show. Because so much has already occurred by episode five.
@@StruggleReviewzTV how i feel like the show should've ended was the neighbours getting burned up by that fire, and the family escaping (kinda like the ending of Us) that would've been at least something from the 10 hours of basic torture porn I had to watch. That's why I agree, who was this series actually for? I actually skipped the entirety of episode 9. But I feel that they handled the white racists with more care than the actual main black characters. While the acting was AMAZING all around, i don't recommend anyone to watch this, nor will I be tuning in for a second season. Whoever wrote this needs they ass beat by they grandparents (who were probably alive during this time)
@I'm a gamer I know there are no rappers on the show. I'm referring to the rappers that spew all kinds of garbage everyday on the radio that's ultimately causing delinquency in our youth. Why aren't black people tired of the trauma that causes?
@@michaelknight8895 You having the gall to type that comment is rooted in anti blackness. Black people are tired of these racist traumatic movies. What inside of you thought to debate?!?? You clearly don’t listen to hip hop music? Nor understand shit about black people.
In my opinion, this film addresses covert racism that continues to persist. Cunning prejudice is more subtle and difficult to detect. Covert racism in our society has yet to be fully exploited. The film has multiple layers, not exclusively designed for mere sake of showing atrocities inflicted. It's design for you to take a look at the broader spectrum of how racial hate is executed.
Yes! This was trauma on trauma on trauma. I literally found myself holding my breath & clenching my teeth so much so that I ended up with a headache for 2 days. The family was beuatiful, and the acting was on point. My biggest gripe was I endured 10 episodes of non-stop trauma because I was waiting for the Emory's to exact some serious revenge on EVERYBODY, even that crazy family who killed Baby Chester. Like you said, I get what they were trying to do, but there was all of this build up & intensity only for it to fizzle out in the end. I wish I knew Little Marvin's endgame. Was he trying to entertain or just trigger the hell out of people? I mean the trauma endured by the Emory's was depicted with such GRAPHIC detail, but the white people who inflicted all of this trauma never REALLY got dealt with. The crazy a$$ family that killed Baby Chester never got dealt with, nothing happed to Henry's a$$hole boss that we could see, Betty got slapped & then kidnapped & shot from a distance & even that was too quick. Shout out to Ruby for taking an ax to 1 of the men who tried to lynch Henry & Lucky did beat the hell out of/or possibly killed that doctor but that's about it. I know this is basic, but I guess it would have been more satisfying if we could've seen them suffer some more. Then again maybe that was the point; to show how whites could inflict this much pain on Black people and pretty much go about their business.
I was done with mrs. Lena waiter when she killed queen and slim as if it wouldn’t be believable that they made it to Cuba safe !!! And then had the nerve to have a black man eat them out !!
I absolutely hated this show. Neighbors horrible, the violence was horrible, etc. I felt like I was just enduring torture with each episode and nothing redeeming happened at the end. The family was beautiful and they were great actors. That is the only good thing I can say. SPOILER: That flashback episode when the other couple had their eyes burned out then was burned alive was horrible. I felt like I could throw up. It takes a sick mind to even write some of the things we saw happen on this show.
Good review, i get it...i thought it was good HORROR series BASED on true events. This was hard to watch. It was supposed to be. There were many messages that need to be shown as i feel as a community we have forgotten. Our history has been whitewashed and watered down that we got mfs saying ish like "we are not our ancestors" disregarding the true trauma and disparity they went through so we are able to even say that bs. What i got from it was...as a UNIT we are unstoppable and beyond just survivors. WE NEED TO STOP DISRESPECTING OUR ANCESTORS. Also don't forget they actions and how they truly feel bc of their ancestors.
I felt physically sick watching this , I had to turn it off. I’m a massive horror fan , I feel the bio explaining the plot is totally different to what is shown. I also feel it’s really insensitive to put this series out , while everything is going on with george floyd’s trial / BLM right now. Great actors , beautiful actors but just sad this is how they were shown
Thank You So Much❤️ and it’s a hard watch for some and for others it appears to be symbolic and easy. Clearly I couldn’t separate the 2 and only saw trauma.
like many others i agree, this is very traumatic, triggering, and heavy. i literally was shaking and crying watching episode 9 because it is not entertainment. it is the truth. the truth that hurts so bad, but is SO NECESSARY to be told. even though this was very necessary, there does not need to be any more movies or series about black trauma. we are so much more than that. we still have yet to tell stories of black billionaires, inventors, and creators on a mass scale. the hidden figures and madam c. j. walker are the stories i want to see more of. all in all this show was very well written and produced, but watch it at your own caution.
Wild how Hollywood can't find dark skinned black folk for regular lighthearted roles, but as soon as it's a show about trauma here they are. 🤔
🗣Always the entire family at that! They normally love to slid an ambiguous biracial oldest daughter anywhere 🤦🏾♀️
YEP!
Truth!
Exactly!!!!
They LOVE creating and replaying black trauma....it's insane.
They?
@@tommy2972 Yes, THEY
Who are they? Little marvin? The writers? Actors ?
@@tommy2972 Hollywood, if you can't keep up please refrain form asking silly questions.
@@melanatedj9660 I suppose art is subjective.
that back slap lucky gave betty when she called them n*gg*rs was satisfying as hell & when grace said “thats right mama” was even more satisfying 😂
thats right mama...lol
Then James Brown came on. 😆
Also the scene where the brotha pistol whipped the white ape in the street 😂😂😂😂😂😂 I had to rewind that scene twice
Rushing the mother through the trauma was a message in itself. Often, black women don’t get the time to grieve or live through their trauma. On the other hand, the husband thought he was doing the right thing by moving the family to a new situation and what he believed to be a better situation. That was my takeaway from these part of the show. As a married man, I could definitely relate to the husband’s mistakes. I thoroughly enjoyed the show. Some of the subplots were unnecessary, but I felt it was a good show nevertheless.
The husband didn't make any mistakes. He moved because he got an engineering job with the company in California. They both had suffered terrible traumas, him from experiments done on him during the war and her from the terrorizing of the South. It was the REALTOR who actually showed him the home and moved him into an all white neighborhood, which she knew would be hostile having them live there. They were however, flipping the neighborhood and paying the police to keep the peace which is called BLOCK BUSTING a very real thing. People are mad at this series because they don't know their own history.
I definitely agree with everything you’re saying. Especially on the fact of why people aren’t liking the show. However, even though the realtor did sell him the home, he has family in California. He should’ve asked them for advice. In my experience, that’s what we do anyways when we move somewhere and family is there. Also, when I say mistakes I am not only talking about the husband’s decision to move the family to a new location. There were other mistakes the husband made throughout the show that in my experience I could relate to.
It did seem like a mistake to move his wife and kids into a white neighborhood after the trauma his wife faced at the hands of the white men and woman in episode 5. I would think that they would want to be far away from white folks knowing how cruel they are. Also, you’re right about asking family before moving into a neighborhood. I assume he may have thought that the California whites were different from the southern whites but a quick call to his cousin and he would have found out that they are all the same.
@@manb4war he knew about the "no negro blood " and didnt tell her
Yeah, this video is a lot of nitpicking without attempting to understand the plot much less the subtext. I think it's ridiculous to watch a horror show and be mad that you didn't get a happy payoff. Black life was just a big ball of endurance in the 50s and this was afterall the generation raised by parents who were raised by slaves. Add to that the toxicity of manhood in the 50s, this is the realest depiction of what would happen to a woman struggling from rape trauma. The father meanwhile thinks that upward mobility and respectability is the best thing he can give his kids, that's why he moves them there but once there they are trapped by the mortgage. The teenage girl is haunted by a spirit that teaches her that her skin is inferior. The younger girl is haunted by a spirit that tells her that her mother is inadequate. These are both statements on internalization of misogynoir but all this RUclipsr can think about is "it's a bad message that they are judging their mothers mental illness". ITS NOT AN AFTER SCHOOL SOECIAL. ITS A HORROR!
Let’s say the tables were turned and a scene showed a white baby being spun around over and over and slung on the floor until the blood seeped through. I am sure the production would have been pulled if it ever even made it on screen in the first place.
I thought the husband was gonna shoot that white pregnant lady in her womb after being called the N-Word to teach that white dude a lesson but didn’t go that far.
Exactly I was like they would never ever do that with a white baby smh
@@seanmcclanahan9366 I thought many times during the series when the antagonists went too far that there would be a recourse but there wasn’t. Such a let down. This is right in line with the experience for melanated people in America. I keep thinking that an ill action from the oppressor will result with a serious counter but then I look up there’s not much of a recourse. So disappointing.
@I'm a gamer I agree. I just look for the day when people of color stop selling their souls by doing the devils deeds for a pay check. This behavior is prevalent in so many aspects of life beyond entertainment. It’s in politics and street culture just to name a few. It’s really old.
PREACH!!!!!!
Anytime I see Lena’s name on anything, I know it’s about to be some bullshit. Idk what her problem is but her whole identity as a “creative artist” is rooted in black trauma.
This was my first watching anything associated with her at all I know now
@@StruggleReviewzTV she was the screen writer for Queen and Slim.
@@remylabeau5140 I never watched that one it gave me a vibe from the preview 🤣
Your opinion is valid. I think Lena did better with The Chi and her show “20s” as it’s not centered in that thank goodness. Probably why I like those more. Couldn’t make it through the first episode of “Them” though.
@@StruggleReviewzTV lol well let’s just say there’s definitely a theme with her lol
I walked out of the room when the mother was being raped in episode 5. Who wants to watch a woman being raped and a baby being brutally murdered for play?I understand that these things happened but there's a point where it doesn't need to be displayed.
@@justnessaaa1459 they could've shown then breaking in the house. Then shown through flashbacks what happened to the baby with the cut shots of her face to tie it together.
It was truly horrific and gut wrenching ... why did they not seek revenge? I desperately wanted the satisfaction of seeing those killers suffer and pay 🥺😡
@@MsRaeRae not sure why they didn't go after them. That would've been getting and well earned
@I'm a gamer what didn't happen
I was hoping that they show a flashback where the husband visited those people at night and killed each one of them military guerrilla style then moved his family to California
Showing racism it one thing.. Showing the violence from racism is another.. I’m almost cried in episode 5 .. I’m not sure who the target audience was for this .. I haven’t been this depressed in a watching a movie since Precious
I agree and For colored girls
I’m sorry you had to see that💔
Yes I feel like my heart is wounded days later
It needs to be seen, otherwise certain people would deny the brutality of racism.
Its bigger than racism and the usual black and white interaction in movies
After they killed the baby, not sure I can watch anymore. I would not even want to tell others about the show and risk them having to deal with more trauma. The actors here do an amazing job. I hope the children who were actors here, don't suffer any trauma.
i wouldn't recommend it to anyone else either.
A baby???
I totally concur with you 🎯🎯🎯
Me too I'm still hurt by watching that episode k would like to ask what have they gained by showing us that nasty traumatising episode
I was most definitely triggered,but I couldn't stop watching because I was HOPING for a good ending where all the neighbors would either be burned up or laid out in the streets.
Nope I totally thought they were gonna take this damn family out in a blaze of gunfire at the rate this show was going! The ending was so anticlimactic so that really made me feel like it was all for nothing. I’m not about to sit here with a smile on my face as if this perseverance makes this family stronger🤨 “I need to speak to the manager “ 🤦🏾♀️😫
@@StruggleReviewzTV Exactly. Geezz! I can't sit through this again.
The fire flame was definitely there at the end and the fact the story didn't make them burn pisses me off.
@Cedricka Farfan it’s an Anthology show sho Season 2 should be something completely different.
Ummm looks like people dont get it.
Somebody at my job recommended this series..😒 Imma stop trusting these people with my entertainment...thanks for the heads up
Noooo! Please watch it I want to hear your out pour I know it would be so on point and hilarious! 😫
@@StruggleReviewzTV lol...consider it done..checking it out this evening fosho...
@@KILLAWATTS804 Ayyyyeee! 🤌🏾😂
Yes I was just thinking the same thing, I haven't watched it yet but it gave torture trauma vibes. Thank you again for the heads up😥
@LUKE BISHOP Just finished it...that review going up...😉 I was surprised, all things considered....
I totally agree with you. You can’t rush grief. Our people have a bad trait with this. When I lost my brother; People couldn’t see my trauma, and tried to make me get over it. And now, I’m no longer friends with those people nor have any relationships with my family members!
I agree that the show was definitely emotionally draining. However, I feel like the father trying to force the mother through her trauma was very realistic. I mean let’s be real the strong black woman role and honestly being a strong black person in general is real. We have to continue to push through traumatic experiences and there was no thing as mental health awareness and therapy back then. It was just shown as weakness, also I feel like the horror aspect of the show is what made it iffy some parts were rushed and not together. The storyline of ruby wanting to be white could’ve went somewhere because that is also realistic. I feel like the storyline had a lot of potential tbh just needed better directions ESPECIALLY in the horror aspect.
Yes the elements were there but the writing was off to me because they were trying to put every scenario into a 10 episode series when each individual story could have been a different season it is a anthology show. Thanks For Watching ❤️
Bro it was very realistic with Ruby wanting to be white and the family didn't fully know what happened to the mom so how could they fully help her. This reviewer honestly didn't understand what she was watching. Black people bashing black shows or movies but watched FRIENDS every week amazes me. I'm learning there's different forms of UNCLE TOMS LOL
@@StruggleReviewzTV yes there were some weird parts like the Betty milk man story and how sometimes they reused scenes and other things but I think my rating for the show is 8.5/10
The series was trauma porn.
I disagree
The moment you said Lena Waithe I knew it would be some mess. Unpopular opinion but her work is trash. The hype from The Chi opened the wrong doors for her.
I agree, she loves to use black people to push homosexuality(nothing wrong with being gay) and trauma. There’s just always some sort of trauma in her storylines.
I never watched the Chi or movies like Queen and Slim because I just had a feeling I thought this would be different though with her just acting as producer but it clearly it wasn’t .
@@StruggleReviewzTV queen and Slim was terrible. I suggest you watch it just to dissect the way Lena Waithe depicts us as a people. Everything you said in this review mirrored a lot of what went on in that movie but without a horror spin.
I wish people would stop attaching Lena Waithe solely to THEM! This really is NOT her story being told. Its solely Little Marvin's story. And I absolutely loved every bit of it. Trauma or not. Its Racist smacked in your face. Why do people act like in 2021 that in the 40's that white people werent this vile, evil and racist🤷🏾♂️ If you're going to show racism back then. Then fucking show it and dobt dumb it down.
Exactly Shayla, that's why she has the job.
Thanks you for saving me a watch. Trauma for trauma's sake is not it.
I would have you check it out yourself because everyone’s POV is different I had other content creators find humor in the show and the trauma “not that bad/ I’ve seen worse” or that favorite word THE SYMBOLISM! I personal didn’t see past what was front and center heavily displayed on screen. Thanks For Watching ❤️
i mean its still worth the watch.
It was sadistic watching it in my opinion. I believe some of these film, media makers and movie producers are purposely sucking us into participation in evil rituals while watching and engaging our spirits in what we are seeing. I was just saying the same thing about Tyler Perry’s ruthless series. It’s like these black writers who put this type of extreme trauma content out is part of the evil team who have sold their souls. I need to stop watching tv in general and pick up a book. Lol. I am tiiired.
Exactly. I stopped watching after the episode 5. That scene with the baby was just too triggering and I couldn’t. I wish I never started watching in the first place
I wouldn’t be surprised if they were media and music is very powerful sadly I always except more form our own people so I watched. It’s feeling like their trying to normalize and desensitize us to events like this. I only finished to see redemption and sadly there was none 😔
@@StruggleReviewzTV exactly!
@@StruggleReviewzTV I see what your saying but a lot of ppl are already desensitized to things going on this world. People are dying everyday still. We are so divided as a people we think oh well not my issue I gotta worry about me. And it’s that...that keeps us desensitized. People are dying from hate everywhere not just in this country but in other countries as well why aren’t people doing anything about that? That’s normalizing it. Every time we hear about issues we just ignore it and go back to our creature comforts. Or we feel bad for two seconds then go back to the life we view as “normal” us as a people not doing anything right now to make the world a better place is normalizing terror.
The reason why it feels like some deliberate attempt to lure you into watching some evil ritual is because the writers assume you know your history and are familiar with the atrocities that black people faced in the 1950's. You clearly are not and obviously were not prepared for what you saw, which is basically the truth. Blacks were terrorized by whites in the South, not just the Klan, not just cross burnings but sadistic torture and senseless murder with impunity. The Army admitted to using black soldiers for experiments, which is why the father was so screwed up. Everything in the film was based on historical truths. Sounds like you have simply avoided that reality so now when you watch something real, it feels sinister and evil.
This hit different for me because it’s almost exactly how my family ended up here in California w/ my grandfather moving here from Georgia after he served in WWII
YAAAAAASSSSS!! Literally half of my family is in Louisiana and the other half in California. So I'm so familiar with the history of this that I thought the series was GREAT!
I completely agree! I also was so annoyed with the fact that so many things are not properly addressed either by the characters within the show or as a whole. Like when the boy is peeing on the sheets in the backyard and when she chases him down the street and the neighbors start attacking her, never does she just explain that she is chasing him because of that, to anyone, at any point!
Then the whole disgusting "cat in the bag" fiasco... Who were those people? Why did they choose them?, How did they know that the family lived there with a baby, and that the father was gone at that time? And why would they do such a thing to complete strangers? It's like they get so cought up in the, "white people are evil" trope that they don't even try to explain it. They are just simply evil for no reason... Sorry but No. I did not like the show at all. I'm over this whole narrative. It is divisive, predictable and lacks anything new.
All That! 👏🏾 thanks for watching!
I don't see it as a trope, many times evil is visited upon black people simply because we exist, or they were unwanted in that area...i mean..a certain gunman recently entered a church..worshiped with black parishioners for hours, then slaughtered them for no apparent reason...then just like the case of many in this particular story, walked away unscathed..even offered a cheeseburger..the nail techs (i believe Asian women) were killed...gunned down for no apparent reason...i could on forever, but i digress...the idea that someone could be randomly evil to strangers without provocation (especially THEM) is a little laughable.
@@christanwatts9889 The definition of "Trope" is: a common or overused theme or device. So to me this is definitely a trope and one that is being fed over and over again to the black community in knowledge that it will be readily received and eaten up by viewers, who in reality have little to no chance of ever experiencing the levels of racism being touted in our current society. They are divisive lures that keep ignorant people focused on ignorance rather than seeing their own opportunity and forward movement. It boasts a victim mentality that is holding black people hostage against seeing what we have gained and is instead keeping us "stuck". On average, most black people live in a mild or peaceful co-existence with white people without issue. However, when shows like this are presented, added with the constant reporting on black men being killed by cops, and social media being riddled with home videos of racial discrimination against people of color, naturally we walk away feeling angry, ignored and triggered. Further dividing us and keeping us from seeing and being inspired by the leaps and bounds that we are making and have made. Why don't we know how many black students graduated from accredited colleges in the last few years? (#saytheirnames) Why don't we know who our local leaders are that aren't celebrities? (#saytheirnames) What about all of the gifted black children who haven't been gunned down and are on the path to become the next great Scientist, Mathematician, Psychologist, Philanthropist, Botanist and so on... Why are these stories never the ones that the news reports or the videos that break the internet? I'm not dismissing the tragedies that have occurred, but those pale in comparison to what is actually happening on a daily basis in the black community and we're missing it because we're so hungry to be angry at white people and looking for them to be our reason for being "just victims" when there is so much more going on within our community to celebrate. So what exactly did "THEM" offer us?
agreed , i'm sitting there like girl explain !!!!!! but i knew she would just put the stick down. Not like anyone would've believed her anyway. I'm only on episode 6 but it's like i can't take it
@@kmoses8191 Preach! I thought I was the only one who noticed the narrative to keep us stuck and angry
This review is on point! "Who was this for?" good question! I feel as though they put black faces on this with THEM people pulling strings behind the scenes. I could have done better things with my time than watch 10 episodes of this. And the only reason I watched all 10 was for the "big payback" in the end and it never came. Don't waste your time with this torture porn filth.
Thank You 🙏🏾
First of all Please stop sayin dumb shit. “Trauma porn” is a made up word with no concrete definition so you’re clearly just repeating what your heard. And secondly you and the black person that made this video and all the black people that agree are obviously missing the whole entire point of the “trauma” in the first place.
@@StruggleReviewzTV you obviously watched the series with the intent to judge based off of what you heard about it from it trending. I get so tired of black people like YOU using social media platforms to overshadow good depictions of what our people went through with negative feedback like it being “trauma porn” have you ever sat back with and elder that actually lived during the times of Jim Crow and the great migration?? I bet you wouldn’t dare tell them to stop talkin because they’re past isn’t as pretty as you would like to see or hear. The rape scene and the baby scene was very horrific but it was needed because people in today’s time have become ignorant to what our people with through and still going through. If you can’t stomach the truth you won’t teach it to your kids and they won’t teach it to theirs. And when history repeats itself (because racism has NEVER went away) boys are being shot dead for being in the wrong neighborhood till this day! So please think a little harder on the topic of discussion before you make a video cause you’re completely lost.
@@mrssmithh4312 I'm not black, and went into this series totally unaware and wanting to like it, cause I liked the movie US and the child actress was in here as well. Instead, I gave myself 2 anxiety attacks and was left wondering what is wrong with me, that I still kept watching, till episode 10.
Please, stop preaching to others and start focusing on you.
If 1 worthy message I got from this series, that's it.
@@deliaalvis2630 the series was about racism point blank period. Racism was not comfortable to those affected by it all these years so why should it be portrayed in a way that covers up the truth?
Chile- I live in “the most diverse suburb” of Texas and this show got me watching my neighbors extra close 👀👀👀 I don’t trust them and this show gave me anxiety 😂😂😂
🤣👋🏾
I thought it was good. Intense... Yes! But nothing worse than I’ve seen before. I think a lot of it was symbolic. I started NOT to give it a chance but I’m glad I did. The main cast was PHENOMENAL as you stated🙌.
Exactly, brilliantly acted, little Melody Hurd is an absolute star. Don't think I've seen such talent at her age.
Rightttt.....these comments by black people are crazy. It's funny how hard we are on own people vs how we analyze white shows. This show in my opinion has so many more postives and the main cast should receive Golden Globes and dammit this not show anything like US or Get Out smh so tired of hearing that. Only black people would compare a black show to other black shows🙄
@@IamNateTaylor they sleep...racial trama? Bro what?! 😂 this show hit home in alot of scenes. I enjoyed it and it was what I thought “us” was supposed to be
I completely agree with you. I am a horror movie/show addict. I think to simply this series to overused tropes and unnecessary traumatic experiences is selling it short. Maybe it's an age difference but I feel that the horrific and "traumatic" events had to be shown. We have suffered 100 times worse than this as a people, they will never show on TV the complete atrocities suffered by us because it would be too traumatic for "them." But they attempt to delve into the surface and I feel that yes it hurts and yes there's no happy ending but does it still hurt today do we have a happy ending today then what exactly were you expecting from it. A false sense of comfort and reality? I have to agree to disagree it's a hard watch because as she says "I saw everything coming, its all been done before" that's because we're still watching the show today in our own lives. So the question is, "Is the show for us or "them", and if you have to ask then maybe it's not for "you!"
@@BeecherGatewood HAHAHA facts
I’m literally like 20 minutes into the first episode and yea I think I’ll bow 🙇🏾♀️ out. Beautiful chocolate family and I’ll leave it at that.
Yeah it was hard to watch and i told my wife so she doesnt have to watch and see these images😒
Yea Like I just cant put my heart through that. The news is stressful enough
Yes watched the first episode was done after that
I watched the entire thing and it was very good. Yes, some things were a little hard to watch but it needed to be seen. Even the song choices were on point. I really think you need to give it another shot.
Guuuurl the fact that the husband wanted to disregard the wife’s trauma was enough to make me stop watching for months! I now had to stop after episode 6….the opening scene was 🤢🤢🤢😤
It's sad to see black people not get that there are a plethora of stories to be told about the variety of our experience. Our ANCESTORS deserve to have their stories told and we should not be ASHAMED of their suffering just as the Jews, NEVER FORGET about their Holocaust. The Racial TERRORISM our people experienced has hardly been seen on the screen when you understand the SCOPE of that horror. We can have contemporary love stories like "The Photograph" or movies like "Black Panther" AND series like "Them" coexisting in the same space. I think a lot of hesitancy to embrace the TRUTH of our painful past on the screen and this impulse to want to " move past struggle" is SHAME and self loathing. Our ANCESTORS were giants, the strongest and smartest of the bunch, surviving what is only best described as DEMONIC treatment. We owe it to them to at least be able to appreciate their stories. The horror genre is a brilliant choice to show this period which has NOT ceased if you watch what was a LYNCHING of GEORGE FLOYD. Think critically not reactively avoiding the truth of where you live. Wt people act in this manner because they don't like to admit what they did. We should make art that shows the world what was done to us and we're STILL standing. It's a triumphant statement not shameful 🙄
You have beautifully shared my exact sentiments. When I watched the series, I was like “Finally! An honest depiction of what happened to our ancestors!” Tell the truth and shame the devil.
i don’t get why writers don’t seem to understand you can have black horror films and not have it be all about black trauma it’s triggering, disgusting, and just overplayed
No more trauma porn for me thanks. I don't watch content like this because its just triggering. After seeing glory, Amistad, roots, and a time to kill as a youth I'm good.
That show felt like racist trauma porn! This show feels like there is a sadistic writer who wants to torment a black family. It's probably not, but bad writing makes it feel like character torture. On top of the ending not being happy and nothing good happening to this family, IDK how this show can be taken seriously!
As black people we live this shit anyway, why do we need shows/films like this!?
It definitely gave me Lovecraft Country vibes. White people in 53 definitely would have gone to jail for killing their black neighbors in Compton. Black people in LA didn’t play that shit.
That’s good to know because I just KNEW dude was putting a lot on it. But in the end he still brutally attacked that family and tried to hand a man to no consequence just ended up part of the mob outside smh
@Hubb The Poet I'm born and raised in California. My grandparents moved to Watts from Louisiana. You are absolutely right! That crime would not have gone unpunished!
It was a hard watch but it was also a historical drama. Our people lived a real life horror movie in 1950’s south and when migrating to the west thinking that life would be better. I don’t think anything in the film was far fetched, maybe enhanced for dramatic purposes. Just listening to the stories my grandmother would tell me, I’m sure there are some of our elders that could relate.
And that’s so TRUE I think the show could have benefited from not adding the horror elements because they already exists without thats. The mix of the two here in particular just didn’t work for me.
Great point and I am so grateful for the sacrifices our elders made to give us the opportunities we have because MAN, even the depictions are tough to witness. Couldn’t imagine living through it.
@@tionakBut we are currently living through it. Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland and a plethora of others. When you hear MAGA followers say “Make America Great Again,” the thing me period portrayed in this movie is what they are referring to.
Just binged watched THEM. Enjoyed your review!! Dare I say I am tired of these storylines...
Me too bruh😴
Thank You 🙏🏾
This was a WS wet dream! *We did not need to go through that* If "one" can be diassociated from the atrocities, then "one" can enjoy the movie and pick up on gist. I felt much like you about this torture. Appreciate your post Sis 🥰
Thank You ❤️💕
I didn’t mind this show. I liked the story it told. The grim reality is even coming through all of that (which is a stigma today in our community so it’s like times 10 back then) they were still black in America. It’s like they beat one devil to step outside and face the real devil.
Yes I agree I actually liked it. I’d tell ppl to watch it. Not sure if I could watch it again but I liked it
There was no pay off at the end.
I agree! It seems like the only pay off attempted was each of the family members defeating their personified demons which...after all that show mentally and emotionally put me through...that wasn’t enough! I ended it feeling so disappointed and angry.
Like in life? Guaranteed payoff/revenge isn't a thing. Most of us deal with our trauma without any pay off or justice.
It's clear that it was meant for white audiences. If you want to educate white people on the history of violence done to black people in America, then that's fine. Do a drama or a documentary. Us as black audiences have been wanting to see films and shows with us as leads that stand outside of the mold that we're used to seeing. Hereditary for example, is a film at its core about generational curses. Get Out is about the racism of liberal white people and how we're seen as aesthetics for the taking and not people. THEM takes the surface levels of these ideas and wants to see what kind of shocking things they can put on screen. There's no real commentary and characters are there just to go through messed up things to show white audiences. Trauma and torture porn doesn't equal scary. That was the biggest grievance of horror films from the 2000s.
Beautiful statement 🙏🏾
That's what we get for wanting be a part of everything. Save that sick art for..them. No pun intended.
It was illogical. After what happened to the mom and baby, they would have NEVER moved into that all white neighborhood
Yassssssss! I didn’t get that I also didn’t get him constantly leaving the wife in the house alone just assuming she was okay with tension high as soon as they arrived! And the same can be said about sending the daughter to school. I’m not expecting anyone to be on high alert 24/7 but damn 🤦🏾♀️
OJay88 you put it on the nail. After the evil in North Carolina how could you even hint to moving in a home amongst all white people? Smh...And Struggle Reviewz TV great point....why would you leave your wife and kids alone in such tension. And who would stay in that home after what they did to the yard? I would of been gone after they had been sitting in lawn chairs in front of my house. I wouldn't want a house that bad. My goodness.
@@StruggleReviewzTV yes. That part really irked my soul. He kept leaving his wife and daughters to the wolves.... AFTER what happened in NC.
Regardless of how triggering the show is.... I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT. It’s like a BLACK American Horror Story to me. The cinematic lover in me just enjoys seeing Black BLACK faces telling a story (especially a horror story) from our perspective. I definitely agree that the layers to the narrative were shallow and could have given us a more resolved ending. I think the trauma was representative of the very real experiences of America.
I love me some American Horror Story the storytelling, pacing, plots and horror elements are always so good (season 1-4) so even though things are gruesome I’m still very much interested in the plot but the plot here was so not interesting to me I was actually bored episodes 1-3
There's a lot of layered symbolism throughout that everyone misses, especially with the messed up white folk. I'm a white dude but this show had me wanting to show up to a "white lives matter rally" and start throwing some haymakers. Basically the show is about "HATE" and how it lasts for generations, is part of our collective memory, and rots away people's minds creating horrors, violence and systemic misery. I thought it was exceptionally well done and thoughtful. I also think it might be a bit too layered for a casual viewer looking for an entertaining TV show. Sometimes symbolism and metaphors can be too much. It sure sticks with you and makes you think though, and that's the sign of a well done show. The acting was also out of pocket. I thought the Emory's were all fantastic.
I saw majority of that symbolism that you saw within the series but it wasn’t enough for me to see the beauty in this show or what Little Marvin wanted to say that warranted such intense torture. The 2 main themes I took away were that HATE is a learned behavior and the Black people have been demonized for so long constantly being seen as a threat yet we persevere. We were on this tiresome journey with this family so by day 10 episode 10 and it just felt like all that to get us here? What’s this 😫
This series was done great to many here just couldn't get past their emotions and see the many great messages and not with just the blk family......it's funny I never seen so much hate for a show these are the same that have nothing to say at the many tyler perry garbage it's hilarious to be honest
@@laverledugger1563 I dislike this show and Tyler Perry's equally. If I wanted to watch black trauma,then I would've watched one of the MANY movies showing it or even a documentary.
@@Brittjb612 there are lessons that can be learned in this series, lesson's that too many of us still haven't learned yet like loving one's self but ok let's do what blk folk do best and that's ignore our issues and do nothing to fix them
@@laverledugger1563 What are we ignoring? We can turn on our local news for these issues. All this series did for me was justify my feelings toward religion and yt folks.
I just found you on this review and I was left this same question and this is after I stopped at episode 5 I couldn't stomach it anymore. The cast was beautiful I just wish that they were introduced to us in different media cause this was just painful. I could see if the family had a win towards the end or even halfway through the series but the fact that it just kept going and going like I don't know why this particular story had to be told as it didn't give insight to anything.
🗣I barely made it through the entire series and in the review my words either couldn’t be found or I was fumbling all over the place but I tried to edit the best way I could to make this review coherent. I thank you guys for watching my hot mess of a explanation because STRUGGLE WAS STRUGGLING! 😂
I love that you dug deep into this! I absolutely agree that the main question becomes “who is this for?” I was extremely disappointed with what they came away with in the end versus what could have been done. Too soft on empowering these characters and not the darker parts of the cast. The narrative was too much about trauma and not the strength that it actually took to be black in that era. At any rate thank you for your review and doing such good job of it!
Thank you so much I’m glad you heard and listened to what I was trying to say this was a tough one❤️💕
I totally agree. That whole cat in the bag scene was unnecessary. I was thinking that this would be similar to Lovecraft Country but I was disappointed this had so much potential too. 🤦🏾♂️
After 2020, I'm over trauma p0rn.
I did not expect that here especially not to that extent! It was disturbing 🤨
The racism was the horror. It is the monster. It’s the monster in real life that one wants speak on it. Episode 5 was traumatic, but it’s a reality for but it seems not to the world.
Thanks for voicing this perspective. Was this supposed to be entertainment? Educational? Who was the target audience? Did it need to be this graphic to make the point? Was the audience expected to feel sympathy for the evil people in the show because they had a backstory? ???????????
This series gave me nightmares. That "cat in the bag" gave me depression. Why show that writers? Y'all love reminding black people of pain in the guise of "let's learn". This was a racists wet dream. Later episodes with the preacher was just horrifying. As a black woman I don't need to re-live trauma. Thanks but no thanks writers.
Man, this show was lacking content all over the place. They would brush on certain topics and pass on them, but when it came to the black family they wanted to abuse them every step of the way. The racist white woman must be racist because she was being abused by her father. That's basically what they tried to paint. They basically gave the white racist a pass for their racism while condemning the black family in the midst of their trauma. The racist white man who was a trash husband to his wife is only racist because he was worried about this white house mom that lived next door. The woman who sold the house only sold the house because she's secretly gay and she doesn't have a voice at her job and people were going to brutalize her for selling houses to black people. Or the husband who was painted as a cheater is not racist only because he's gay but he stole his wife's money. But no. Let's make this black man seem like trash because he accepted a good job and moved his family to a white neighborhood regardless of what his wife has been through. What happened to the gang that raped the mother and killed the child? What happened to the housing market? What happened to the milk man? So many questions. And how u gonna make getting your hair hot combed so traumatic? I know plenty of women who got burned by a hot comb. It wasn't that serious, but let the show tell it that it was a traumatic experience that will stay with u until you get older. Smh. It's just trauma porn on the black family alone. Black father doesn't pay attention to his family. He's just there to work and come home. The black mother is just crazy. Nevermind that she's been through something traumatic, she's just crazy. And the children not wanting to be like their mother. Smh. Just trash.
You saw exactly what I saw ! ❤️
You brought up so many great points, most of all...what was the message or point of this whole journey🤷🏾♀️ It hit so hard in the beginning that I thought "Surely, it is going to have a point, a message, a triumph...something..." Nope! I mostly got a lot of highly shocking parts and confusion, a bunch of parts that went nowhere, dissapointment at all the times I thought we were going to find out a reason for these wild rides we were taken on only to be lead down a blind alley and left in the dark. I agree with you, I don't think a second part is worth a watch but oddly, I feel like I invested so much time that I'm owed something from "Them"🤦🏾♀️ This show has worn my nerves.
Thank you 😊
Thank you so much for sharing your perspective about the show. I honestly agree with what you’re saying 100%. It makes me feel so upset that they conveyed the show in a certain light and I feel like some scenes were not necessary to see like how the mother was raped and the child was being tossed so carelessly. It was heart breaking to see that.
Thank You 🙏🏾
For the life of me, I can not understand why someone would make this series. It is straight insanity. It's sad that series like this keep getting made. There are so many topics to explore that would encourage society toward positivity.
That pie scene confused me bc Idk what was going on even with the back story, the girl with the cereal threw me for a loop, the milkman being a murderer that we clearly weren’t supposed to care about (I guess)🤷🏽♀️, the super angry neighbor man all over that other mans wife was out of control, the wallpaper tearing we never really got into, Princess Tiana and Navene in the wheelchair 🤷🏽♀️, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE $6000 and WHY WAS THAT DAMN BLUE BIRD IMPORTANT?? They created soooo many unnecessary and unanswered questions 🙄🙄😒😒
Not Princess Tiana!!!!🤣 😂
The wallpaper tearing I understood. Remember how she said that once one black family moves into the neighborhood more will come and “they” grow like mold? And underneath her wallpaper was black mold. But I do still want to know why her husband took that $6000 out of the bank. There was so much self hate that she had not being able to get pregnant and being molested by her father.
You are so right. Do gay clubs back in the day charge alot? Was he paying rent somewhere else? 🤷🏾♂️. What happened to the milk man? What happened to the gang who raped the woman. Did they get locked up? Did they not get in trouble? Nobody called the police? What happened to the lady selling houses? It's just lost.
@@ATOWNFONTAINE I’m sure we were supposed to care and solely focus on the black family which is fine but don’t spend 50% of the show giving us their character traits and backstory! I felt like we knew ALOT about Betty for no reason since none of the questions in her storyline were answered.
i thought the wallpaper represented her thinking that her home was about to start falling apart ( when they first moved in ) because the first time the wallpaper was starting to peel only a little , then the second go round she completely ripped the wallpaper off the wall because she felt like her home was falling apart all because they were still there and there attempts to get them to leave didnt work . also because she got back handed for calling them the n-word . just my thought
You are very talented at reviewing media! A lot of the other reviewers on RUclips focused way too much on their own political ideologies instead of the show itself. Many videos were more like annoying lectures rather than an actual review of the series. I had a lot of the same thoughts as you did about each episode. Great video!
Thank you very much I appreciate it ! 💕
Lena Withe is a coward. She constantly shows her black characters being victimized, traumatized with no positive powerful ending. I think that's the only reason she's a loud to make them.
Wow not one person has a positive thing to say about her in the comment I’ve personally never watched any content from her.
I seen this Saturday I watched the whole season it pissed me of 😡 smh it was kinda sadistic it disturbed my peace
I know this times are getting dark and people more disconnected. I watched the first 3 episodes and it was too demonic. I wanted to see more of the beautiful family but could not go on. Glad I listened to the holy spirit.
I agree with u and her but I look at agendas. Hollywood is satanic the executives, directors, and all famous actors. Trauma is used to open your spiritual doors. Anyhow I could go on.
This show triggered me and gave me extreme anxiety. Couldn’t finish it. Give me a show with some normalcy, fun light heartedness, and a pinch of drama please.
Trauma in our community is real and often swept under the rug. So much tondeal with
Your “Whatcha gone do?” rendition won me over instantly 😂
Thank you, RUclips algorithm!! Subbed and liked 🥰
Thank you 😂 I worked hard on that ! And WELCOME ❤️
The purpose of the movie is the trauma, and the effects on our people. The main key is the preacher revealing scripture of who we really are, TRUE ISRAEL!!!
Best BREAKDOWN EVER!! I watched 1-3 like this shit is frustrating. Went to 10 and was like huh? A ghost, wtf? Came straight to this page and you are my feelings in detail! Thanks for giving it straight no chaser
Thank You So Much I’m glad you felt what I was saying ❤️
It was pretty disappointing. Just so little empowerment that I do not understand who this for... And it felt like this series had no soul. There where no character moments. No emotional settling. No joy. No sorrow. Just unrelenting brutality. That can work in a fictional setting with diverse cast. Yet, when you have a story rooted in historical moments within the dark underbelly of prejudice. This has to have a message with heart and soul that endure and overcome the adversity. Just an unbearable series that feels more like exploitation than a cross examination into 1950s. Truly feels like such a waste too an amazingly casted and beautiful family.
Thank You 🙏🏾
I remember seeing the trailer for this show and thinking “this feels like it’s trying to be Us” and then I saw the title “Them” and was like “goddammit.” Like this show is very clearly hopping on the trend of black art taking elements of the HBO shows Watchmen and Lovecraft Country but trying to elicit the Jordan Peele crowd with that trailer. I genuinely hope this doesn’t become a trend of “HEEEEYYYY it’s black trauma again!!! But this time in the 20th century and it’s kinda spooky 👀.” Like the story of black people is so expansive, but it feels like only 4 are being told. And they’re being told in like 2 or 3 different ways.
Horror is meant to something scary and well written, something you can look back on and say "wow i love that movie/ series" cus its welll written, executed amazingly, it is meant to be entertainment, THIS WAS NOT ENTERTAINMENT, this was just trauma on top of trauma.
I just said so much of what you are saying to my brother, FILM CREATORS PLEASE STOP TURNING OUR HISTORICAL TRAUMA INTO PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR, WE ARE STILL LIVING THIS ITS NOT ENTERTAINING! CAN WE GET A PREDOMINANTLY BLACK CAST IN A MONSTER MOVIE OR VAMPIRE MOVIE WITH NO RACIAL UNDERTONES OR SUBPLOTS PLEEEEASE🤦🏽♀️😫
Lovecraft Country did it so well, where the racism was much scarier than the supernatural elements. This however...ugh.
I absolutely agree with everything you said and every point you made. This could have been a great show with great stories to tell but, damn. It was so worried with being edgy and making its audience uncomfortable the stories of the characters suffered.
Thank You 🙏🏾
I had absolutely no interest in this movie when I seen this trailer. I’m so sick of movies displaying the trauma us as black people have been through/ still going through. There’s Enough movies out there already. This only makes me more angry and disgusted towards that race.
To me, it's fine if they do it right (like Get Out, Us and Lovecraft Country), but this wasn't thought provoking like any of those. It was just straight up torture porn.
We’re not still going through this.
I agree but at the same time it’s too many people that don’t have any clue of the extent these people would go to kill us and our babies....from alligator to bait to what they are doing now
their creating series with black ppl and making it horror shit is just pure evil
The scene were she zoomed in on the husband at work and he was posed like Malcolm X was maybe the best part of this show. I did not understand why any of this had to be like this. They made racism of the devil, and not something that you can unlearn.
I figured the milkman would shoot Betty if she left the bunker. His obsession made no sense. It was also clear that the child in episode 9 was not a child.
I really enjoy ur reviews and thank God I didn't watch this show. The whole black struggle thing as much as I appreciate it, it's really saying things that we already know.
Thank You ❤️
@@StruggleReviewzTV ur welcome, and u just got yourself a new subscriber.
Your take on this series is right on! I just finished the series and I tried to stick around to get an understanding of why and the message of the movie. It was just suffering toward a black family, unnecessary characters and their development instead of the main characters, and a family just going insane. The graphic parts of the abuse of the wife, baby, and the black couple at the end was just horrible and didn't need to happen. I'm not sure what the writers and producers were trying to relay here. It just made you mad and confused at the end of the day.
Thank You for watching ❤️💕
Aside from the excessive on screen trauma and the anticlimactic ending, was the way that the writers just dropped any thought of threat of consequence for the black family.
We know that they were facing many obstacles because of their color and the white citizens were so ready to see them gone one way or another. So what did the Emory’s expect to happen when it was found out that Henry killed a white man? What would happen if it came out that he was in his boss’s home alone with the wife? What will happen when they discover that he killed the police officer and why did no one hear it? They seem to hear everything single OTHER sound that takes place outside. What happens when Betty never comes home and the Emorys are suspected of her disappearance? What will happen to Henry since the neighbors all saw him in the street beating a white man and pointing a gun at him? What will happen when they find the dead white man, killed by a teenage black girl, in the basement? What will happen when the psych ward realizes Lucky has escaped and has also attacked an employee there? Regardless of redemption, it can only be assumed that this family is dead. Killed in the yard by indignant police officers. It’s like holding your breath in anticipation only to be thrown into a pool where you still can’t breathe.
Who was this show made for, indeed.
That’s all I was saying! 😂🤦🏾♀️
@@StruggleReviewzTV I can only subscribe once, unfortunately. But you got it, ma’am.
This series had the black woman being unprotected and having to fend for herself and her family in the end. The only time the husband defended himself was when those three white men came to his house to start something with him while he was in the roof. Dont count him running up behind a man knocking him unconscious nor shooting the police officer in cold blood. Near the end he was tied up and his daughter Ryby was the one who took an axe, struck one of the tormentors in the house and cutting him loose. It should had been written in the series that the husband and his friends visited the men and woman who raped his wife and killed the baby. When the husband and his boys snuck up on the murderous group he had used military guerilla tactics ti kill all of them and never being detected nor caught and accepting a job in California moving his family there. But this wasn't written in the script probably to push the agenda of the Black woman even being married always is unprotected and having to fend for herself and her family
woosh I didn't think about that.. Wow.
Im sure the actor who played the husband was held back from showing the characters full potential. It should had been written in the script where he had done a revenge kill. If that had happened to a white family bets would be off when the husband would had sought revenge and the wife would had told him whom had done it and encouraged him. This is why I find it hard to believe that a Black man produced this series for most men including my nerdy self would had made the man of the house a hero kicking A#$ and taking names. This smacks of feminism behind this
@@stickshiftdriver1832 That would have changed the narrative completely.. The flight to Compton to escape persecution after killing the individuals (Think of Sam Jackson in A Time To Kill) and that would have changed the narrative in FIGHTING BACK as a family.... The balance between containing your rage and being complacent to survive..
@@WonderWoman780 that's inly for black made films. If this happened to any other ethnic group they would had sought revenge then move
@@WonderWoman780 and besides didnt he kill a cop in cold blood for no reason at all? That same energy could had went to his wife's rapist and son's murderers
Da tap dance man is the embodiment of violence and hatred towards the white people
His design was amazing i loved the makeup and the outfit amazing character
The way you pause, the long sigh under your breath and that facial expression when you discuss a part of the series that ticks you off, have me totally weak!!! 😂😁 I love it! Keep up the great reviews!
Girl I could only get through 2 episode of them!!! I’m like can we get black horror without trama??? Please 😩
For me personally, i don't get or understand what audience is this show exactly for? I don't have to watch a show about black folks being assaulted and condemned for the color of our skin. My father has plenty of real racial horror stories of his own that he has told me. We as of 2021 have such a greater understanding of all the racial intolerance and inequalities that have occurred throughout history than we have before.
But see a lot of black folk don't know history that well, and there's a lot of whites that overlook the insensitivity on the topic.
Some wouldn't even believe there are evil ppl that go that far.
I believe it did in racial terror that Lovecraft country and Watchmen didn't have.
Back then we didn't always get that revenge that Django falsely implanted.
It was sad entirely but, I enjoyed this story nonetheless.
@@Cecil_Crow Okay, there are plenty of books that are written by black authors who definitely provide more details about our history. We all know there are things they won't ever show us on a TV show or movie. It is cool if you enjoyed the show, but the show was missing the mark with me in certain ways. We are more than just trauma. I appreciate your reply.
@@cdub1988 most definitely, and media is a evil itself.
Steady we're almost making films almost a snuff.
Not many black folks (youth in general) are down to read a book about the traumas.
Because you're right many books that go way in deep.
But in film, execution is the best delivery to the Majority
Why read it when u can watch it basically.
When it always comes to the majority, that's probably the best execution method.
Go with the masses.
@@Cecil_Crow Yes exactly, they believe that black people don't read books so they can get away with showing whatever they want us to see. I have learned so much from the books I've read.
I couldn't watch it anymore, I saw it pop up on amazon prime it was recommended to me, but I've watched a few episodes and honestly I feel very uncomfortable, ... this triggered me, I ended up having a physical reaction. I'm done watching black trauma fueled movies/series.
All my friends are watching it I can't, but I am enjoying your review on the series...I'm listening from London.
Thank You So Much ❤️😊
10 episode was a waste of time and I was waiting for them to get to the point. I have to give this a 2/10 just because I like the actors and actresses.
Yes no one is acknowledging that the actual pacing and storyline wasn’t good because there is so much interest in excepting the violence 🤦🏾♀️
Everything in me told me the moment I saw Lena Waithe's name that I didn't want to see this series and I'm so damn glad I listened. I'm STILL pissed about Queen & Slim and this is not about to get added to my problems. We watch TV for release not to be further traumatized by the shit we know happens! Especially not right now.
EXACTLY! I keep telling ppl that.
Tap Dance man was my favorite person , he's the black joker of this show for me. But also felt like i really relate to him the most.
Same.. It was strange how he was my favorite character and I wanted more... The scene in the dinner made me wonder who he truly was... At the dn of Ep 10 we discover he is a White man in black face. Man I wanted more of this character.. I thought of him as Pennywise but for Black folks lol..
He looked like a minstrel venom
@@Katfish1216 I LOVE VENOM LOL...
especially when he made Henry sit and watch what happened to his wife. I was here for it. I was disappointed that he was just a white man in blackface
@@WonderWoman780 YES EXACTLY , i felt he was actually HELPING and speaking FACTS the whole time. A slave that died and now is back to speak facts and give the father some courage is how i saw it. i know the script probably says different or what not.
They did the cat in the bag twice with the teenager whoopin her own ass with a bag over her head and trying to knock herself out also.
I PEEPED THAT TOO! I also see that they wanted the dad to go through the same trauma as the mom did with the baby Chester. When he was captured and beaten in front of his girls and almost hung I’m sure he was feeling helpless and felt for sure those men would have killed his girls even though her begged for their life !
Girl I am SO glad you commented on my video so I could find your channel. WHAT A REVIEW 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 I thoroughly enjoyed your perspective and omg you are BEAUTIFUL! Great video!
I have a different take on the pie scene. The young daughter told the dad that they seen a ghost in the basement and the father was angry with the wife for not letting go her trauma. Again, he wasn’t listening to his family. In spite, the wife fed him the pie in order to show him that he isn’t over his trauma and the dad forced himself to eat the pie in order to show the wife that she needs to push through her trauma.
My main issue is that, even if this tv show was greenlit before "Lovecraft County" and "Watchmen", it's not giving what they were. In both of these shows i can argue that Black people were the main focus, and were given powers to fight back against the oppressive characters. With both of these shows i literally watched each episode back and forth. With this? I rushed through every episode, skipped the entirety of episode 9 just for the ending to be.... underwhelming. I feel like if anything, the White characters had more power than anything. Hell, at least in Django, he was shooting mfs left and right. Personally I don't think I'd watch this again, nor recommend this to anyone cause it doesn't do anything for anyone but maybe white audiences?
Exactly! Because I enjoyed both lovecraft country and the watchmen. Even though there was trauma and plenty of tasteless events on screen that I didn’t care for it was done in a way that kept you guessing and turned a lot of tropes on there heads and injected something new into this narrative. That’s why I’m not understanding why people would say you shouldn’t expect to see anything new here when it comes to the topic of race theres nothing new under the sun there isn’t but it’s all about the way it’s presented, the plot and the storytelling and it just wasn’t in the series for me. I felt like maybe episode nine should have been placed near the beginning maybe episode three to give some clarity and flow to the show. Because so much has already occurred by episode five.
@@StruggleReviewzTV how i feel like the show should've ended was the neighbours getting burned up by that fire, and the family escaping (kinda like the ending of Us) that would've been at least something from the 10 hours of basic torture porn I had to watch. That's why I agree, who was this series actually for? I actually skipped the entirety of episode 9. But I feel that they handled the white racists with more care than the actual main black characters. While the acting was AMAZING all around, i don't recommend anyone to watch this, nor will I be tuning in for a second season. Whoever wrote this needs they ass beat by they grandparents (who were probably alive during this time)
Why aren't black people tired of the black trauma that Rappers keep regurgitating?
@I'm a gamer I know there are no rappers on the show. I'm referring to the rappers that spew all kinds of garbage everyday on the radio that's ultimately causing delinquency in our youth. Why aren't black people tired of the trauma that causes?
@@michaelknight8895 You having the gall to type that comment is rooted in anti blackness. Black people are tired of these racist traumatic movies. What inside of you thought to debate?!?? You clearly don’t listen to hip hop music? Nor understand shit about black people.
Can I just say after watching this I had trouble being in a dark room alone…anyone else deal with this?
In my opinion, this film addresses covert racism that continues to persist. Cunning prejudice is more subtle and difficult to detect. Covert racism in our society has yet to be fully exploited. The film has multiple layers, not exclusively designed for mere sake of showing atrocities inflicted. It's design for you to take a look at the broader spectrum of how racial hate is executed.
@I'm a gamer you are oblivious. Your the problem that continues to persist.
Yes! This was trauma on trauma on trauma. I literally found myself holding my breath & clenching my teeth so much so that I ended up with a headache for 2 days. The family was beuatiful, and the acting was on point. My biggest gripe was I endured 10 episodes of non-stop trauma because I was waiting for the Emory's to exact some serious revenge on EVERYBODY, even that crazy family who killed Baby Chester. Like you said, I get what they were trying to do, but there was all of this build up & intensity only for it to fizzle out in the end. I wish I knew Little Marvin's endgame. Was he trying to entertain or just trigger the hell out of people? I mean the trauma endured by the Emory's was depicted with such GRAPHIC detail, but the white people who inflicted all of this trauma never REALLY got dealt with. The crazy a$$ family that killed Baby Chester never got dealt with, nothing happed to Henry's a$$hole boss that we could see, Betty got slapped & then kidnapped & shot from a distance & even that was too quick. Shout out to Ruby for taking an ax to 1 of the men who tried to lynch Henry & Lucky did beat the hell out of/or possibly killed that doctor but that's about it. I know this is basic, but I guess it would have been more satisfying if we could've seen them suffer some more. Then again maybe that was the point; to show how whites could inflict this much pain on Black people and pretty much go about their business.
I was done with mrs. Lena waiter when she killed queen and slim as if it wouldn’t be believable that they made it to Cuba safe !!! And then had the nerve to have a black man eat them out !!
I absolutely hated this show. Neighbors horrible, the violence was horrible, etc. I felt like I was just enduring torture with each episode and nothing redeeming happened at the end. The family was beautiful and they were great actors. That is the only good thing I can say. SPOILER: That flashback episode when the other couple had their eyes burned out then was burned alive was horrible. I felt like I could throw up. It takes a sick mind to even write some of the things we saw happen on this show.
I've been watching a bunch of reviews on this series as I just could not finish it. Truly traumatic experience and brings up alot of anger.
I said the same thing about them trying to make us have sympathy for Betsy!👍🏾
I don’t know why she said Betsy I think she heard it wrong or something because her name is Betty
Okay, Betty. They made an excuse for her behavior. That's a problem for me when a black creative is telling the story.
Good review, i get it...i thought it was good HORROR series BASED on true events. This was hard to watch. It was supposed to be. There were many messages that need to be shown as i feel as a community we have forgotten. Our history has been whitewashed and watered down that we got mfs saying ish like "we are not our ancestors" disregarding the true trauma and disparity they went through so we are able to even say that bs. What i got from it was...as a UNIT we are unstoppable and beyond just survivors. WE NEED TO STOP DISRESPECTING OUR ANCESTORS.
Also don't forget they actions and how they truly feel bc of their ancestors.
Sounds like trauma for trauma sake
They use to never want to put black father's on tv and now they're cool with this!
I agree
I felt physically sick watching this , I had to turn it off. I’m a massive horror fan , I feel the bio explaining the plot is totally different to what is shown. I also feel it’s really insensitive to put this series out , while everything is going on with george floyd’s trial / BLM right now. Great actors , beautiful actors but just sad this is how they were shown
Yeah...I don't think I'll be watching this one anytime soon. I cannot get my blood pressure high. And sidenote, you are so pretty! ❤️
Thank You So Much❤️ and it’s a hard watch for some and for others it appears to be symbolic and easy. Clearly I couldn’t separate the 2 and only saw trauma.
like many others i agree, this is very traumatic, triggering, and heavy. i literally was shaking and crying watching episode 9 because it is not entertainment. it is the truth. the truth that hurts so bad, but is SO NECESSARY to be told. even though this was very necessary, there does not need to be any more movies or series about black trauma. we are so much more than that. we still have yet to tell stories of black billionaires, inventors, and creators on a mass scale. the hidden figures and madam c. j. walker are the stories i want to see more of. all in all this show was very well written and produced, but watch it at your own caution.
I think the neighbors were well aware that they did not kidnap Betty, rather they just needed an excuse to go in the house and act a fool.
Exactly they needed someone to blame and who better than the neighbors they hate down the street