The only thing I think the show really fucked up was trying to reclaim the n-word. It really seemed like Aaron wanted to redefine it as a term to refer in general to the self-interested, short-sighted bucket of crabs mentality of the lumpenproletariat - as if it could be removed from the centuries of baggage the word carried. This confused some dumb white teenagers like myself. The word could never be reclaimed - at least, not in the socio/economic/political/cultural environment the show was created in. I give Aaron credit for trying though. It certainly wasn’t the path of least resistance.
The first three seasons of the animation were solid. It went to shit the second Aaron McGruder was no longer involved in its production.
What is happening in season four to Huey Freeman has, in the course of history, happened repeatedly to the revolutionary thinkers and leaders of oppressed classes fighting for emancipation. During the first three seasons (written by McGruder), the oppressing classes constantly hounded him, received his theories with the most savage malice, the most furious hatred and the most unscrupulous campaigns of lies and slander. In season four (not written by McGruder), attempts are made to convert him into a harmless icon, to canonize him, so to say, and to hallow his name to a certain extent for the “consolation” of the fans and with the object of duping the latter, while at the same time robbing Huey Freeman of his substance, blunting his revolutionary edge and vulgarizing it.
The only thing I think the show really fucked up was trying to reclaim the n-word. It really seemed like Aaron wanted to redefine it as a term to refer in general to the self-interested, short-sighted bucket of crabs mentality of the lumpenproletariat - as if it could be removed from the centuries of baggage the word carried. This confused some dumb white teenagers like myself.
McGruder wasn’t trying to “reclaim” n*****. He was showing a reality Black people related to. The baggage that n***** carries is the result of the power dynamics Whites held over Blacks. When we use it among ourselves, we’re making light of our oppressors, esp. when we use it as a term of endearment, like what jail dude said about Huey at the end of the video.
Not sure how you came to the conclusion n***** was attempting to be reclaimed.
The only thing I think the show really fucked up was trying to reclaim the n-word. It really seemed like Aaron wanted to redefine it as a term to refer in general to the self-interested, short-sighted bucket of crabs mentality of the lumpenproletariat - as if it could be removed from the centuries of baggage the word carried. This confused some dumb white teenagers like myself. The word could never be reclaimed - at least, not in the socio/economic/political/cultural environment the show was created in. I give Aaron credit for trying though. It certainly wasn’t the path of least resistance.
The first three seasons of the animation were solid. It went to shit the second Aaron McGruder was no longer involved in its production.
What is happening in season four to Huey Freeman has, in the course of history, happened repeatedly to the revolutionary thinkers and leaders of oppressed classes fighting for emancipation. During the first three seasons (written by McGruder), the oppressing classes constantly hounded him, received his theories with the most savage malice, the most furious hatred and the most unscrupulous campaigns of lies and slander. In season four (not written by McGruder), attempts are made to convert him into a harmless icon, to canonize him, so to say, and to hallow his name to a certain extent for the “consolation” of the fans and with the object of duping the latter, while at the same time robbing Huey Freeman of his substance, blunting his revolutionary edge and vulgarizing it.
McGruder wasn’t trying to “reclaim” n*****. He was showing a reality Black people related to. The baggage that n***** carries is the result of the power dynamics Whites held over Blacks. When we use it among ourselves, we’re making light of our oppressors, esp. when we use it as a term of endearment, like what jail dude said about Huey at the end of the video.
Not sure how you came to the conclusion n***** was attempting to be reclaimed.