Reality TV – The new “Blacksploitation”!?
For many of us, it’s our guilty pleasure, hell – I know it’s mine…Reality TV. They even have a school (New York Reality TV School) and courses on how to become a Reality TV star in institutions such as the University of Iowa, San Jose State University, and Northeastern State University in Oklahoma, but is this really what should be included in the college curriculum? <— This may be revisited.
My new guilty pleasure - Love and Hip Hop Atlanta – has taken on a whole new experience for me. Many of us already knew about Stevie J, but to witness his utter disregard for the women in his life is unreal. I’m not gonna get into semantics – that’s another post -
what I will touch on is image and perception. For years African Americans have been working to remove the “Sambo” stigma from our culture, and somehow it seems as if we’ve taken two thousand steps backward.
As much as all of us want to blame the producers and directors of these shows, let’s be real here. If none of 
these people wanted the attention, the cameras would only see what they allowed or even further, they wouldn’t even be on the show. Again, let’s be real. EVERYONE GETS PAID! So for a couple hundred thou, would you allow cameras to follow you around and chronicle your life? Think about it carefully…I’ll wait. Would I do it, you ask? HELL NO! Although there’s no such thing as “bad publicity” these days, that’s not the image I want to portray…I have goals and dispelling everything my mother taught me on national television isn’t one of them.
Earlier today, Rickey Smiley spoke out on his Twitter page about publicizing shows like Love and Hip Hop Atlanta on the radio. To be honest, after his interview on Monday with Stevie J, I’d probably feel the same way. You can listen to it here.
So what do we do? I say we because collectively, we have to work towards the preservation of our OWN culture. Do we continue indulging in our guilty pleasure of “blacksploitation Reality TV”, or say enough is enough and take a stand?
I say…let me get through this season and then we can strategize a plan to do better….DON’T YOU JUDGE ME!!!
Weigh in and share your thoughts…
