NY Times: "The death of the black male romantic lead"

LOL Wish they showed it down here. I'll have to get it on DVD I think. It looks good.

 

one, the article talks about a comedy to talk about romantic lead roles for black males......? wtf? that is the wrong show to bring that up. its a fucking comedy. its a parody. the author is a dumbass. yes, there are romantic comedies and what not but to use real hollywood husbands is the wrong fucking show.

 

The show has potential. It is a comedic spoof of reality shows. Not even the cast take it all seriously and they are having fun. When was the last time we ever saw that?

 

Basically what they guy who wrote the article is saying is : "Black Males can't even be seen as romantic within their own."

Honestly that's a far stretch, compared to other ethnicities, it's not like we aren't getting an play at all within American media (When's the last time you saw an asian dude in a romantic relationship with any women, asian or not?).

 

The Walking Dead.

 

Or maybe you're not sharp enough to see the "subtle commentary" of a show entitled “Real Husbands of Hollywood"? Just a thought.

 

The article would have had more weight if it didn't focus its analysis on this show in particular, which screws up the author's argument because Real Husbands has nothing to do with his point.

Other than Boris, none of the other main characters are considered 'serious' actors. No romantic roles are being denied to them so that they're regulated to performing in a comedic satire like Real Husbands.

Black actors have always had a difficult time getting roles in Hollywood of any kind other than stereotypes. It's not new or groundbreaking.

 

But it does. His focus isn't on the show but the very point the parody is making, which everybody here seems to miss.

It doesn't matter if such and such isn't a serious actor or wasn't regularly a romantic lead.

He appropriately laments the irony of the Real Husbands of Hollywood in the context of an age where "black sitcoms and dramas is largely over, replaced instead with token diversity."

 

The parody of Real Husbands is of reality TV shows, not the careers of the actors themselves.
Boris whatshisname still gets work. Kevin Hart still works. Nick Cannon is the Black Dick Clark. Robin Thicke still sells out. Nelly I don't know about.

JB Smooth just co-starred in Hall Pass. Duane Martin isn't doing anything currently I know of, but he had his shot starring in his own sitcom. It sucked.


There are still new Black sitcoms on cable networks like TVOne and Centric.
The TV game is about ratings and very few sitcoms Black or White do particularly well nowadays.
It's not because Black sitcoms are being excluded or discriminated against.
Everything is so niche nowadays that if it wasn't for BET, the Reals Husbands concept would still be on the shelf.


You can cast the greatest Black writers, producers and actors to star in 10 TV shows, but if they don't get ratings, the shows die.

IMO it's hard to market a show specifically targeted at a Black audience and expect it to be a hit cross culturally on TV.

To me it's hardly ironic there's a potentially hit Black reality TV show comedy on BET but there aren't any others. That's the business.

 

Dude, nevermind.

 

it would be best MQ is to watch the show and then reread the article. the author is suppose to critique the show and then contradicts itself by talking about leading man romantic roles.

 

WTF? I've seen the show !!!

 

is caramanica (the guy who wrote the article) black?

I just wonder because he juxtaposes the lack of romantic roles for black men with a mention of "scandal", which i think is that show in which a black women has an affair with the white president, much to the chagrin of his white wife. The interracial "courting" of black women by hollywood (stuff like "something new" and this show and in lots of commercials and stuff) irks some black guys I'm sure.

Black women love that show (scandal) by the way. I've seen comments on facebook by black women saying stuff like "this show is like crack...".

I say you shouldn't base much of your self-image or outlook on hollywood either way, whether there are no romantic leads for black men or a flood of them... Just sayin'.

 

There was a commercial way back for some sort of sexual aid for couples. The ad featured an asian couple lamenting how dull their sex life is, until they used the product of course.

In early versions of the commercial, the asian guy says "I fold my socks, I do..." as a testament to how dull they were.

Later versions of the commercial had that line edited out, probably because of the outcry among asian, who are often cast as asexual, with asian women being cast as romantically involved with white men.

By the way, this is an interesting line from the o.p.'s article:

I wonder if the author chose those words on purpose... heh heh

 

I remember an old Calgon commercial with a young Asian couple running a dry cleaning shop. When the white female asks how the young man how he got her clothes so clean, he replies in a sly whisper, "Ancient Chinese secret." Then, later there was a commercial for Chung King foods that had a kung fu theme. Then came a commercial for a toy called Qwik Sticks. It, too had a martial arts theme because the Qwik Sticks operated like three handle nunchakus.

 

I remember that commercial and when the wife mentioned "We need more Calgon." The customer replied "Ancient Chinese Secret huh?"

 

That was classic.

 

This thread just turned into "Asian's in the media".

 

Maybe the fact that the whole black, romantic type just doesn't quite exist in a way that seems "convincing" or seen in the public eye. Plus, if such a type were to exist, the impression, not just from the usual audience, but also the black community would scrutinize this character as being not authentic (or plain fake or closet homosexual softy). We play too much into stereotypes altogether, and we have ourselves to blame partly because of some level of rigidity perception we have to abide by.

 

I'm sure there's plenty of black actors who can play a convincing romantic lead. I don't mean the role Trey Songz played in the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He not only wasn't convincing, he was a douchebag. The actor doesn't have to be a specific type mind you. I think we've seen a wide enough range of black actors playing romantic leads that stereotypes really aren't a factor. I would argue stereotypes are what prevent them from getting the parts. I don't believe there's any special reaction on the part of black audiences either. A romantic lead is a romantic lead. They could be safe, dangerous, black, white, whatever. You do yourself a disservice once you pigeonhole your audience.