Nigga, You Turned Out Just Like Tyler. Pause.
I’ve been fighting off doing this post for weeks now because I didn’t want to speak ill of a show and a creator that I’ve long admired. But, it needs to be said: The last season of The Boondocks was really, really awful.
Honestly, the show has always been off and on since it began airing (when it’s brilliant, it is…when it’s not, yikes), but the final season was a huge disappointment overall.
Those of you who have been reading this site for years know that I’m a huge fan of the strip and Aaron McGruder.
So much that up until maybe last year, the profile picture on the right of the page wasn’t of me, but the main character, Huey Freeman.
That’s because years ago I discovered the strip after so many people from different circles in my life began to tell me how much I reminded them of Huey all around the same time.
Once I found out about the strip I fell in love with it and developed a huge admiration for its creator.
I dug up every interview I could find with Aaron, purchased every book he released of the strip to catch up with all that had gone on, and waited anxiously for the strip to transition to television.
I still remember the profile The New Yorker did of Aaron McGruder at the time the show was set to premiere on FOX.
I read that profile over and over again. It gave me something to aspire to and I really believed in the promise of the show.
Even last year, when I went on an interview and was asked about what my favorite shows were I immediately started off with The Boondocks.
I explained how good it was to see a funny, smart, satirical show that offered comedy and sociopolitical commentary from the black perspective.
That was something really missing from television and for people like me who hope to add balance to what’s out there, all we had. After watching this past season, I’d rather start all over with nothing.
It started off okay with its season premiere, which highlighted Aaron’s obvious annoyance with President Obama (that was evident in other episodes, but offered no explanation but I digress) and the borderline worship he receives from his enthusiasts.
Then it just got terrible.
I know Aaron’s penchant for use of the word “nigga” has always been a touchy subject for some. I’ve always felt the word was thrown out a little too freely, but I got over it.
This season, though, was like a 13-episode tribute to the fucking word.
Nigga.
Nigga.
Nigga.
Nigga.
Nigga.
Nigga.
Just about every damn episode.
At one point I yelled at the screen, “Damn, nigga, we get it.”
If I could sum up this season in seven words I’d go with the following: Nigga, chicken, kung-fu, nigga, pause, nigga, no homo.
Speaking of “pause” and “no homo,” in all seriousness, what was up with the constant gay jokes?
The episode “A Date With The Booty Warrior” was really uncomfortable.
As in, why does this man know more about anal sex than a dildo at a lonely queen’s house?
I remember Aaron poking fun at the irony of hip-hop’s homophobia given the genre was marred in homoeroticism (the jewelry, oiled bodies, constant calls for other men to suck their dicks).
Interesting how things have turned out, because many of these episodes reminded of all the stupid sum bitches who talk one way about gay men but are ready to perform “Say Ahh” in private the moment a dick is whipped out.
Some people have reminded me that Aaron is a satirist. Yes, he is, and the best way to bring that up to me is bringing up episodes from the previous two seasons. Better yet, hold up a copy of A Right To Be Hostile.
Just don’t bring up this season of the show.
Worst of all, this season itself wasn’t all that funny, and yes, I’m including that hate letter to Tyler Perry that so many people adored.
Yes, that episode has its moments but for the most part, I found it to be disrespectful. So much of Aaron’s points were valid, but it got lost in beating the audience over the head with the fact that he believes Tyler Perry is gay. There’s poking fun and then there’s flat out being insulting.
He get lost in the myriad of reasons to get at Tyler and poke fun by sticking to his perception that he thinks he likes to get poked in Jesus’ name.
Granted, Tyler Perry has made one too many swipes at gays in his work, but in the end, naan one of these two seem to care about my kind and I know the difference between pointing out a perceived tragic irony and using someone’s alleged orientation against them all the same.
And I think what I hated most about the episode was the fact that after this season Aaron McGruder isn’t in much of a position to be taking about Tyler Perry.
You can’t roast someone for being stereotypical and pandering to a certain audience for quick laughs when you’re employing the exact same tactics.
Tyler panders to his audience the same way most creators do. That’s kind of how it works. If you believe certain themes are dangerous to a community already being force-fed the worst in the media, that’s one thing. And in fact, I agree with you. However, you can’t talk about one evil being wrong as you exploit others.
Aaron has long said his intentions were to make money, not anything else, and it became more evident because the satirical nature to his work gave way for fast laughs. It’s obvious in the diminished role of Huey Freeman in the show.
The nuance was lost, the ratings soared as a result of it.
That said, while I appreciate the promise of the show, given the direction it was going I can’t say I’ll miss it as much as I initially thought.
As for Tyler and other humor people consider “low brow,” no, I’m not “excusing” it but I am saying some of us need to be fairer in our criticism.
In this instance, it’s like they’re both talking about chicken, but some give the other a pass because at least that one is eating white meat. It reeks of elitism or flat out bullshit (though the terms are typically interchangeable).
And don’t act like you don’t appreciate that reference to chicken. You sure laughed when Aaron McGruder made a flu out of it. You probably want some now, too.
Fine, but before you go, drop me a note.
-V-
September 3, 2010 at 3:42 pm
I agree wholeheartedly. I was actually only able to watch the first 3 episodes….huey was put to the backburner..THE MAIN CHARACTER! and i could see if it was for advances in the storyline, but there WAS no storyline! Hueys lines didnt even sound like he was in character..wtf?!?!? “oh lets run riley” “stay back, we have to fight” WTF…..it was a GREAT show initially, great concept, great comic strip…idk wtf happened..
Dorren
September 3, 2010 at 5:22 pm
It seemed to me like he didn’t want do this last season. The writing was uninspired and lazy. I will keep my fond memories of season one but forget about the rest. If this is the way he feels, it’s probably for the best he’s not coming back.
TOKEN
September 3, 2010 at 5:26 pm
The Booty Warrior episode was in reference to a prisoner named Fleece Johnson, who is relatively well known within the hip-hip blogosphere. Once you see the MSNBC interview that Fleece did, the episode will make more sense. This season wasn’t as funny, but the show is still better than most of the stuff on TV these days. The kickball episode was weak and the episode about weed could have been a lot better. Huey’s reduced role was unfortunate, but I am glad the writers explained Uncle Ruckus’s racism.
The Tyler Perry episode was hilarious. I think you are being a little too sensitive in regards to that episode. There really wasn’t that much low brow humor this season and the n-word is repeated that much within the circle of black folks that the Boondock’s focuses on the most.
Too each his own though. I hope there will be a fourth season.
Michael
September 3, 2010 at 5:51 pm
“The Booty Warrior episode was in reference to a prisoner named Fleece Johnson, who is relatively well known within the hip-hip blogosphere. Once you see the MSNBC interview that Fleece did, the episode will make more sense.”
I know exactly where the storyline comes from and it’s still a less funny version of an episode we saw in the first season to me.
“The writing was uninspired and lazy.”
Exactly and to me if you’re going to make fun of slapstick, you have to be honest and say much of what you did this season could easily be concluded as ‘coonery’ — especially if there wasn’t any nuance or some larger issue being addressed. They were cheap jokes, which came across as kinda pandering to the audience — many of whom probably didn’t fuck with the strip.
Conscious_Media
September 4, 2010 at 8:38 am
From following your twitter throughout the season, I kind of figured you would come to this point. And I totally agree with you. The show had so much promise during the first season. The episodes from the first two seasons often made me think about the parallels drawn long after the show went off. You said it best. ‘The nuance was lost.’ I guess the way to commercial success is to keep things simple with the audiences.
MyaSkoolz
September 4, 2010 at 3:23 pm
I don’t know what’s wrong with yall, but this season was good to me…..I enjoyed it….
shimbir
September 4, 2010 at 11:25 pm
Dang, I thought it was just me. A friend of mine ripped me a new one after I told him this season was just a little off for me and said I just “didn’t get it.”
sirka
September 5, 2010 at 11:36 pm
Yea, this season was disappointing. I feel like I had been anticipating it for so long and then the first episode came and it was kind of sad. And the whole season kind of just went on by (though I will say that the chicken flu episode was funny). Then the season, and possibly series, had to end on one of the most mediocre episodes I have ever seen of any show.
However, if it comes back, I’ll be watching, hoping and anticipating. There still hasn’t been a show, especially a black show, that has come close to the Boondocks in recent times.
J2201987
September 9, 2010 at 12:42 am
I have to admit, out of all the three seasons, this was the weaker one (and this is coming from a person who barely knew about the comic strip prior to the tv show starting back in 2005).
I agree that this season, for the most part, was “uninspiring and lazy.” It seems though the show was exhausted on actual issues regarding the black community as a whole (when that couldn’t have been further than the truth), and just used cheap jokes regarding those of the public eye just to gain viewers. Like the most important concepts in the first and second season were lost on the third. The most memorable moments that stuck out for me was the Obama, Pause, and chicken flu episodes. The rest just seemed like filler songs on an already flop album.
The last episode was dramatic enough for me to believe that this IS the last season, but if it is anyway, maybe it’s for the best.
Perfecting Me B
September 20, 2010 at 2:29 pm
This season was not very entertaining to me. That was one of the reasons that I did not watch the entire season. The Tyler Perry episode was overdone and I agree with Mike in that he beat me over the head especially when Granddad entered the compound. I love the first two seasons and maybe this will be the only blemish to the series and that it will continue.