Just when you thought we couldn't go lower than Honey Boo Boo, comes this news:
The moral decline of our country continues and Oxygen is willing to capitalize on it. Some rapper that I have never heard of, Shawty Lo, 35 (aptly named wouldn't you say) has 11 children with 10 different woman. At least 7 of which are willing to be filmed in this degrading series about their lives and most inappropriately the lives of their children as the new hit reality series. Oh, and let us not forget the 19-year-old girlfriend who will be joining in on the fun too. Hey if she marries the man she will have a step child that is the same age as her. Ooh, a dream come true.
Apparently he still continues relations with some of these women and obviously they all know about each other. It will be a day in life of man trying to juggle 11 children and 10 woman. What is not entertaining about that?
I really enjoy the nicknames he has for the little women:
E’Creia — “First Lady Baby Mama”
Angela — “Fighter Baby Mama”
Amanda — “Jealous Baby Mama”
Sujuan — “Wanna-be Bougie Baby Mama”
Tamara — “No-Drama Baby Mama”
Serena — “Shady Baby Mama”
Liana aka Pebbles — “Baby Mama From Hell”
Tamara is so low drama that she is allowing herself and her child to be exploited on national tv for money. Yipee!!!
Of course there are the family groups that are collecting signatures to ask the station not to air this trash, but my question is where are the feminist groups and their outrage? I mean I would think that they would fit to be tied over this, what exactly is empowering about hanging onto some man who obviously isn't all that concerned with the best interests of these women? At least one of these women had a second child with this man. She didn't seem to mind being treated like trash, or maybe she was stupid enough to think he would change his ways if the second child came along.
Where are the black groups such as the NAACP? How can this possibly be considered something that should be looked at as entertainment? The black community does have a huge problem with single parenthood. 70% of all black babies are born to single mothers. Study after study has proven beyond all doubt that raising a child in a single parent home is more likely to lead to a life of poverty. After all there are only so many rappers with his level of sexual desire to go around. Not all black women will find such a "good catch" as these women have. Doesn't this play into the stereotypes that we hear complaints about from civil rights "leaders" all the time?
I think the black community needs to have a physician heal thy self moment and take a serious look at how they are willing to portray themselves and the culture they are creating for the next generation. I also think that people who work in the entertainment industry needs to do the same. I also think that anyone that is willing to watch this exploitation of women and children needs to seek treatment at their nearest mental health facility, do it quickly, please.
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3 comments:
As you correctly point out, 70% of all black babies are born to single mothers. Therefore, this is 'reality programming' that almost all black families can relate to. It's 'their story' told through the lives of others. Can't you see that? Can't you see that this human drama has become 'the black experience'.
It was Obama's experience, and look how he turned out--leader of the free world...
Black males spreading their seed as widely as possible - and them moving on, is viewed by conservatives as wrong. Progressives simply view it as, well, progressive.
This is arguably the worst I've heard in terms of a major cable TV network. I say "arguably" only because "Toddlers and Tiaras" on TLC makes me wanna vomit more than anything.
Having said that, I think you might be jumping the gun somewhat when you seem to suggest that "feminists" and "blacks" are being kind of hypocritical or irresponsible if they don't raise hell over a show like this. I don't think it's that simple anymore.
When there were only a few (or even a few dozen) television networks to choose from, we were all more concerned about the messages that our media conveyed to us, because frankly, back then, there was a lot more influence concentrated in far fewer hands. But nowadays, media is literally thousands of channels metastasizing exponentially, in large part, due to the Internet.
These "networks" may be owned by a small number of media conglomerates, but they're all intensely focused on capturing optimum market share, which sometimes means going after includes people who think "Shawty Lo" is cool.
I don't mean to suggest that the decision-makers at any given TV network are amoral people, but they will certainly push the envelope all kinds of ways if they think their job depends on it.
The pressure to cut through the noise is enormous. I speak from some personal experience.
At the end of the day, I can't stop Discovery-owned TLC from airing "Toddlers & Tiaras" if enough fans make that show worth their time and trouble.
I'm sure "Jane Citizen" feels similarly about a network I happen to love: ID, also owned by Discovery, whose content is based solely on dramatizations of sick twisted modern-day crimes.
How sick is that? A network fueled by America's rich history of sick and twisted murders, rapes, etc. And I along with 750k others love it. And so do ID's big-name sponsors.
You think Shawty Lo & Co. is disgusting? What about ID? Or a myriad of other material we see on television? And why don't we see groups of people demonstrating against that?
(Again, I'm talking about Discovery Communication, who was also responsible for an excellent portrayal of American history ("The History of US").
Doesn't stop them from courtin' Honey Boo-Boo OR Shawty Lo)
While we're at it, why stop with the media?
I recently discovered something that at first glance made me even more frustrated with today's putative conservative movement. It's called Obama toilet paper.
I had never heard of any such thing and frowned in disgust when I discovered it. I thought it was bizarre, sophomoric, twisted, stupid, and strong proof of the sewer-based state of modern-day politics.
I later discovered that there's also Sarah Palin toilet paper, GW Bush toilet paper, Hillary Clinton toilet paper and John McCain toilet paper.
The figure on the toilet paper didn't matter to me. They all made me cringe. If you're gonna do that, use some universally despised historical figure. Why add to the discourse cesspool we have now? (This was my thinking)
But am I leading demonstrations against toilet paper? No. Should I? I don't think so. For what would be the point?
Bottom line, I won't be watching it and I can't stop others from watching it.
Fwiw, a show like "Shawty Lo" would never get the greenlight from TVOne, a network that targets African-Americans. Which is probably why Shawty Lo was greenlit by Oxygen and not TVOne.
TVOne's audience -- a black audience -- wouldn't stand for it. So in a sense, "the black community", if we're gonna simplify 40million people like that, DID voice its outrage at the idea of "My Babies' Mamas".
However, many other networks, and their viewers, see it quite differently. Probably not a reason to organize a march against Shawty Lo.
Hey just, google Oxygen Pulls Plug On 'Baby Mamas'
"nearly 80,000 people sign online petitions against the special"
I assure that many -- if not most -- of those petitioners were morally outraged black people. I am not the least bit surprised.
Something we can all applaud.
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