Since I begun my COP 3 research in the summer, there were TV shows that I watched as part of my research, mainly shows with a black cast of characters.
Shows like
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Moesha, Living Single, The Proud Family and My Wife and Kids which are all American. I did not think to look at British black shows, but I will do so in the future because even though there aren't many popularly known, there are still some that helped give black people an identity in the past.
Those are just to name a few, but I enjoyed watching historical documentaries about African history.
Living Single
Cast:
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Khadijah James
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Sinclaire James
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Maxine Shaw
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Regine Hunter
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Overton Wakefield Jones
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Kyle Barker
Living Single is a TV show that focuses on the lives of six
African American individuals situated in Brooklyn, New York.
The characters are very distinct, each working on their own
career path in their chosen industries.
The girls are all different skin tones and body shapes
showing a great variety appearance wise and it does not become the main topic
of any storylines. Khadijah James is a hard-headed journalist who runs her own
magazine called ‘’Flavor’’, most episodes are surrounded around her trying to
save the magazine or increase its popularity. Her cousin, Sinclaire James is the quirky,
joyful character of the group who is hired by Khadijah’s magazine as a
secretary (family connections). Regine Hunter is Khadijah’s childhood friend
and she moves in with her and Sinclaire. Regine is fashion-conscious and
portrayed as vain, thinking all men should worship the ground she walks on and
hopes to marry a rich ‘’chocolate ken’’.
Maxine Shaw is another childhood friend, but her character
is more sharp-tongued and blunt, who normally argues with Kyle but later
develops feelings for him. Though she does not live with the three other girls,
she is always at their house instead of hers that is across the street.
Overton Wakefield Jones is the superintendent of the
apartment house building that the Khadijah lives in, he has a sense of humour
that later ignites his attraction to Sinclaire.
Kyle Barker is a stockbroker/jazz musician who is vain and a
womaniser. He likes to rely on his good looks and money to entice the ladies.
He and Max are seen constantly arguing over the show but this obviously leads
to their mutual sexual attraction for one another.
The show does not depict African Americans in the usual
tropes but instead creates depth to the characters and shows them learning
through their mistakes in life. It brings to life common troubles that each of
the characters would individually face such as Regine constantly being
embarrassed by her mother’s style of fashion or Maxine getting into trouble at
work with her sharp tongue. When it does bring up situations that most African
Americans face in their everyday lives, it does so honestly, such as when Kyle
is judged on his choice of hair style and has to choose between changing his
hair to look more ‘white’ and ‘tamed’ or stick with his natural hair texture.
It does not depict African American men all as womanisers;
instead it shows that men will be men according to their nature. Overton’s
character is gentle and patient with Sinclaire when they start dating and respectfully
waits till when she is ready to have sexual relations with him.
The TV shows main aim could be to show that as all Americans
and humans we go through similar obstacles in life when it comes to dating,
family and friends.
Moesha
Cast:
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Moesha Mitchell (sister)
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Miles Mitchell (brother)
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Frank Mitchell (father)
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Dee Mitchell (wife and step-mother)
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Hakeem Campbell (childhood friend to Moesha)
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Kim Parker (friend to Moesha)
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Niecy Jackson (friend to Moesha)
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Dorian Mitchell (half brother to Moesha)
The show Moesha was based on an African American family
through the point of view of a teenager.
The show ran for six seasons, though ending in a cliff-hanger, though
its popularity was high when it began, it started decreasing steadily towards
the end of season 6.
The show portrays many examples of the trials that the
parents go through raising the teenager Moesha and son Miles.
There is a storyline that runs for a long time where Moesha
and her father’s relationship became very hostile and tense. Moesha moves out,
and Frank says he doesn’t care while Miles starting doing drugs. This storyline
was very important because it showed that when small cracks in a family grow,
smaller sibling suffer the most mainly because all the attention is focused on
the troubled child, it was also a way to send out the message of people doing
drugs and how it affects their friends and family.
There is another story that is considered common in the
African community where men father many children from different mothers or vice
versa.
Dorian, introduced as Moesha’s cousin at first but later
learns that Frank is his biological father.
