Courtesy of IndieWire
“#blackAF” is the latest show on Netflix from creator, director and producer Kenya Barris. The show stars Barris himself, alongside Rashida Jones as his wife and a slew of fresh, young faces to play his six children. Even though Barris has found generous success on network television with “Black-ish” and its spin-offs, his latest effort is unfortunately falling flat. With a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a score of 61 on Metacritic and lukewarm to negative reviews, it’s interesting to see why this has happened.
Barris, who is perhaps best known as the creator of “Black-ish” and its subsequent spin-offs “Grown-ish” and “Mixed-ish,” has a long-standing career in the entertainment industry. From the 2003 reality TV show “America’s Next Top Model” to the 2017 summer blockbuster “Girls Trip”, he has years of experience specifically working in black content and media. Nevertheless, critics believe Barris is reinforcing colorism by focusing on biracial characters and storylines, a choice that he attributes to his life and experiences with his biracial wife and their family. “#blackAF” takes this sentiment to a whole new level as Barris has completely modeled this show after his own life, down to the little details like his six children, his lifestyle as a wealthy creator and his relationship with his wife.
A show with a large cast and a semi-autobiographical structure is bound to be awkward and clunky in the beginning. Many will remember that when Larry David’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” debuted in 2000, David was not the best actor. After nine seasons and 50+ nominations “Curb Your Enthusiasm” ultimately became iconic and is often ranked as one of the best shows on television. In the case of “#blackAF,” it’s difficult to establish a central cast of eight characters in this format, especially with six children between the ages of three and 19.
The frame for the show is Barris’ second oldest daughter Drea’s short documentary film about her family for film school applications. This is where Barris attempts to round out his concept for the show: his monologues on black culture and its appropriation and perception in today’s world, and commentary on other black creators’ content are answers to the pushy, inquisitive and condescending questions from his teen daughter. Between the large cast, candid camera interviews, context and semi-autobiographical format, “blackAF” can be a lot to digest. However, as the series goes on, the audience gets used to the characters and their individual personalities.
Black professionals and creatives in the entertainment industry remain conflicted on the show’s success and potential due to its execution. To these creatives, Barris isn’t aiding the black community through his constant harping on bi-racial identity, and instead should use his platform to cast darker actors and focus on content that isn’t biracial.
Looking at the content he has solely created and written, though, “Mixed-ish” is the only show whose content is mainly about biracial identity; the others simply feature bi-racial characters. In fact, “Grown-ish” does not feature any biracial characters or storylines, opting to focus on generational context instead. While the fight for more actors of color to be represented on screen seems to be the current problem, as seen by movements like “#OscarsSoWhite”, colorism is the issue on the horizon. The problem is that when black actors and performers are finally allowed a seat at the table, they’re almost always light-skinned. Audiences see complexions like Kerry Washington’s and Zendaya’s more than they do Viola Davis’ and Lupita Nyong’o’s.
What’s most disappointing, and maybe even concerning, is the message that this sends to black people across the country. It echoes the sentiments of our non-people of color (POC) peers throughout history – that there is only one way to be black and only one culture of blackness.
The black experience is just as complex, rich and diverse as any other ethnic culture, much like the way southern Italy has different traditions and values than northern Italy. Multitudes of possibilities, lifestyles, experiences and viewpoints exist within every culture, and it’s the reason why we as a society need to begin moving away from two-dimensional labels and ideas.
