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Television and Radio Criticism

Black-ish-Cherly

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"Black-ish- Cherly"

Black-ish is a sitcom created by Kenya Barris. The first episode aired on September 24^th 2014. Black-ish is about the Johnson family, an upper middle class African-American family living in a predominantly white neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Dre (Anthony Anderson) is the husband. He works at an advertising agency. His wife Bo (Tracee Ellis Ross) is a doctor. They have five children. Dre, went to a historically black university, believes in black empowerment, and thinks the world is either white or black. Bo, on the other hand, is less drastic, she thinks the world is grey. Although Dre wants the best for his family, he sometimes struggle to teach his children how fortunate they are to be upper-middle class.
Since the show premiered, Black-ish has touched many social issues such as; police brutality, LGBT, racism and politics, especially the 2016 election. In season 2, episode 16, the show titled “hope” discussed the topic of police brutality. The show started with Dre`s narration of how difficult it is to deal with hard social issue questions children ask their parents. While he`s speaking images of iconic places around the world is shown on the screen. Places like Times Square in New York, Red Square in Moscow, protesters and many other images. The family is in the living room watching CNN news. They are watching a protest about police brutality. While they are waiting to see if the police officers are going to be indicted. The family started a discussion about whether all police officers are bad. Dre and Bo were both raised different. Dre was raised in an urban area and he does not trust the police. Bo was raised by liberal parents and she thinks that not all police officers are bad. Dre parents played by Jenifer Lewis and Lawrence Fishburne, agreed with their son. However, Andre Jr., their oldest child agreed with his mother. The twins (Jack and Diane) are too young to understand what is going on. Miles Brow (Jack) and Marsai Martin (Diane).
Bo wants to protect the twins and does not want them in the discussion. She feels they are still innocent and do not want them to live in fear “I want the twins to hold on to their innocence, they have all their life to see the world”. However, Dre and his parents’ think that they should know. The family is divided. That is a perfect example of what is going on in this country. When Zoey (Yara Shahidi) walked into the living room, she assumed the family were talking about a different police brutality incident. They began naming victims and describing the incidents where police brutality took place. Zoey decided to go to her bedroom to do her Spanish homework but Dre stopped her. He tells her that she must sit with them to watch the news because it was very important.
While Dre and Bo discussed whether they should tell the twins what is going on, Andre Jr., is having a conversation with his grandfather. Both started discussing the case. Andre Jr. asked his grandfather if he knows the facts of the case. His answer was, “I know the story I heard it over and over police beating black men, it is the same news just told differently”. When the announcement was made that the grand jury decided not to indict the police officers involved in the incident, the discussion continues and at one point it get heated. Dre and his parents are disappointed but are not surprised. Bo, who believes in the justice system was shocked because she believed there were enough evidence to indict the officers.
After the discussion, Andre Jr. decided he wanted to go protest but Dre did not want him to go. At the end of the episode, they finally agreed on something. To go protest as family. Black-ish is a must watch television show. It touches on social issues that families can relate to. The show demonstrate different views of each issue. Did I mention Rotten tomatoes gave 92% to the show. Season 5 premier on Tuesday October, 16^th at 9:00pm on ABC.

Sitcom: 30 mins. (S2 E16 watched for review) Returns Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 9 p.m.
Cast: thony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Marcus Scribner, Yara Shahidi, Jenifer Lewis and Lawrence Fishburne.
Executive producer: Kenya Barres, Anthony Anderson, Brian Dobbins.

Abstract
Black- ish is about the Johnson family. An upper middle class African-American family living in a predominantly white neighborhood. Although it is an African- American family, we all can see ourselves reflect on it. Black-ish story line shows the dynamic of the family. Dre, the husband (Anthony Anderson) and Bo, the wife (Tracee Ellis Ross), try to raise their five children to be great human beings. They face issues that an upper middle class Caucasian family probably would not face. Such as; police brutality and how to act when black men are stopped by the police.
Bo, is more protective of the children and shelters them. She views the world differently than her husband. She wants her children to be good people and happy. However, Dre thinks it is not a good idea to raise sheltered children. This is a great example couple’s face when deciding what is the best way to raise a child. Dre was raised in an urban area that`s why he has issue trusting police officers. He wants his children to know that even though they are lucky to be living in a nice area they are not exempt from facing racisms.
Just because Black-ish is about an African American family it does not mean the show can’t be watch by another race. We all can learn something by watching Dre and Bo struggle to do a great job as a working parent. Black-ish is a family show that we can laugh and cry with them.