Only on episode 3, but I can already tell I'm in this one for the long haul. It's hilarious and has gorgeous animation, but more than that, it has social messages and extrospection on a level that I haven't seen from a show in a long time. I don't know if this is a bad thing to say, but from Sanford & Son to Chris Rock, I've always found black comedy that exposes subtle forms of racism, the plight of black communities, and the broken unity of black people amongst themselves (internalized phobia of your own race included) extremely thought-provoking.

I love the tension between Robert and Ruckus, and though I haven't seen enough of the show to really elaborate, the checkers match between the two in episode 2 says it all. In short, the two of them are debating about Ruckus' borderline worship of the white race. Ruckus is a self-hating black man who is going on and on about how the white man "civilized" the black man, and how black people owe the white race, but only repay them by protesting and voting. Robert is at first befuddled by Ruckus (Ruckus says "king me" when it seems like the debate is going in his favor) but quickly recovers and puts Ruckus on his toes with his excellent wordplay and logical reasoning. This puts Ruckus in a state of mania and he goes off on a rant, just repeating the same shit he already said. The scene ends with Robert responding to that rant with a calm "Well, how about this: game, nigga." I love how the checkers match itself is a metaphor for the debate they're having, and it's not until Ruckus trips up on his own words and unwillingly cedes the debate to Robert that Robert wins the match itself. The "nigga" part from Robert is the icing on the cake - Robert reminding Ruckus that as much as he wants to be white, he is a black man. And that's not a bad thing.

That's the B-plot of the episode. The A-plot is about R Kelly's trial for sexual acts with a minor. The prosecutor, Tom Dubois, is a black man who's confident that the mountain of evidence against R Kelly will be enough to convict him. (Love that character btw, hope he shows up more. Perhaps one of the most moral and upstanding characters on the show so far). R Kelly's unnamed defense attorney is a white man (voiced by Adam West no less) who uses R Kelly's immense popularity, and an insistence that the white establishment is out to get R Kelly, to quickly swing the trial in his favor despite the evidence. The defense attorney also uses the fact that Dubois is married to a white woman as a way to discredit him and imply that he's part of the white establishment himself.

It very soon becomes clear that R Kelly is going to get off scot-free, and Dubois' BSOD monologue almost made me cry, but more just made me so disappointed and angry:

Dubois: Please, people! You saw the tape. The girl testified she was underage. Y-you're not allowed to do that to a little girl!!! We have a videotape!

Female Juror: Go tell that to your white bitch.

Other Juror: Mm-hmm!

Dubois: [Dejected, head hung] ......the prosecution rests.

Huey would be the "main character" of the show, a 10 year old boy who very adamantly despises what he sees as the white establishment and its privilege, and who is extremely proud of his own race. Huey is silent throughout the entire trial (his brother Riley by contrast loudly protesting for R Kelly to be freed throughout the episode). However, after Dubois more or less cedes the case to the defense, head flat on his desk, and just waiting for this to be over, Huey gets up from the audience and walks to the well of the courtroom. He delivers an excellent speech that made me appreciate his character so much more (up until now you weren't sure what side he was on):

Hey! What the hell is wrong with you people? Every famous nigga that gets arrested is not Nelson Mandela! Yes, the government conspires to put a lot of innocent black men in jail on fallacious charges! But R. Kelly is not one of those men!

We all know the nigga can sing! But what happened to standards? What happened to bare minimums? You a fan of R. Kelly? You wanna help R. Kelly? Then get some counseling for R. Kelly! Introduce him to some older women! Hide his camcorder! But don't pretend like the man is a hero! Act like you got some goddamn sense, people!

I wish the episode ended with R Kelly going to jail, but the crowd just ignores Huey's speech and acquits him anyway. The ending narration from Huey / montage of what happened to everyone afterward, ties everything up in an extremely succinct way that cemented this episode as one of my favorite episodes of anything, ever:

Huey voiceover: I did battle with ignorance today, and ignorance won. I admit that I'm often vexed at the behavior of my own people. Yeah, vexed is a good word.

Dubois: [Having lost the case, returns to his cheap car. His wife greets him there.]

Sarah Dubois: [Hugs Dubois] [Smiling] I told you about messing with them white women.

Huey voiceover, continued: You do what you can to help black folks, and they make you wonder why you even bother.

Ruckus: [Asleep at the park bench, with nowhere to go.]

Robert: [Parks his car next to Ruckus. He wakes Ruckus up and helps take him home.]

Huey voiceover, continued: But they're our people, and we got to love them regardless. One thing for sure, though: can't blame this one on the white man.

[EPISODE ENDS]

Like holy shit. I know it's a simple message, but it still resonated with me so much and changed my mood back to happy. I seriously recommend checking out this iconic show if you haven't seen it yet. I actually can't believe it's taken me so long myself.

I'm not reading all that

Quote from: Desty on June 01, 2020, 04:32:41 PM

I'm not reading all that

Then don't?

No one is compelling you to click on my threads, you know.

Consider it constructive criticism, prick.

Quote from: Desty on June 01, 2020, 04:39:47 PM

Quote from: SecondClass on June 01, 2020, 04:36:29 PM

Quote from: Desty on June 01, 2020, 04:32:41 PM

I'm not reading all that

Then don't?

No one is compelling you to click on my threads, you know.

Consider it constructive criticism, prick.

I will not. Constructive criticism is just that - constructive. Whining about post length just makes you look like a child with ADD.

It's like if Roger Ebert posted a review of a movie and in the comments you said "I'm not reading all that" and acted like you said something profound.

If Roger Bert has 2 views (one from himself and one from the commenter) he should listen to that advice

Quote from: Desty on June 01, 2020, 04:45:11 PM

Quote from: SecondClass on June 01, 2020, 04:42:03 PM

Quote from: Desty on June 01, 2020, 04:39:47 PM

Quote from: SecondClass on June 01, 2020, 04:36:29 PM

Quote from: Desty on June 01, 2020, 04:32:41 PM

I'm not reading all that

Then don't?

No one is compelling you to click on my threads, you know.

Consider it constructive criticism, prick.

I will not. Constructive criticism is just that - constructive. Whining about post length just makes you look like a child with ADD.

It's like if Roger Ebert posted a review of a movie and in the comments you said "I'm not reading all that" and acted like you said something profound.

If Roger Bert has 2 views (one from himself and one from the commenter) he should listen to that advice

Terrible logic. Might doesn't make right. It would be the same review from him, regardless of if he got one view or one million.

That depends on the goal. If he wants to make money and make people like him he will appeal to the crowd, if not, to hell with him!

Fuck that shit nigga let's run this