QÜNE: The Report

John Q Regular

At Qüne, we laughed till we cried over Chappelle skits depicting a black ‘white supremacist’ and Rick ‘I’m Rich Bitch’ James, but we’ve never understood laughing at slavery. In all honesty, we felt his Roots skit was quite irreverent. Okay, to be really honest -- we thought it was dreadfully irreverent.

 But with a James Lipton (Inside the Actors Studio) and an Oprah interview under his belt, mega-comedian Dave Chappelle has been working the talk television circuit in an effort to restore his image in the last several weeks.

 We’ve watched (more like studied) both interviews. Expecting the typical ‘Give me back my Comedy Central show’ monologue with some touches of whiny ‘I needed some time off, because my mother doesn't love me,’ we were intensely surprised to see something different--  like….GROWTH. In each interview, Dave Chappelle revealed to us the average joe. He is, essentially, one of ‘us’, who through his passion for comedy (and weed) became famous beyond his wildest dreams.

Contrary to the mantra of the American dream machine, most “everyday people” will remain anonymous; not because they lack extraordinary talent or work ethic, but because of their unwillingness to compromise their integrity. Which is exactly why David Chapelle was able to walk away from a 50 million dollar contract.

 In his ordinary way, Chappelle exposed in each interview his disgust for the dire creative direction of the show. In one segment, he even mentioned a typical skit involving race that got a not-so-pleasant laugh from a crew member which made him feel raw, as if he had let down many people. Consequently, while starring down a lucrative contract offer, he had the audacity (and courage) to reflect, find his job uninspired, and walk off the set to hold himself accountable.

 Funny, us normal folk call that being contemplative. Hollywood calls it being on ‘crack.’

Read more from the Washington Post  here.

Foxx News

Did you receive an email a couple of weeks ago concerning the Jamie Foxx special that aired January 25^th on NBC? It reads something like this:
"[NBC is] purposely putting his show up against the second week of American Idol in hopes that it will fail. This will give them the excuse to never give another black person a music special because "it doesn't work". ..This is the first time NBC has ever aired an entire young urban African American cast on a music special. We need to show support..."[read the entire email here]

Yeah right. The folks at The Report are, by no means, masters of the remote, but we do recall a very successful NBC sitcom called the Cosby Show, which highlighted the lives of a middle class black family. And while we don’t have the exact Nielsen ratings, we’re pretty sure that it was one of the longest running and highest grossing shows in the history of broadcast television*.    

Herein lies the problem with the email. The message highlights the problematic assertion that ‘authentically black’ entertainment can only emerge from the urban narratives of the hip hop inclined (never mind that Mr. Foxx is a classicly trained artisit). This kind of essentialism has led many to forget about the multitude of entertainment firsts by African Americans who do not fit the now ubiquitous hip hop guise. To be clear, the Foxx show is not the first music special to be aired with an entirely 'urban cast' (whatever that means) on NBC. Remember Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever hosted by Richard Pryor, featuring Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking Billie Jean performance? I bet your Betamax does.

Let’s face it, no network would forgo millions in order to appease the small amount of people that are not infatuated with black male hyper-masculinity. The networks and their suburban audiences can’t get enough of it. To be sure, the Jamie Foxx special aired against American Idol because it is the only kind of show- a protracted hip-hop video- that can compete with Fox’s two ton guerilla.

Update- [After watching the show] It is clear that Jamie Foxx may, indeed, be the first "triple threat" who's talent actually exceeds the hype. Unfortunately, there was still something all too familiar about the show's subject matter and presentation. As usual, Mr. Foxx presented as an overly complicated comedian, and R&B singer from the streets, who loves his daughter (yawn). So, there was little about the special that seemed worthy of a large scale protest had it not been aired (FEMA's inability amend to its mistakes in New Orleans seems to be a much more worthy cause).  Bottom line-His show was not a first. And we can be sure that it won't be the last. Read a summary here.

*NBC, CBS, and ABC have never gone out of their way to find programming that may appeal to non-white, heterosexual males between the ages of 16 and 25. But, the channels that have – UPN, BET, WB, and MTV- have not stretched to offer any programming that deviates from the enigmatic Homeboys from Outer Space minstrel framework. Besides the clever Everybody Hates Chris, we'd rather have nothing.   

A Million Unlikely Heroes

We’re sure that most of you have heard about Oprah's recent interview with James Frey, the bestselling author of A Million Pieces. If you haven’t, we recommend that you consider paying your cable bill on time or start reading the paper.      

 Mr. Frey’s memoir was the talk of the town even before it was determined that much of his story was embellished. Simply put- it is an enthralling read. Chronicling his life as a recovering drug addict, his book presents as a train wreck in process. Each page details a collision of gore and bravado, producing an implausible story of exculpation and triumph. It unfolds like a “too catastrophic to be true” but “too tragic not to watch” reality TV show where the tragedies of the main characters overshadow the often elementary underlying redemptive theme (see Being Bobby Brown for example).

Yet, the furor over A Million Pieces seems to overlook how “reality media” (this includes talk shows, videos, movies, music, and pundits) has made the "unlikely hero", in fact, much more likely. Frey's vita is now the norm, not the exception.  In today's pop culture world, if you want to be famous, you’d better have a tale of tragedy and triumph to share with the world. If you don’t, you better make one up (see Vanilla Ice). Because if you’re happy, successful, and haven’t sold drugs or ingested them, lived in the projects, been bitten by a venomous orb weevil, incurred severe pain at the hands of a loved one, or had to sell CDs out of the trunk of your car to survive; you can be sure that there will be no book, no album, no TV show, and certainly no appearance on Dr. Phil in your future. Being literate, employed, and attentive to the lives of family and friends gives you little chance of achieving pop culture prominence. If you’ve ever witnessed the way some African American teens from stable, caring families reject their pedigree in an attempt to emulate the cliché (and often exaggerated) hip hop personas of hustlers turned good, then you know how dangerous this new standard can be (see Bow Wow, Ray J, and too many kids in Prince Georges County, Maryland for evidence).      

The James Frey debacle should serve as a reminder that the majority of “unlikely heroes” have little interest in publicity.  Most would gladly trade in any amount of fame for the promise of universal peace, equity, and justice.

Read about a true hero here. And read James Frey’s book, its good fiction.

Black Comedy

At The Report, we take great pride in the texture black comedians such as Richard Pryor, Dave Chapelle, Chris Rock, and Armstrong Williams [he’s a real clown isn’t he?] have added to the American milieu. But the flagrant use of the term satire by some of today’s other ‘up and coming’ humorists is getting a bit annoying.

Suddenly, the title ‘satirist’ has become the comedic equivalent of a Cold War bomb shelter- widely available, theoretically comforting, but laughably meaningless. Today, it seems that every young, brash, and irreverent stand-up is using the term defray even the most deserving of criticism.

 Aaron McGruder’s (see pic) January Boondocksdepiction of Martin Luther King embodies this dilemma. If you haven’t seen the episode, MLK awakens from a coma as an unforgiving, curmudgeon who uses the" n-word" to berate black Americans.

For starters, McGruder’s framework is sophomoric; and, thus, highly disrespectful of an educated audience. MLK was too much of an intellectual to admonish blacks only  for indulging in the spoils of American materialism and entitlement (last time we checked white kids watch BET too).  Moreover, McGruder, a self-entitled satirist (of course), should know that good satire doesn’t beat fans to a pulp with unending literal manifestations of an artist’s intent. His depiction of MLK using the n-word does just that, in addition to unforgiveably disrespecting the man who’s life sacrifices ensured that McGruder could enjoy his current level of success.

Sorry, Mr. McGruder, but in the words of Richard Pryor*, “there are no ni@@ers here”. With this stunt, you’ve proven that you care more about ratings than any ‘uplift politic’ you claim to bear in your comic. Not to worry, we’re sure BET will be happy to air re-runs of your show once it gets cancelled.

If you want to see really great satire, watch a re-run of President Bush's State of the Union Address. 

 Watch McGruder defend his depiction of MLK on ABC’s NightL ine here.

*After an enlightening trip to Kenyain 1979, Pryor renounced the n-word. Asserting, “there are no n@@ers here [in Africa or the US]”, Pryor vowed to never use the term again. Read here or here for more info.

Black TV

The good people of Charlotte now have the pleasure of tuning-in to TV One, the latest attempt by Time Warner to cash in on the emerging African American entertainment market. 

“TV One is a compelling new entertainment network and is representative of our efforts to provide viewers with the widest possible array of programming choices,” said Sue Breckenridge, Time Warner Cable Charlotte Division’s vice president of public affairs.

Translation: We are proud to offer the black community of Charlotte continuous re-runs of 227 and Good Times, hours of loutish gospel concerts led by men in purple suits, and two made for TV movies starring Vivica Fox and Tim Reid. Enjoy!

Read the full story here.

Man Up MJ!!!

Now that the trial is over we’d like to give the King of Pop a bit of advice.

We don’t mind the hair, or your incredibly fair complexion- but the Ferris Wheels have to go. That’s right- the llamas, the chimps, the camels, the merry-go-rounds- all that has to go. The secret chamber and especially the Peter Pan paraphernalia have to go too.
Oh, and the shoulder pads need to be replaced with buckles, or leather tassels. 

Mr. Jackson, its time to start acting like the Gary, Indiana native that you are. 

Just think, if you dressed like Kurt Cobane, wore a bullet proof vest like 50, grew a beard like Willie Nelson, and littered your next album with odes to scorned manual laborers, imprisoned criminals, and struggling blue collar cities like Allentown, Flint, and Trenton. You would never have to worry about kids wanting to spend time with you. And the sick and poor children that you help on a day-to-day basis?  You'd never have to lay eyes on them again either.  Kids just aren't comfortable around overly masculine, chest thumping men. Upon sight of the new you, we can be sure that they would never again jump at the chance to spend a day with you. So rather than spending all of your time comforting sick and destitute children, you could spend the rest of your life sleeping with groupies, evading taxes, and producing disingenuous music about single mothers, teen angst, drive-bys, or loser couples in the Heartland (see Jack and Diane)- all while wearing a guitar on your back.

Its time to get with the program Mr. Jackson. This country is just not ready to embrace androgynous pop icons that truly care about children; or children that truly care about androgynous pop icons.

Forget the kids, (unfortunately) we still like our men inhumane (see R. Kelly for more insight).