CNN's "Black in America": Uh, why is everyone shocked?
by RT
I didn’t watch CNN’s “Black in America. Nine times out of ten, it’s also running on CNN International, but probably at 2AM or something…and I’m not fighting sleep to watch it.
I have noticed that a lot of folks seem outraged by the special, like over at Superhussy:
I have posted about the CNN debacle documentary elsewhere, to sum up: it was a re-hash of the same ‘ole, same ‘ole, did not reflect my black experience, black women were skewered, it was not really meant for black folks (personally, I think it was created to make a some suits feel good about doing something to help the negro problem), did not showcase enough of black womens intellectual input (even in a segment about women, hmm?) and, as usual, the male portion of the program was much better than the female/family portion.
Although I do understand the outrage, I must ask what did folks expect? Did anyone really believe that a two-part special from mainstream media would dig deeper into race in the US than what I’ve read it did? Better question: Has any network, even BET, captured The Black Experience (TM) in the way it deserves?
G-d bless CNN for trying. Now let’s move on.
P.S. Happy anniversary Superhussy!:-)
I don’t think it’s outrage or shock for that matter. I think we knew where it was going to go. We were just hoping it would be something better, deeper, broader and more complex than what we’ve been seeing — particularly because we’re having those better, deeper, broader, complex conversations.
And the fact that a black woman was the main reporter and the mouthpiece for this thing and STILL COULDN’T COME UP WITH ANYTHING ORIGINAL is kind of disappointing.
It’s the same kind of let down I’m getting from The Root, and some of Obama’s speeches really. I mean where’s the fresh view? Where’s the nuance? Where’s the coverage of our internal conflicts and contradictions? Soledad, I need you to step out of your bubble ma. And I think that’s where the disappointment comes from.
The fact that the reporter was a black woman really doesn’t mean that much. I’m willing to bet that there was a producer who wrote the script and so on. O’Brien probably was just the “face” of the series.
The Root is certainly a let down, but again, when I saw who was involved in it, I sort of knew what was going to happen. It’s the same folks saying the same stuff: Africana.com with some news thrown in.
Or am I just too cynical?
[...] Quick opinion on CNN’s “Black in America” over at TNMD. [...]
One cannot expect that much from a 2-part series. A subject like that needs to be covered over a longer series than that. CNN waxes superficially over many subjects so why should one expect more on this one? A non-profit or independent documentary would have the freedom, if not the money to express this in a more thorough fashion.
The African-American experience is much richer and to broad and deep to be filled in such small allotments of time. I was neither disappointed or thrilled by the program. It is what it is.
I watched it. It was running Thursday through Saturday at 11.00am Danish time on CNN. I did not watch the whole docu in full but what I watched on Thursday was enough to get me to try and see it in full on Friday and Saturday. After watching it I went straight to Blackvoices (i know.. not exactly where I should but hey). I wanted to see what African Americans were saying about it.
After reading a number of posts I understood the frustration by many of the folks at Blackvoices. It is the same frustration that I as an African experience when I watch documentaries about “Africa”. The unbalanced view.. the focus on negativity. So on Saturday morning when I was watching the final episode I was watching it with a different perspective. Trying to be more critical of her reporting.
My view as an outsider (albeit a black outsider). It was sad and scary. At the same time it was informative. Yet I do realize it is not the whole story and as some one has already asked, can one really do a WHOLE story on a group of people.