Thursday, May 07, 2015

Am I Black or White?



I've rediscovered the early 90's edgy sketch comedy show In Living Color. It's amazing I was allowed to view it at such a young age. At the time, I was a mere babe, barely twelve years old during the run of the second season. Yet I was a precocious child and I got most of the humor, even the sexual innuendos and crude jokes. My best friend growing up was an obsessive television watcher and clued me in to the airing of every new episode. Much of it is now very dated, as you would expect from a show that first aired twenty-five years ago.

We talk about pop culture as though it is disposable and somehow benign. In reality, as people much wiser than me have already noted, pop culture is absolutely essential to understanding who we are and who we are supposed to be. Like so many things, it shouldn't matter, but it does. I feel as though this show aired only yesterday, and watching each episode has showed me, the viewer, where we came from and where we are today. We've come to terms with some problematic issues but neglected many more.

Because I have an important doctor's appointment, I'm going to use this as a placeholder for today. My apologies. This has been a busy week and last week was just as busy as this one. If I have extra time, I'll try to put something more substantive up here. In the meantime, focus on the ending around 2:40, as it is still timely. Apologies in advance to Michael Jackson fans.
 


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