mcs328

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eo/20060126/en_tv_eo/18235

Sharpton Knocks "Boondocks"

By Josh Grossberg Thu Jan 26, 6:39 PM ET

There's a King-sized controversy brewing over in The Boondocks.

Aaron McGruder, the mastermind behind the popular comic strip turned animated series, is under fire from the Reverend
Al Sharpton for an episode in which Martin Luther King Jr. drops the N-bomb.

"Cartoon Network must apologize and also commit to pulling episodes that desecrate black historic figures," Sharpton said in a statement. "We are totally offended by the continuous use of the N-word."

The episode in question, "The Return of the King," was broadcast Jan. 15, the day before the MLK holiday, as part of the cable net's Adult Swim programming block. Its story line imagines what would happen if King wasn't assassinated in 1968, but instead wound up in a coma only to wake up in the present.

The animated King delivers a fiery oratory blasting sexually aggressive hip-hop videos, at one point yelling "will you ignorant ni--as please shut the hell up!" In McGruder's satiric vision, King and his famously nonviolent ways are seen as traitorous in the post-9/11 world. King's declared a terrorist sympathizer, and he forsakes the U.S. for Canada, where his speech sparks a second civil rights movement.

The Cartoon Network questions whether Sharpton, himself an outspoken advocate for civil rights and sometime Democratic presidential candidate, didn't get the joke.

In a statement, the network defended the episode as a celebration of King's values. "In no way was [the episode] meant to offend or desecrate" King's legacy, the network said.

"We think Aaron McGruder came up with a thought-provoking way of not only showing Dr. King's bravery but also of reminding us of what he stood and fought for, and why even today, it is important for all of us to remember that and to continue to take action," the statement continued.

McGruder launched The Boondocks strip in 1997. It follows the misadventures of two urban black kids who move in with their grandfather in the predominantly white, middle-class suburbs. The edgy 'toon regularly lampoons the Bush administration, BET, hip-hop culture and racism, and has become one of the most popular--and polarizing--comic strips in circulation. The TV version of The Boondocks was recently nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

While Sharpton agreed that McGruder deserves much praise for his past work, he said the "Return of the King" episode went "over the line" and hinted that if no apology is forthcoming, he and his supporters will picket the corporate headquarters of Time Warner, which owns the network.

In happier news for McGruder, Cartoon Network suits have green-lighted a second season of The Boondocks, ordering another 20 episodes, up from this season's 15.

The Boondocks's debut episode on Nov. 6 attracted 2.3 million viewers, the best audience for a series premiere in the history of Adult Swim, according to the network. And the ratings have been steady ever since.

Ten of the original 15 episodes have already aired. The new season will begin airing later this year in the show's regular Sunday, 11 p.m. time slot.
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I watched that episode and I liked that scene in question. At first I was surprised to hear 'MLK' use the N word but when you listen to the whole speech/rant littered with it you kind of focus on the message and not the N word. It was just used as an attention getter in what the creator believes is a world of all talk and no action.

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zero2dash

I'm sick of all these people who want to take tv shows off the air, pull cds from shelves, throw out cease-and-decist orders against game companies, etc. just because they don't agree with something they've seen, heard, read, played, etc.

Get a new hobby and change the station, jeez.
There's more important BS in the world to worry about, like this stupid war going on.

MikeD

This is excellent news. He should be applauded for standing up and attempting to remove this word from the vocabularies of all.

I'm sure that he will immediately move on to rappers who use this term religiously in their attempts to sell records. After all, they are probably the biggest proponents of it.

Come on Al, do the right thing! Let's eradicate this word once and for all!

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zero2dash

After some more thought --- I thought that african american people equated the 'n' word ending in 'a' or 'as' as positive, friendly, etc. meanwhile the 'er' 'n' word was the bad one. Did I not get a memo, and now both are considered bad? Or is Al just trying to regain his "media whore" status?

Granted, I'm a white cracka who doesn't get many memos, but nobody better ever call me a cracker 'cause them's fightin' words.

j/k...totally j/k
/ducks

Grimm

If Al Sharpton was just 1/10th the man MLK was, then I might bother to listen to him.

DarkFury

Oh well... I guess that means Al will be cancelling his future "guest spot" as a special guest character in a future episode of "The Boondocks" huh?

Personally, I have them all saved on my DVR.... I betta transfer them to DVD to make sure I'll have them after they get pulled from the air...

But on a serious note... I already knew it was gonna be a matter of time before someone made a comment on the liberal use of the N word on the show... Hoenstly, McGruder could cut back on it some... but he's just sending his message to get his point across (hence the dichotomy of Huey versus Riley in how they respond to the various topics addressed by the show.)

Still my Favorite part of that episode.... "OMG... a boneless rib. What will they think of next? I know that I probably shouldn't eat this... but I just can't help myself.... <smack, smack, chew, chew.... >


Honestly, the liberal use of the "N" word for affinity purposes kinda played out in the late 90s.... Many of us have moved on... but yet some folks might be still holding on to it (guess it's a local issue at that point).

Trust me.... this is a very "stereotypical" view here. We certainly don't go around saying "Whazzup my N...." all day long. Maybe you didn't get the memo...

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zero2dash

A lot of rappers and Chris Rock are holding onto it with a death grip.


I'm not trying to be 'stereotypical' by any means, nor am I trying to say that anyone who's african american says either of the 'n' words in between every other 3 words that come out of their mouths. I have a lot of black friends and 90% of the people I grew up (lived with, actually) in my mid-to-late teens were african american people, and they didn't throw around the 'n' word a lot either now or then.

mcs328

The liberal use of the N word is alive and well in DC I think. It's still used as frequently as dawg, my dawg, G, homey and homes. On the way out I think is dude.

I still don't like all the voices for the characters. It's not how I imagined it when he first started drawing the comic in The Diamondback for UMCP. I'm glad he's original because Frank Cho drew from the Diamondback and he's been rehashing the same strip from college into the newspapers.

zenbooty

They still do here in Brooklyn, I gotta say. Its mostly the kids though.

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Common sense is what tells you the Earth is flat.

DarkFury

Yep... but that still don't make it "common language". We don't all rap ya know (pause for comedic laugh track... just like in "Eveybody Hates Chris).

And Chris Rock uses it the same way Aaron McGruder does... to express his point and make it funny playing to the stereotype. I'm sure he doesn't speak that way in every conversation... but his "characterization" does.


Yup... but that's the beauty of stereotypes. Some folks play em up... some folks play em down.

and

Your "local mileage" may vary...

But honestly, it's played out. Maybe they didn't get the memo either.

Even Snoop Dogg changed it to "My Nephew" or "My Nizzle"... instead of "My Ni..." Fo Shizzle.

zero2dash

I never said it was a "common language". Some people use it, others don't. I never said otherwise.


True.


Umm...ok. I'm not being stereotypical, whether it's stereotypical up or stereotypical down.
If I was being stereotypical, I would've said "this is the way all black people talk". But I never said that.


Yes, it's definitely played out...especially since there's more constructive ways for people who use that kind of language to get their point across. Well, except for rappers...'cause the only point that most of them really ever try to make is "I have more x than you" whereas x equals women, money, drugs, cars, etc.

As for Snoop...well he changes almost every word into an 'izzle' ending.

Merlin

I only saw a small part of that episode but did get a kick out of how MLK kept thinking he should have some say in how is image was being used.

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mcs328

I agree it's more rampant with the youngins.

DarkFury

Yet the implication is there if it is used... in the context of this discussion.

Your second comment in this thread made the implication of all African Americans as a group use the reference....


Which I tried to dispel that notion. Hence the "common language" reference.


I wasn't even referring to you in particular with that statement... I was referring to anyone who makes that association when that word is used. Please stop being so "defensive" on it... it makes you look guilty or something.


People are gonna do what they wanna do... but most of them have or are learning better. Rappers are gonna do their thing regardless...

Guess that is the beauty of being Snoop huh? And folks will like it and accept it.