I recap black-ish for Entertainment Weekly’s Community, and I thought it’d be neat to write a couple of reasons why I think everyone should be watching it. Here’s one reason why people should check it out.
The Goldbergs and Modern Family are two shows that showcase hilarious and entertaining families, but the last time I remember watching a sitcom specifically about a black family was in the late ’90s, with Moesha. Other shows like Sister, Sister, The Cosby Show, Family Matters, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, The Parent ‘Hood and several other shows about black families populated the airwaves in the ’80s and ’90s, but it would seem that after the year 2000, nearly all representation of black families ceased to exist. The service that these shows gave—taking the black experience out of the realm of stereotypes and humanizing it—was hampered.
Black-ish certainly is a throwback to a time when family sitcoms were popular, but it’s also a fantastic way to introduce viewers to certain aspects of the black experience, such as being the only black person in a mostly white office space or school setting (and how irritating that can be at times). It reminds us as viewers how we can learn more about society (and ourselves) from different representations of family in the media.
Read the rest at EW.com!
