The Boondocks : Is it really that funny?

As a child I grew up watching many cartoons such as Family Guy, The Simpsons, King of the Hill and many other humorous family shows. These shows were hilarious but it frustrated me not having a show where the characters looked like me and gave my perspective of life through my type of humor. When the Boondocks, created by Aaron McGruder, finally aired on Adult Swim I was amazed at how funny it was and how often I was able to relate to many of the situations I would see in every episode. At first I watched the show strictly for entertainment because I thought the show was just pure comedy; however, after seeing real clips of the characters depicted in the Boondocks I realized the show was based on real life situations. The Boondocks uses extreme satire to make us all laugh, but more importantly show us how ridiculous we can be in real life and spread a message at the end of every episode.

When looking at the main characters of the show you can recognize who these people symbolize through their acts. One of the funniest characters on the show is Uncle Ruckus. Uncle Ruckus is an extremely racist Black male who denies his blackness and puts Blacks down whenever he sees an opportunity. This character is a representation of how many Blacks may tear each other down, hate themselves and quickly lean towards the white race for benefits or to distance themselves from other Blacks. Tom Dubois, a well off district attorney married to a white woman, symbolizes some of the Black elite who may forget where they come from or distance themselves from Blackness through economic freedom and or a different community. Stinkmeaner an old bitter man responsible for "NIGGA MOMENTS" represents ignorance in general that can cause us to lose our minds if we let it get to us.

 Rappers Thugnificent, Gangstalicious, and the Lethal Interjection crew are just representations of ignorant studio gangsters that don't realize how they can be influences on weak minded individuals. One of these weak minded individuals is Riley Freeman, who is a young, impressionable boy that stays on top of the latest trends and is stubborn to the advice of his older self conscious brother Huey Freeman who is essentially the main character. Every time Huey has an idea, especially when it deals with revolutionary thought, he is shunned which depicts one of our biggest problems in the Black community: THE FEAR OF BEING "PROBLACK" OR BRAVE ENOUGH TO STAND UP TO WRONGDOINGS WE SEE SO OFTEN. Last but not least we have Granddad who is a former civil rights hero who no one listens to most of the time just as many don't respect their elders.

Recently Aaron McGruder gave us Season 4 of the Boondocks but already I have an episode I find interesting. This picture above is from episode 3 of Season 4 where the popular show Breaking Bad is picked at. Huey tries to create a bomb but lies to his Granddad and says it is hair gel. When Granddad runs out of real gel he uses the product and discovers that it grows hair overnight. Unfortunately, when Huey comes clean the product is still able to be sold for Black women have so many dangerous chemicals in their hair they would not care if BOMB FLUID THAT COULD BLOW THEIR HEAD OFF was in products as long as they could have (I quote) "WHITE BITCH HAIR". How ridiculous right?! But then not really because Black women already use harmful products to straighten and perm their hair anyway. Although I THINK Black women wouldn't take it that far, it is still saddening seeing the sacrifices many Black women make to have hair that is seen as beautiful when these products cause short term beauty and long term damage to their heads. This is just one of many episodes that have a message we need to analyze and although it is meant for entertainment we need to really pay attention to what we are watching. AND THANK MCGRUDER.
-Jeremiah the Messiah