The Boondocks

I will be analyzing a TV show called The Boondocks for this critical frameworks paper. I felt like this TV show would be great for this paper because it has a lot of content that is very controversial including views on various issues, like race, politics, and the war on terrorism. These topics turned a lot of people off about the show but the way they portray the messages is so uniquely done that it makes you look at things differently. I want to use image/character analysis to show how the characters and their relationships connect with the media and what/who they portray in society. I think this is a great topic because it gives us real life situations that we experience and witness on a daily basis while putting a humorous spin on it.
I believe this show connects with media because it shows things like how the news portrays stories to the community as well addresses the black stereotypes created by the media that are slowly deteriorating the values of African Americans today. One of the very many very unique ways that the boondocks portray the stereotypes enforced by media is through a certain character named Riley Freeman. Riley is stuck in the world portrayed in the rap videos seen on BET (Black Entertainment Television). A lot of the time he is using foul language and spends most of his time trying to figure out how to be a thug. Throughout the seasons he looks up to the famous cocaine dealer Pablo Escobar and even makes people call him Riley Escobar in his neighborhood and at school. Riley is so caught up in the image that the media paints of what a black man should be that he tries to imitate that by any means necessary. Riley does this to feel like he is “keeping it real” and living up to the stereotype of being a black male. Riley knows that the lifestyle of a thug involves criminal activity, so in his mind he’s always making an efforts to be “real”.
The shows setting takes place in a town called Woodcrest which is a predominantly Caucasian