I think though, even when you describe the scene you describe, which is
obviously - I mean obvioiusly (super obviously) a poke at the character, the
lifestyle etc.
And it's an obvious joke moment, and it's obvious the intent.
And yet - for you, the joke's there, but somehow, even though they wrote it
in, it's an obvious joke, and it's an obvious joke at the expense of the Freaknik
character and it's an obvious joke at the expense of glamorizing the lifestyle,
you still want to whitwash over all that by suggesting that they somehow had
no idea they were making the joke. Or had no clue that they were in any way
acknowledging there, or anywhere, some of the sillier/more absurd elements
of said lifestyle.
Freaknik played for me like - first of all, I identified with it, which helps. I think
a lot of people simply don't and - I guess that's what they see, which is fine.
BUT - people tend to attempt to turn that into reality for everyone. Which is
no more readily apparent than the "racist" type comments. I mean, how better
to try to get people to agree with you? If you call it "racist" it's harder for
people to take up a position against you because - if they do, then they're defending
racism right?
But beyond the somewhat insidious nature of using race in that context against
something like Freaknik, I think there's a blander force at work in that - people
make up their mind in 2 seconds. And then spend the rest of their time looking
for things to support the position.
I was expecting this to be crap. But I have this thing where, if a friend recommends
something, or really likes something, I'll try to watch it with fresh eyes. Or as fresh
a perspective as I can. And Adult Swim is kind of the same vibe to me.
When AS puts something on the air, I feel like it's in my best interest to try
to watch it from as fresh a perspective as I can summon.
And I think in the case of That Crook'd Sipp, didn't help. Not a bit.
But with this, I think I saw the whole of it. I saw the sort of perspectives at
play, including the perspective it was written from. But also I saw a wonderful
kind of freedom in the structure that played on the absurdity and occasional
obsessiveness of its own position. While not abandoning its position.
It's something I admire greatly. Standing ones ground, while still being able to
recognize absurdities in every part of the situation, not only in the forces you
oppose, but also in yourself.
And I think those elements are not just obvious, but super obvious.
And yet, I think because you have an investment in not liking it, or an investment
in reinforcing a structured opinion that possibly sprang from a very tiny seed,
it just doesn't serve the intent, or the perspective you wish to have about the
show, or wish to propagate in a discussion etc.
I think that's (not you in this case, but in general to the OP) what people are
doing when they say it's racist. I think it's a subconscious and sometimes conscioius
attempt to create, with either passive self deception, or active deception, a no-win
scenario for people who would take an opposing position.
It's the twisted logic that suggests that, if you watch a show about black people,
and they talk a certain way, etc, you are racist for enjoying it.
Which probably also means, if I have friends that talk in the same manner as
the characters in Freaknik, I'm a racist for hanging out with them, laughing at
their jokes, enjoying their company, etc.
Obviously, niether of those things makes me a racist.
I think it's utterly ridiculous for people to suggest that. And by extension, I think
it's utterly ridiculous for people to suggest that Freaknik is somehow racist
because the characters talk like real people talk and act like real people act.
And even more ironically, the entire dynamic in and of itself is one of the main
points of the show. The whole concept of old money attempting to crush
a scene by pointing at it and hollering stuff that is designed to spin public opinion
in their direction and shut it down.
In other words, in the show, old money doesn't like the scene. So they do/say
what they have to about it get people to see it their way and/or to shut it down.
People don't like a cartoon, so they do/say what they have to about it to get
people to see it their way and/or shut it down.
It's actually on some level quite funny, and in a sense temporally anomalous as
well, because - in a sense Freaknik is already making fun of the absurdity in
the very opinions/attitudes people are criticizing it with. It's almost as if, Freaknik
knows itself so well that it actually can look into its own future and comment
on these negative reactions as part of the fabric of what it is.
Then the people come along, have the reaction, in an odd way become then part
of the fabric of the show itself, and in a sense always were.
So - after being incorporated into the fabric of the show in the future and written
into the past, they see Freaknik in the present, don't recognize themselves in it
(even as obviously as they are woven into it) and level their criticisms.
Ultimately, oddly criticizing themselves, or in essence, criticizing what has grown
from the seed of their criticisms, which is in turn the seed gathered and returned
to the past etc.
And I don't think that particular dimensional effect is even necessarily intended
by the creators, it's basically just gravy.
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