I'm a huge Delroy Lindo fan. Dude is a boss. Also respect Kerry. But I cringed most of the way through the first episode. Not only because of the swearing baby. But mainly because I feared they were making light of a tragic and all too frequent paradigm in the black community. Imprisoned fathers, the plethora of abandonment issues that result, and all of the complexities that fall between.
I felt going into it, that Washington and Lindo had possibly 'stooped' to low-brow jokes about this horrible, horrible reality- that's affected nearly every African American family, and not in a 'fun' and 'lighthearted' way. Think back to Eddie Murphy's PJ's, a claymation failure that poked fun at inner city black folk living below the poverty line. We don't need that type of stuff broadcasted for the entire world to see, point, and laugh at.
The first episode nearly confirmed my fears. The needlessly potty-mouthed 9 year old Jordyn McIntosh, the father's cavalier attitude toward the effects of his choices on his hyper-damaged daughter, the whimsical music being played behind situation after situation that, in reality- are brutal, for anyone who's lived through this stuff...
But they do well cleaning it up. My hope was that Lindo had a reason for doing it. And he usually does. Both Washington and Delroy Lindo seem conscious enough- to not let this thing go out like that. And by the end of the second episode, you can see where they're headed, and the points they're looking to make. By the end of the season, I could let out a sigh of relief (all except for that little girl cussing and talking about stuff she has no business knowing about). But that's the only reason is 7 stars and not 8.
I felt going into it, that Washington and Lindo had possibly 'stooped' to low-brow jokes about this horrible, horrible reality- that's affected nearly every African American family, and not in a 'fun' and 'lighthearted' way. Think back to Eddie Murphy's PJ's, a claymation failure that poked fun at inner city black folk living below the poverty line. We don't need that type of stuff broadcasted for the entire world to see, point, and laugh at.
The first episode nearly confirmed my fears. The needlessly potty-mouthed 9 year old Jordyn McIntosh, the father's cavalier attitude toward the effects of his choices on his hyper-damaged daughter, the whimsical music being played behind situation after situation that, in reality- are brutal, for anyone who's lived through this stuff...
But they do well cleaning it up. My hope was that Lindo had a reason for doing it. And he usually does. Both Washington and Delroy Lindo seem conscious enough- to not let this thing go out like that. And by the end of the second episode, you can see where they're headed, and the points they're looking to make. By the end of the season, I could let out a sigh of relief (all except for that little girl cussing and talking about stuff she has no business knowing about). But that's the only reason is 7 stars and not 8.