“We have defeated Jim Crow, but now we have to deal with his son, James Crow Jr., esquire.” - Al Sharpton
Remember the images of a WHITE'S ONLY water fountain side by side one marked COLORED? Well, as awful and horrifying as that image was, at least both fountains were dispensing the same water. But what if the water coming from the COLORED fountain was slightly brownish, tasted funny, and left long lasting affects. Imagine what that would do to how we perceived ourselves and each other over time. Well, that's exactly what Viacom is serving up on MTV and BET. In this scenario, MTV is the equivalent of the WHITE'S ONLY fountain, and BET (Black Exploitation Television) is the COLORED fountain. And it only takes a quick flick back and forth between the two channels to notice how seperate and unequal they really are.
Intitially, when I heard Viacom acquired BET back in 2000, I thought mo'money should mean better, higher quality programming. Take a look at what Viacom COO, Mel Krazmin said at the time.
"This is a strategically perfect fit," he added. "We now have a major business targeting the African-American market, which is growing faster than the general population. African-American household income is growing faster, consumer spending is growing faster and the market consumes more media than the general market. Additionally, while ad spending in the general market is showing 6 to 7 percent growth, ad spending in the African-American segment is showing a growth of 15 percent."
Hey, it sounded good on paper right? Then came the infamous BET Uncut. An after hours adventure that felt like the red light district of cable television, graphically taking you to a place where misognyny, hip hop, and adult themes all came together. Although BET would condone the show by saying it aired late at night, the fact is, the images of our people being beamed to 62 million U.S. households was atroscious. It's one thing to make the decision to go to a strip club, it's another to have one beamed to to your home. (Who can forget Nelly swiping the crack of a dancer's ass with a credit card) Also, it makes me raise the question, "would Viacom air this show on MTV"? Think about that for a second. Exactly. I think we all know the answer to that one my friends. So what made them so comfortable airing it on BET? Maybe it was simply a case of, as NWA would say, "here's what they think about you."
You hear a lot of talk about how BET is MTV's sister station. For real, I can't tell. Especially if you look at some of the very successful MTV shows compared to the BET knock offs. lI remember expecting the presence of Viacom to bring up the production quality of the BET shows. Then College Hill debuted. I'm sorry folks but compared to The Real World, this show just looks extremely low budget. Same with the reality shows for Lil Kim, Keyshia Cole, and DMX. Even when BET gets black star power, they deliver shows that look bootleg. Anyone flipping back and forth between BET and MTV would never in a million years conclude these two stations were owned by the same company.
Let me not blame all of BET's problems on Viacom. A lot of it has to do with not living up to the name Black Entertainment Telivision. Once again, I must refer to the MTV model. MTV is simply Music Television. Over the years, MTV has defined itself as the main source for all things cool revolving around youth culture, with music being the glue. And more often than not, MTV has gone out of its way to also address issues affecting youth culture with serious programming about drug abuse, AIDS, gun control, etc. Now let's look at BET, which stands for Black Entertainment Television. The name is extremely important. It's not Black Teen Entertainment Television. It's not Black Hip Hop Entertainment Television. It's Black Entertainment Television. Therefore, it's demogrphic is huge, and should cater to the huge diverse group that is black America. Instead, the station's programming acts as if black people are this monolithic group that is fascinated by all things having to do with hip hop, videos, and celebrity. Once upon a time in what now seems like BET's "golden era", there were news programs. People like Ed Gordon and Tavis Smiley actually had talk shows. There were syndicated family shows. And athough we still wanted more from the station at the time, at least we felt like they were "trying" to live up to the name Black Entertainment Television. Today, that is hardly the case. If an alien were to come to Earth and base his thoughts of black people off of the programming he saw on BET...the thought of that alone saddens and sickens me. Yet, many non black people are doing just that, and the images they are seeing are simply reaffirming there predetermined stereotypes.
I'd like to see BET represent the best of who we are. I'd like to see BET secure the rights to our BEST tv shows and our BEST movies. I'd like to see BET put some effort into creating adult programming as well as family programming. I'd like to see BET develop a REAL newsroom, with up to the minute news covering our stories, the ones that don't make it on screen on the major networks. I'd like to see BET develop some talk shows. I'd like to see BET stop focusing on what the stars are doing, and focus more on showing young people the realities of black people working behind the scenes in music and television. I'd like to see BET improve the over all production quality of all of their shows, and diversify the music they showcase. I'd like BET to be my source for all things involving black culture. If the best engineer in the world is black, BET should let me know that. If St. Croix is the new black vacation destination, BET should let me know that. If there is going to be a march to bring attention to inferior sentencing of black teens, BET should let me know that as well. BET has proven over the years that its standards for us, are much lower than the standards other stations have for their viewers. The day of Jim Crow television is over, sorry BET and Viacom, but we DEMAND more than that. One luv.
6 comments:
Great, great post. I agree with everything you wrote.
I'm glad somebody finally said this.
Good job...I still cant believe they actually aired Uncut..sameful.
you know ambiv i gotta say, i'm all against bet any time i can be. but they have definitely made strides to make new and different programs as of late, especially since the head is now a woman, and she's got a hudlin brother by her side. they're not changing things by leaps and bounds, but they are doing a lot of things they should have done a long time ago.
on one level they have nothing but a bunch of knock off mtv and vh1 like programming -- with reality shows and such -- but the hiphop vs america was such a move in the right direction -- something i never expected bet to do and i give them credit for that.
on another hand i get your points. all of them. i guess i'm just more willing to give the benefit of the doubt. besides i don't think viacom is involved in the programming over there. nor do they yet care, as long as the station and its ancillary products bring in checks.
bravo corey. i am tired of the coonery that is BET. I agree with lynn d about the Hip Hip In America show. I watched that show because I wanted to hear what some of our "Hip-Hop Artists" (and i use that term loosely) had to say about Hip-Hop music and how they are representing us. I am so glad that there were a number intelligent black folks sitting up there on the panel, and representing us on an intellectual tip.
Terrific post! You're dead right that BET reflects only what the bosses think people want...and the worst part is, those shows do get watched. And that's why those shows get made, and that's why those shows get renewed. If people want a change, they need to boycott the bad and campaign for the good.
Reminds me of way back when at Comedy Central. A few years ago, when Battlebots was huge, a friend of mine was interning there, and she reported that all the executives pretty much hated Battlebots. The show was idiotic, and they'd rather produce something more experimental like UCB. But you know what? Battlebots got more viewers than UCB, and Comedy Central is a business. It sucks.
There is no reason why BET couldn't comprise two or three stations, each with a slightly different mission. Have the station for older folks, the station with more commercial hip-hop, and then the BET version of the FX network. If the programming strategy evinced broader ideals, then we'd probably see higher-quality programming.
BET should also headhunt for the finest black talent. The veterinary assistant at my vet's is a (black) NYU film grad student. BET should lay down the red carpet for fresh, new talent. Think about 40 Acres & A Mule's PA program in NYC, how they develop talent...why can't BET do something similar! If you train people and empower them, they will be loyal and grateful!
It's not even just about the young. Why not contact successful black directors and writers and give them sweetheart development deals?
To rid ourselves of terrible programming, there has to be a public display of what people would rather have than the garbage today.
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