Blackish - A Parody of Stereotypes?

In ABC’s, Blackish, the comedic show centers around a black family living in a predominantly upper-class, white neighborhood. The father, Andre (or ‘Dre’), becomes a marketing executive and tries to lead his family through a different lifestyle. The show exhibits mockery of stereotypical black way of life through its blunt humor and its overall concept as a show. The name itself, 'Blackish,' suggests that the family is ‘trying to act black’ but cannot due to their social standing. However, this awareness of the ridicule implies a progression of black value in everyday society. The comedy escalates the absurdness of how black individuals are not regarded as successful. Although the television show, Blackish, may present few socially defying values, the show intentionally depicts an abundant of stereotypes to parody black lifestyle.

For example, in the episode “Churched,” Dre accepts an invitation from one of his white neighbors to attend church together. Here, Dre pauses the show, and describes how he and his family do not regularly attend church. Dre expresses how Sundays, in his house, are meant for extracurricular activities. Dre then discusses how 'to black folks, church has been a big deal’ and is the ‘backbone of our community.’ Later, when Dre’s mother finds out the family will be attending church, she is dismayed because she has been trying to get them to come to church for a long time. Additionally, the grandmother over-exaggerates after discovering that the twins, Jack and Diane, have not yet been baptized. The religious stereotype surfaces through the grandmother as she is very dedicated to her faith. On the other hand, Dre's family is not, which contradicts the stereotype and provides a breakthrough of this stereotype. Dre's family is used to mock the craziness of the stereotype and to further prove how this type of custom is not the case anymore.

        

Furthermore, in the episode, “Daddy’s Day,” Dre describes his experience of growing up without his father. In the beginning of the episode, there is a flashback of Dre on Father’s Day from when he was younger. Dre walks into the room with breakfast, but only his mother sits on the couch. He excitedly exclaims, “Happy Father’s Day!” only to be turned down from his mother who annoyingly points out to him that his father is not here anymore. Later, the eldest daughter’s friend, Recheida, additionally expresses how she does not see her father often and tags along with Dre’s horrible idea of creating this new holiday. Here, the stereotype of living without a father comes to light. Recheida and Dre both experience what appears as the non-existent father stereotype. Although the sorrow that might come from this experience, Dre is determined to cater to the needs of his children. Dre is used as a model of how not all black families live in such way. Thus, more irony surfaces as the show presents contradiction between Dre's intentions and the clichéd stereotype.

            

In Blackish, there are several examples of irony to demonstrate the intentional mockery of black lifestyle. The show conveys such fact that these stereotypes still exist and perpetuate in society. The comedy tries to highlight black lifestyle stereotypes in a positive direction. Blackish also tends to acknowledge several black stereotypes in humorous way, yet creating an impact that emerges through the stereotypes.