BREAKDOWN: OPERATION BLACK STEEL - REPRESENTING BLACK WOMEN

THE STORY

Aight, this post is currently being written at the time where this patreon hasn't been made public, so the idea is to bulk up this patreon with some of the rewards beforehand, so you guys don't pledge and get greeted to essentially nothing. 

That said, lemme break down this script real quick and my thought process heading into it. Originally, if you follow my Twitter, you'd know this video was intitally going to be about the complaint that The Boondocks was misogynistic. This is very similar to the homophobia video I did on the series, as one of the first things I wanted to do with Operation Black Steel is disprove a lot of the misconceptions in The Boondocks community and things I didn't agree with.

Here's the problem.

Operation Black Steel simply isn't a series solely designed on focusing on that. The series isn't about me getting on a soapbox and telling a bunch of Boondocks fans why I don't agree with them. It's exactly why I can't dedicate a video to the complexity that is Aaron McGruder's involvement in Season 4, in Operation Black Steel form. It just wouldn't work.

But, I did want to bring it up. Similarly, I wanted to talk about how much I didn't like the Ebony Brown Episode of The Boondocks. It felt like shameless pandering to black women who wanted positive representation, but felt poor because it was literally just this perfect woman. I had no problems with Luna. She was cool. She was funny. She had a point. Ebony Brown didn't do anything but pander for 20 minutes straight. The funniest part of the episode was Grandad listing all the better off-screen scenarios The Freemans had been in.

Where does Michiko & Hatchin fit into all of this?

Aight, we're getting there. I'm a big fan of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. Both of which are shows that inspired the visual style of The Boondocks. Michiko & Hatchin is this show made by one of the female directors on Samurai Champloo, called Sayo Yamamoto. And, when I watched it I was blown away by how well they depicted a coloured woman, the location and the complexity of the character.

Imagine making a whole ass black guy invested in some love story about a black woman chasing after a white man?  That's a joke in itself.

I saw it, and knew I had to make a video about it. This wasn't immediate, as I asked a lot of black women what they thought of the show and got their opinions and they also loved it. I listened to the Anime Feminist Podcasts on the show, and they offered some really interesting insights into the show, and I really recommend you listen to them if you have the time on Soundcloud.

THE SCRIPT AND MUSIC

Not getting too much into how I script things, but I figured I'd share the basic outline of my scripts. I write how I talk. All those cut to black moments where the music stops in my videos are usually planned. Not always, but often times they are. I feel typing how I talk makes things feel more natural.

And naturally, you've probably noticed the music on top. This is the basic outline that I use to determine what tracks I'm going to use in my videos. I really wish I could've included some Def Loaf, but alas~

The reason for the inclusion of two J Cole tracks is because of an argument I got into with this girl, who really likes J Cole, and the video is somewhat dedicated to her. So, that's why I ultimately decided to go with two tracks from him. I'm sure she appreciated it.

THE AFTERMATH

It was interesting seeing the response for this one. I knew this would be a sticky one, mainly because I knew there would be the sexist people who didn't care for women. The white people who would question "Why do you need black representation?" and the infamous "She ain't black, shut up." These are all things I saw coming. Ultimately, this sort of thing is unavoidable. My intention with the video was to bring attention to Michiko & Hatchin and importance of representation in the lives of people, and how it can have a positive impact on their lives. And while I question the racial politics of some of the viewers, that's just a thing with all Operation Black Steel videos. I'm used to it, by now. I'm content knowing that most people got the right message out of it and feel inspired.

And, that is the full story behind this video.