the Boondocks

i have a lot to post about. but i need to get this off my chest first...

"Granddad, you said the word 'nigger' forty-six times yesterday! I counted!"

now, some of you may be familiar with the boondocks, a cartoon written by one aaron mcgruder. it tells the tales of an eleven year old black revolutionary named Huey and his mainstream younger brother Riley. they live with their Granddad in a white, upper-middle-class suburb. needless to say, these tales have a blunt, incisive, some would say "inflammatory" air about them. lots of talk of race and politics. i only know this because i hunt the boondocks down in bookform. the san antonio daily paper doesn't deign to run the strip. not even in the editorial section (whence they have banished "doonesbury").

that said, this is the new animated series based on the strip, written and supervised to a great degree by the original creator, mcgruder. and i have to give the premier episode four out of five stars. its hard making a cartoon show, and it takes a few episodes for people to get things really rolling, and begin to understand how the characters translate to the screen. now, for the good bits:

1. any show that begins with a scene based upon an animated seventy-year-old black man doing naked tai-bo off the infomercial to avoid buying the tapes is destined for historical greatness.

2. i like hearing the word nigger on television. not because i love the word, but because black people say nigger in everyday speech, and to have a show actually portray that as a cultural norm is awesome. will this make idiots like my unintentionally(?) racist brother worse? possibly. will he get his ass beat soon enough. oh god please, i wish...

3. conservative internet bugs are already e-mailing cartoon network to ask if "insulting them further by running 'the boondocks' was really necessary." their response: you own the white house, congress, and corporate america. you can deal with a half hour of television. or not. we don't really care.

4. "The secret to getting on the good side of the NEW white man, is cheese!"

5. Granddad accidentally shoots Riley in the shin with a low-power air rifle.

6. The rich white marine recently returned from Iraq has massive bling (in the form of a big gold W on a chain), wears saggy-ass fatigues and a beater, and has the ultimate in cultural misappropriation gutter mouth. no one's language in the show is more "hip-hop" than his. the irony was so beautiful, it almost hurt. and it was right on the money. it was hilarious and sad.

7. "White people pronounce THE WHOLE WORD. LIKE THIS."

8. "The last thing you do is tell white people the truth!"

this is all randomly shunted together, but the show was basically amazing, and you should all watch it, and enjoy it. and i realize that lots of people use the word nigger in their regular speech, but idiots like my brother should not. its an insider word, like faggot. fags can call each other faggots (sometimes), but to you, its sir, now and always! anyway, more posting later, but for now, WATCH THE FRIGGIN BOONDOCKS!!!

that is all.