Just wanted to share my thoughts on what I experience while attempting to watch the series as I found the music of choice stereotypical, annoying, unnecessary as well as ignorant. Just because is a series involving an African American lead, does not mean you have to place the types of music that is integrated throughout the episodes.
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I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ll keep your criticism in mind when I do!
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I enjoyed the series. It pushed some boundaries and brought up issues I didn’t think Saturday morning cartoons dealt with. But look at it from this perspective. Rap and hip-hop were starting to become really popular during this time. Trust a 90’s kid. I loved the show and it brought back so many memories of my childhood.
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Also consider this, stereotyping wasn’t as big of a deal two decades ago. Was it wrong? OBVIOUSLY. But people didn’t mind it as much.
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I have no problem with the music. The music fits the style of show they were going with.
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To each there own. My question would be if you feel that way about Static Shock, do you feel the same about Black Lightning? I found the music jarring. It felt out of place but was going for the same cultural vibe.
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I’ve never seen Black Lightning.
Given that Static’s creator, Dwayne McDuffie, was heavily involved in the entire run of the show, and given that he was never one to avoid biting the hand that fed him if he felt like he or his characters had been wronged (only Priest, who has probably been responsible for more of my favorite books than any other writer/editor, has been more eager to just throw a grenade at editorial) I think it’s safe to assume that the music is on point with what Virgil’s creator thought works for him. And, frankly, it’s on point with what the middle-class Black kids (like Virgil) I knew when the show was airing listened to (anecdotes like that don’t prove or disprove anything, but they’re enough to convince me that it’s not just “stereotypical”).
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Half my school I attended was black and the warehouses I have worked are mainly black individuals. Being around that type of environment do you know what type of music they listened too??? Hip-Hop/Rap
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Guys keep in mind BatWing23 might be African American themselves and might not need to be told what is and isn’t a stereotype
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I can see where certainly today it could be viewed a stereotypical. There were certain predominantly and historically black neighborhoods where the rise of hip-hop and rap were being seen a point of pride. The fact that Snoop Dogg was ranking highly on the charts was embraced by the Long Beach community.
So within the context of its time, I don’t recall it ever being viewed as such. In fact the opposite, a black superhero in kids animation and a major form of music coming from blacks making it into the mainstream.
Certainly the OP feels how they feel, I Those feeling for them are valid. But, there is no reference to the context of time that it was made in the original post.
Look at the Golden Age, there are plenty of really offensive stereotypes in those stories. Does that exclude or excuse them from being held up as to how race relations and non-whites were viewed and how messed up that was. ABSOLUTELY NOT. However, it also is reflective of the time they were created in, so it at least has a context. As we move to more diverse comics, we can hold those up as better examples of treating characters of color and characters within the LBGTQ community as starting to be given the dignity they deserve. However, that is also a product of the particular time we are in right now as well.
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To add to DeSade with some of my personal experience; just a few years before Static, we had TLC do the theme for All That on top of their numerous hip hop musical guests. Kenan and Kel had Coolio for their theme, and this was shortly after Coolio made a guest appearance on the Muppet Babies. Missy Elliot even did the theme for Cousin Skeeter. The late 90’s and early 00’s loved hip hop in their shows, and did wonders for spreading that type of music to people who’d never be exposed to it from their parents or someone else. I got heavily into the Native Tongues after seeing a bunch of them preform on All That, and that formed a life long love of A Tribe Called Quest.
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Coldsmoke don’t forget Chapel Show around 2004. Dave would have an artist he personally liked to perform at the end of his show. Maybe it’s different now but I was born right before the 90s and growing up during that time and people the same age of that demographic that is what they listened to. So that’s just my personal experience. Sorry to the OP if I sounded confrontational in my first post in this thread.
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I see what you’re saying, but I feel like overall the show did more good for representation than bad, especially considering the time it came out. But that’s from my perspective.
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it was a product of the times, but what I have seen many black static shock fans really liked it at the time and many still do. I personally tought it was really cool.
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No words.
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I’m a black man myself. I never found it offensive at all and like someone said it’s a product of its time. With that being said I do see how someone of this generation would find it offensive.
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If you were offended with the music in this show, don’t watch black lightning hahahaha.
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Tangential, but I do wish YJ would do a better job of integrating the Dakotaverse characters into the Earth-16/Apocalypse/Light storyline. Rocket has all but disappeared, Icon has been mute as far as I can recall, and Static was reduced to a punch line in S3.
Yeah. It especially sucks because it felt like they were setting both Rocket and Static up to be major characters but… nothing. Heck, literally the last we saw of Virgil he was just trying to console Jeff by literally saying nothing and then he disappeared.