Black-ish taking it one step ahead or too far?

                                   

As the controversy with police brutality continues, so does the presence of this issue in entertainment media. One of the most prominent current examples in the media is Beyonce's latest music video for her new song "Formation." This trend has continued throughout several media outlets such as TV and film media. One particular example occurred following the airing of the latest Black-ish episode entitled "Hope." Black-ish is a comedy aired on ABC based on an affluent African-American family living in a predominately white neighborhood. This specific episode features the family watching a (fictional) news story about an unarmed black teen selling DVDs who is then tased several times by a cop. The episode plot line was inspired by a true story that the creator of the show, Kenya Burris faced in 2014 when watching the news with his family when riots broke out in Ferguson and Darren Wilson was not indicted for the fatal shooting of Michael Brown. The episode dives into the reaction of the family members and how to approach explaining this type of controversial news with younger children. The sitcom clearly does not make light of police brutality by any means, but instead does find humor in how the family reacts to the situation. The producer of the show is concerned about potential audience reactions although wants to assure that the conceit of it does not come from a comedic place. "I want people to not extract anything from this other than the notion that we want to start positive conversations and be funny," says producer Burris. I found this to be a very interesting approach to the controversial issue and an even more interesting way to incorporate news media issues into the episode.