wayvyiews -The Neighborhood
Before tuning in to The Neighborhood, I had never heard of the show. However, I am familiar with some of Cedric’s older work. Given his activism in the social realm, it makes sense that there was a strong presence of visibly African influenced paintings, vases and other ornaments like throw pillows and antique chairs. There is also a visible large collection of CD’s and although no markings can be discerned, judging from the surrounding decoration we can surmise that they are of black artists of some form, likely jazz or older records seeing as more contemporary black artists seldom release physical copies. In the kitchen scene we can see many cookbooks, all of which are geared toward diabetics. This could be a reference to the obesity and blood pressure issues in the wider community, and the reaction African Americans have had to the need to eat and cook more healthily. There is a plethora of cultural references scattered throughout the dialogue of the show starting from the very first scene. When describing his neighbour’s exposed legs in his short shorts, Cedric’s character says, “Last time I saw that much white meat it was fried and in a bucket.” of course referencing the stereotypical black love of fried chicken by the bucket. In the same scene, his son says “…throw off the chains of your oppressor and get your newspaper my brother.” and proceeds to clench his fist and emulate the black power sign sarcastically. This of course is a joking reference to the civil rights era, and even the tone and cadence in which he speaks harkens back to that time. There are also a few other subtler African American cultural references, like for example allusions to Christianity, or a Christian faith, as is common in this community. In one scene, Cedric’s character speaks directly to God, albeit in a joking manner, and his wife can be seen wearing a crucifix necklace in multiple scenes. Finally, cultural references can be found in the vernacular that the family uses in the home. For example, instead of calling Calvin dad, or perhaps father, the children refer to him as Pops, which is near exclusive to the African American community. They also use words like broke and snitch, which while in the wider vocabulary today, were birthed in the African American community.
There is no work environment in this episode, however I do see three main contexts in which the characters operate. There is the black cultural context, represented by Calvin and his family’s household. There is the white cultural context, represented by Dave and his family’s household, and finally the outside world, where these two contexts collide. So, Calvin’s character exists in both an African American cultural context and a form of hybrid cultural context. Though, it should be noted that the African American cultural context is the primary context we see Calvin in. In the African American cultural context Calvin is at ease. He is comfortable operating within this framework and understand all the rules and expectations. This cultural context, with Calvin as a proxy when he leaves the home, is painted to be comedic, sarcastic, slow to trust and closed off. When this cultural context shifts to the hybrid we see Calvin exist in, we see Calvin become much more guarded, and tense. From the first scene when Calvin is anxious to leave his home to get the paper, we get this sense. The tension of the episode arises when the expectations of the two disparate cultural contexts are at odds with each other. The white cultural context is presented as over friendly, a little naïve, quick to trust and perhaps a bit exploitative. In the episode, Dave’s wife suggests that he only acts generously in the hopes that people will return the favour to him, which leads me to that conclusion. Dave expects Calvin to mirror his own cultural context back to him, while Calvin has very little interest in interacting with Dave in that capacity. Eventually we see the two come to a middle ground between the two contexts when we arrive at the resolution of the episode, where Calvin agrees to participate in Dave’s suggested trust fall, and Dave has to support Calvin’s weight for a comedic amount of time.
I do not see any traces of any kinds of old types in any of the black characters presented here, which was highly refreshing. Calvin is intelligent and not hyper sexualized while not being stripped of his sexuality either. His wife is nurturing and kind, while demonstrating her full range of emotion and is able to fight back if she feels she was wronged, in this case by Calvin. She too has sexuality without being objectified or presented as nothing more than that in the show. The unemployed son is probably about as close to an old type as the show gets, and that is only by virtue of him being unemployed. He is not presented as dumb, and in fact helps his father operate on his truck, something which takes some level of technical proficiency. He also is not given an exaggerated sexuality as a buck-type might have, and the last son also bears very little resemblance to any of the old types.
In closing, I think this is a very positive representation of African Americans in television. I really found myself enjoying the episode as I watched even though it was, at first glance, a run-of-the-mill sitcom. As the episode progressed I saw how they attempted to deal with these complex issues of integration and cohabitation along racial lines during this very racially charged time, with tact and humour. Careful attention was paid to how the actors speak and their home, to ensure that it was a realistic reflection of blackness. In another “black” sitcom, Blackish, the protagonist, Andre, sometimes comes off as a parody of black men, and his home barely has any reflection of his African roots. As we move forward, television and media on the whole will become a key tool in dismantling the archaic ways of thinking that have divided us for centuries, and I think The Neighborhood is a very important step in the right direction as it pertains to bridging cultural and contextual gaps and tearing down racial barriers.
