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What are my top 5 films and shows that veer away from showing black trauma on screen?
"What media is bringing light to the black community today?"
by Britnee Blake | November 16th 1:20pm
1. Insecure (HBO)
Created by Issa Rae and Larry Wilmore, Insecure follows Issa and Molly, two best friends in Los Angeles. They experience the world from different perspectives, but always make time to work through friendship, relationship and professional issues they face together. Including music from lesser known musical artists, Insecure’s vibe is a breath of fresh air and actually shows black culture in California. This is important as gentrification spreads to each street corner, making it harder to have a stable place for our community to thrive financially and holistically.
2. Atlanta (FX & Hulu)
Created by Donald Glover and primarily directed by him or Hiro Murai, Atlanta shows the journey of Earn, a college dropout struggling to make ends meet for him and his daughter, Lottie. To support himself, he starts managing his cousin, Alfred, as he starts up his rap career as “Paper Boi”. The show shows the reality of making it as an artist in Atlanta and focuses on the artistic journey’s relationship with the growing pains of life itself. Eccentric characters like Darrius, played by LaKeith Stanfield, comedic situations like the entire “B.A.N.” episode and satirical events like the “Juneteenth” episode, makes Atlanta a unique show.
3. Really Love (Netflix)
Really Love highlights the individual struggles of an artist and lawyer who are stepping into a new stage of their lives. Despite their different lifestyles, they fall in love and quickly learn that their ways of living don’t entirely sync up perfectly. With time, they get in the rhythm of each other and are faced with an unfortunate situation, one of them has a promotion in work and has the opportunity to move states.
3. Really Love (Netflix)
Really Love highlights the individual struggles of an artist and lawyer who are stepping into a new stage of their lives. Despite their different lifestyles, they fall in love and quickly learn that their ways of living don’t entirely sync up perfectly. With time, they get in the rhythm of each other and are faced with an unfortunate situation, one of them has a promotion in work and has the opportunity to move states.
4. Guava Island (Amazon Prime)
Taking place in the fictional island, Guava, Deni loathes the citizens' hustle mentality. This reality only exists because of Red, the richest man on the island that exploits all of his workers. In protest, Deni convinces the island to attend a music festival on a Sunday-- Red sees this as an issue because his workers most likely won’t show up to work the next day. Red handles this matter in an unfortunate way.
5. The Photograph (Hulu)
This film shows the lost art of films depicting black love without the stereotypical struggles. In essence, two love stories are intertwined and show the past and more modern version of a couples’ interactions. The audience enjoys watching the two main characters discover themselves together and apart from each other as they both pursue their careers.
