A Word About Satire
In 2019, it is tough to do genuine satire, unless you’re willing to skewer hardened targets, such as political Progressive talking points and shibboleths, sacred cows of culture and entertainment, or perform satire in a committed and consistent way that takes no prisoners.
South Park, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and even The Babylon Bee (a funny version of The Onion) are the few modern satirical publications to take shots at people and positions on the left and still keep on trucking.
And then there’s The Boondocks.
Running for four seasons on Comedy Central from 2005 to 2014, The Boondocks lampooned everyone and everything in Black American culture, from Barack Obama’s supposed “sainthood” (look it up) all the way to old black people and their adjustable-rate mortgages.
The genius of The Boondocks lay in series creator and showrunner Aaron McGruder being able to navigate the tension between talking about what black Americans know about black culture that they would rather never talk about in front of other ethnic groups, and “keeping up appearances” around ethnic competency in front of those other ethnic groups, in order to guarantee social and cultural success in a competitive American cultural landscape.
Similar to Chappelle’s Show before him (though more biting in tone and delivery), McGruder laid bare all the ethnic hypocrisies and tensions inherent within and around Black America and did it via animation, via satire, and via Adult Swim.
And then, just like that, he was gone.
Aaron McGruder is Talented, Political, and Whacky
The Boondocks, which ran as a comic strip from 1999 to 2005 before it was a show on Adult Swim, was a vehicle for McGruder to explore his more controversial political and social commentary tendencies.
McGruder’s comic strip courted controversy from the beginning by questioning everything and leaving nothing to chance.
To top it all off, McGruder as a person believes many unique things, including that George W. Bush was involved in 9/11.
He visited Fidel Castro back in the day when the tinpot Communist was still alive, and he supported Ralph Nader back in the day against Al Gore.
Clearly, dude has been busy.
And, for various reasons that are unclear on the Internet, McGruder was not the showrunner on the fourth (and some say worst) season of The Boondocks in 2014.
HBO Max is Maxing It Out
So, clearly HBOMax is looking to court controversy with a talented artist, writer, and speaker who also happens to be conspiracy theory-driven, politically Progressive pontificator.
With a lock on McGruder as showrunner, with the Bad Orange Man in office, and with “our democracy ‘dying’ in the dark,” I am sure that The Boondocks will waste no time jumping into your face from an angle you’re not expecting.
- Will McGruder strike satirical gold again?
- Will anyone outside of New York or LA care about this reboot/reimagining of a show that was niche even before a world of streaming services?
- Will HBO be forced to defend McGruder when he goes all “crazy pants” about “neo-fascism” as he has done recently in his comic that no one reads anymore?
I don’t know the answers to any of those questions.
But, sound off below. What do you think?
