VH-1: Where Black Reality Lives

In the spirit of Martin Luther King's birthday and Barak Obama's second inauguration, the question lingers, how far have we really come since the Civil Rights Movement? Certainly, African Americans have made huge leaps in media and entertainment since the 60's, but can progress be measured by what we've seen on the big and the small screen?

While there have been and continues to be a significant number of African American comedies on television, dramatic shows have diminished over recent years. The rise of the reality show has exploded since the invent of "The Real World" in the mid 1990's which aired on MTV. Television lives in the age of voyeurism. We've accepted reality that's debatably staged or concocted. VH-1 is at the forefront the 21st century reality show movement.

VH-1 went from mature videos in the 80's to reality shows in the 21st century. With 10 + reality shows featuring African American casts, VH-1 has fully embraced the young black hip-hop reality (used loosely). But is the content being featured, for lack of better words, good or bad?

Some have criticized these shows and VH-1 for displaying African Americans in a negative, unflattering way. It would be remissive not to mention BET or TV-One, both of which feature African American content. Arguably, the same criticism could be leveled against those networks as well. Coincidently, neither BET (owned by Viacom) or TV-One (co-owned by Radio One & Comcast) are African American owned. 

For sure some of these shows feature polarizing themes and characters (caricatures depending on one's viewpoint), but can't the shows be seen simply for entertainment? Clearly, there's an audience for the content. An audience that represents the ideal demographic, the sweet spot for advertisers and huge cash for Viacom (VH-1's parent company).

If there is blame, on whom should the blame fall?

With Shaunie O'Neal for "Basketball Wives?"

Or 

Mona Scott-Young for "Love and Hip-Hop?"

Or Viacom for airing the shows?

On one side, these are business women putting out entertainment projects trying to get a piece of the dollar pie. Viacom is an entertainment conglomerate interested in content that sells. Viacom has branded itself, with MTV, VH-1 and other networks, as the stewards of pop culture entertainment. Viacom is worth an estimated $730 billion dollars (they paid $3 billion for BET). These ladies are successful content creators in an industry dominated by men.

On the other side, these shows continue to show conflict amongst African Americans- the cat fights, the misogyny, the shallow materialistic lifestyle. Images that can still make African Americans cringe and criticize.

Make no mistake, at the end of the day, there's only one variable that matters, M.O.N.E.Y.

Pro Se makes no argument for or against. Discourse and debate is best left to the reader.

How do you feel about the shows on VH-1 or so called black reality tv? Please leave your comments!

Here are some video clip remixes from some of those shows.

Seriously, who the hell is Funky Dineva?

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