Creating Perception (or Cultural Prestidigitation!)

My response to an anonymous comment on the Flavor of Shame post was getting too long so I indulged myself and made it a new post.

Well not having seen the show, I can't really comment. T-Hype, are you of the opinion that NONE of the perception created by shows like this has any basis in reality? How about the perception created by some of the rap videos on BET etc? Does ANY of it ring true with modern black culture- or is it all a lie, done just for the cameras?

You've definitely asked some good questions. I will say this, every lie has an element of truth.

Reality tv is just that, "an element of truth." I suppose it doesn't really become a lie until it's presented as Truth. At the point when people watch shows like Flavor or 90% of BET or Hustle and Flow and think, "This is black culture." Then it's a lie. The part is not the whole.

It's like watching Weird Al's "White and Nerdy" and being like, "That's the Truth!" Hmmm.

Most of us would know better because we know lots of white people who aren't like Al and it's fairly clear that Al is an entertainer. But let's say you lived somewhere where you didn't know any white people. You'd never interacted with any but you'd watched White and Nerdy over and over again and one magic day you meet some white people! You're SO excited. You're like, "So, tell me about MC Escher! Can you show me how to play Dungeons and Dragons? Do you rock at Pac-Man?"

That would be dumb. And that's a problem. I know that. You know that. But for some reason, a lot of people don't or refuse to believe otherwise. [And that's what pisses me off.] I had a Jamaican roommate in college who told me before she came to the US she thought all white people were crazy and loose moralled. What? Jamaicans are... Don't even let the thought form. She didn't know any white people and most Americans don't know any Jamaicans. Did I mention she grew up near a Spring Break hot spot?

As for BET, I don't know any black folks over the age of 20 who think the stuff on BET represents reality! But maybe you know some. The artists themselves know better than anyone that videos and stage performances are a mode of--to borrow a couple of words here--created perception. They know that the cars & the jewelery are going back to wherever they rented them from and that fame is fleeting. "Get what you can while you can by any means necessary." That would be a fairly accurate mantra for 80% of the artists & personalities that are out right now.

So, to answer your questions directly:
Are you of the opinion that NONE of the perception created by shows like this has any basis in reality? No. There's some truth there. The question is: Which part?

How about the perception created by some of the rap videos on BET etc? It's an illusion. Maybe 20% true. [Come down to the hood. I promise it's not nearly as glamorous. Admittedly, it does look a little more like Hustle & Flow than not but WAIT! OMG! Not all black people live in the hood. Some of them live in the suburbs.]

Does ANY of it ring true with modern black culture-or is it all a lie, done just for the cameras? Sure. Flava Flav is the crackhead on the block. The chicks on Flav's show are the local strippas. [Not 'strippers' because the girls on the show are mostly low-class and I don't mean poor.] Almost every poor neighborhood has a strip joint if not two. That's reality. There are more liquor stores in a poor neighborhood than fast food joints. Poverty and crime go hand in hand. None of that is untrue. It's universal. It's not black culture. It's the culture of poverty. Again, the part is not the whole.