review
-
We Need to Talk About Being Mary Jane
Mary Jane Paul has always been a mess, but her many, many faults are what made Being Mary Jane such an interesting watch. As Kelley Carter wrote in the 2015 BuzzFeed piece “BET’s ‘Being Mary Jane’ Has Started a TV Revolution,” the show was a “revolutionary series about a perfectly imperfect single black woman.” Those…
-
If Game of Thrones Had Black Characters, This Week’s Episode Would’ve Been Totally Different
You can apologize now. Many of you thought I was reaching a bit when we first started this series, but as each episode has progressed, it’s become clearer that Game of Thrones really is basically an entertaining, fantastical primer on dealing with white America. After episode 4, there should be no doubt. There were explicit…
-
I Am Not Your Negro Brings Back Baldwin’s Voice for a New Generation
In the late 1970s, James Baldwin began working on an idea for a book that would tell the story of America through the lives of three of his murdered friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. “I want these three lives to bang against and reveal one another as they did in…
-
Go See Office Christmas Party and Remember Everything You Like About the Holidays
Nostalgia is a funny thing in the movies. When it’s done right, movies whisk us back to some bygone romanticized era where we could all laugh, party and relive simpler times—think Hot Tub Time Machine’s depiction of the ’80s. When movie nostalgia goes wrong, it’s a trip back to someone else’s fantasy past, when white…
-
President Obama Orders Investigation of Alleged Russian Hacking in 2016 Election
President Barack Obama has ordered a full investigation into the 2016 election process and alleged hacking by the Russians, Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser Lisa Monaco said Friday, according to CNN. “The president has directed the intelligence community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process,” Monaco said. “It is…
-
Mariah's World Is Flat and Uninteresting
In theory, Mariah Carey, reality star, sounds nothing short of must-see television. Long before Real Housewives came along, Carey offered the world various strains of grandiosity, eccentricity and lots o’ theatrics. Surely, someone who admittedly acknowledges living in her own bubble would be the perfect vehicle for a new reality series. However, Carey has been…
-
We Are All Insecure
Eight weeks ago, The Root published an article I wrote, titled, “Is Insecure Preying on Black Women’s Insecurities?” It was a simple question, based on an honest concern I’d had while previewing the show prior to its debut on HBO: As viewers—and, at times, voyeurs—of Insecure, what was our intended takeaway? Was there a deliberate…
-
If You Name It Love Jones, They Will Come
In 1997, when my college roommate and I left the premiere of Love Jones, we headed to the nearest drugstore to find a lipstick to match Nina Mosley’s. My best friend got Nina’s haircut. I teased her mercilessly, but I was secretly envious. I bought the soundtrack, the VHS and, later, the DVD. Find any…
-
In Too Deep: 5 Point-of-No-Return Moments From This Week’s HTGAWM
Two weeks before the murder, the Keating Five on How to Get Away With Murder show us that some things can never be undone. Here are five clues that you’ve reached the point of no return: This is the mother of all dating bombshells, the defining moment in any relationship. Right before they are about…
-
The 6 Best Clapbacks of This Week’s HTGAWM
Hit them and they’ll hit you back, literally and figuratively. Through pimp slaps, suspensions and black eyes, this was the week of stellar clapbacks, with nearly everyone slinging shade. This episode of How to Get Away With Murder begins with Annalise crying up snot in a jail cell. She is rocking and moaning like she missed…