When I first started watching OWN\u2019s \u201cBlack Love,\u201d the show\nupset me for a couple of reasons. First of all, they didn\u2019t tell who these\npeople were. Sure they give the first name each member of the couple and how\nmany years they\u2019ve been together, but other than that, if I didn\u2019t already know\nthem I had no idea who they were and what qualified them to be on the show, and\nmost importantly, it made it harder to goggle them to get a boarder picture of\nwhat they are all about. So that\u2019s for\nstarters, when I didn\u2019t know who these people were, I wanted to know who these\npeople were. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second, there were no follow up questions. You rarely hear\nwhoever is interviewing them speak. They just let the couple talk how they\nwant. Some couples talked over each other, others the woman spoke most of the\ntime, while the man was silent and vice versa. \nSometimes they both talked about the same, and it just seemed a bit out\nof control like it needed some structure. And sometimes someone would say some\ncrazy shit that deserved a follow up question, but you get nothing for the\ninterviewer: nothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the thing that bothered me most about this show was the\ntitle, \u201cBlack Love.\u201d Because from where\nI\u2019ve been sitting, there wasn\u2019t necessarily any love in a lot of these\nrelationships. Like with a title like \u201cBlack Love\u201d I\u2019m thinking that the show was going to showcase\nbevy of model relationship type couples, you know, ones that the viewers would\nwant to aspire to \u2013 like #RelationshipGoals. But a lot of these couples, to me,\nwere more like relationship deterrents, or models on what not to do, and what\nnot to put up with. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, as bothered as I was by all that, none of it stopped\nme from watching. And slowing, but surely,\nI began to appreciate aspects of the show that once bothered me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, not knowing who some of these couples were, actually\nturned out to be a good thing. It helped\nme to form opinions about what they were saying with less bias. Take for example\nKandi and her husband Todd from The Real Housewives of Atlanta: I\u2019ve seen them\ntogether on that show over the years, and I already have an opinion about their\nmarriage based on what I saw on that show. So basically, I evaluate what they\nare saying on \u201cBlack Love\u201d through the prism of my knowledge of them from RHOA.\nHowever, some of these other couples are unfamiliar to me, I judge based solely\non what they are saying on this show, and how they interact with each other on\nthis show. And whatever bias I have toward them is the biases I carry with me\nfrom my own life experiences, and not some prior knowledge of who I\u2019ve\nperceived them to be. I\u2019ve come to\nbelieve that who they are is not important, but what they are telling me about\ntheir relationship is, and how they relate to one another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then there was the issue that there are no follow up\nquestions. That bothered me, perhaps, because of the journalist in me \u2013 and the\nfact that they often say things that, I believe, deserves a follow up question. But some journalists interrupt too much, and\nwhat I\u2019ve come to realize \u2013 which has been corroborated by watching this show \u2013\nis that if you just let people talk, sometimes they will reveal more than you\ncould ever excavate even with the most skilled line of questioning. Just let them talk and they often will tell\non themselves both directly and indirectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So now, I\u2019m grateful\nthat they let them talk. I\u2019m happy that they just let them do their own thing,\nbecause they be dropping some gems,\nsometimes without even knowing. And me,\nbeing the astute social-observationist that I am, I just come along and pick\n\u2018em up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then there\u2019s the title Black Love, which, after initially\nwatching the show, I thought was misleading. But after I kept watching the\nshow, and thought about it for a while, I looked at it from a different\nperspective. As universal as the need for love is, as fundamentally necessary\nas it is, I think we still all crave it,\nand experience it, and even give it in unique ways. I mean who am I to be judging someone else\u2019s\nlove? Though I\u2019m judging it \u2013 best believe I\u2019m judging it. Because if you put\nyours out there, I\u2019ma lend it my opinion. \nBut at the same time, I realize my opinion could be wrong (though I bet\nit\u2019s not). My opinion is formed based on what I want, and what I like. What I\nthink is appropriate and inappropriate. Acceptable and unacceptable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And maybe that\u2019s the point, or at least a part of the point.\nMaybe the show is meant for you to expand on what you currently believe,\nconfirm it, or reevaluate it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now that I think about it, I wonder if the producers\nactually think that all these relationships are loving relationships. I\nactually think Black Relationships would be a better title\u2026 then again, just my\nopinion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBlack Love \u201c airs Fridays on OWN. Watch it and see if you agree with me. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I first started watching OWN\u2019s \u201cBlack Love,\u201d the show upset me for a couple of reasons. First of all, they didn\u2019t tell who these people were. Sure they give the first name each member of the couple and how…<\/p>\n