BlogHer - television - Comments

A Network That Could Be A Source Of Pride

Megan Smith — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:50:13 -0500

Hi Michelle,

BET is a network that could be a source of great pride instead of a source of embarrassment and anger.

And Adrienne, I find your experience interesting. It's kind of like twenty-somethings wearing flip flops at Fortune 500 companies. Like you said....sigh...

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute

Respect

Adriennevh — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:44:04 -0500

I worked the show, I worked in the backstage (read parking lot area), where the seat fillers, mosh pit fillers and the 106 and Park pre party people were staged and shuttled over.

I was surprised to see how "undressed" most of them were. If this is an awards show, shouldn't the attire reflect that?

Girls in shorts shorter than any Daisy Dukes I have ever seen. Guys in jeans down around their knees (and these were the seat fillers!).

I understand that the "dress code" of some shows is not quite Oscar's, but it just shouted disrespectful to me.

As I was sitting backstage (I never actually saw the show), I was reading tweets on my phone from East Coast watchers and just sighed.

I have never been a watcher of BET, don't even know if my cable carries it or not, but I guess I am just disappointed that a formerly respectable tv station and awards show has "jumped the shark".

My thoughts exactly

Southerngirl — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:02:56 -0500

Everything you guys said and esp this:

In fact the only way my cable box ever lands on the dreaded BET channel is if my finger slips on the remote. Then I make sure to get the heck out of there before my eyeballs fry and my blood boils.

I did try to watch a Boyz in the Hood one night and the commercials just got to me. I could not even finish the movie. I have blocked it on my kids' TV, I should just do the same on mine as well.

I hope no one was expecting anything less from Lil wayne. I have seen enough of his interveiws and listened to his songs enough to know that he beleives his press clippings.

I have written enough complaints to BET to wallpaper a room. I do not think they are listening. Because after all they are catering to their market. Whoever that is.

Michelle

I blog at http://www.mommycan.blogspot.com/

I'm Surprised I Haven't Been Kicked Off!

Megan Smith — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:13:46 -0500

I have gotten notices on TweetDeck that I've reached my what-cha-ma-call-it limit, but then I just switch over to regular Twitter in my web browser.

Thanks for the info.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute

Petition site

cutiebootycakes — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:54:33 -0500

Lisa, I am not aware of a petition site but if I come across one I will be sure to post it here.

Megan, twitter will kick you out if you send too many tweets in one hour. I had no idea that I was tweeting that much but I couldn't log on for received the too many tweets message. This has happened to me before but I was leading a twitter party and knew it was a possibility. I suppose it is a safeguard against spam. I turned to facebook to continue my commentary and interaction with my network.

I think everyone should send a letter to BET - the awards show received the highest rating of all awards shows on cable this year. More info on that can be found here:
http://www.blacktalentnews.com/artman/publish/article_2367.shtml

Cutie Booty Cakes

Lisa, Thank You!

Megan Smith — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:40:58 -0500

Lisa, thank you. You'll get an extra hug at BlogHer for that!

I don't know if Renee has a petition site, but I provided the BET addresses in my response to her comment.

Let's see if we can light a fire under 'em.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute

Booted From Twitter? I Thought You Were Joking

Megan Smith — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:33:59 -0500

I thought you were joking when you said in your email that you were booted from Twitter. Please, tell us what happened in more detail.

As far as Lil' Wayne, I was appalled when I read the description of his performance, but unfortunately, I wasn't surprised.

You can send an email to BET here: contactus@bet.com.

Or here are BET's addresses and phone numbers:

BET Networks
1235 W Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20018-1211
202-608-2000

BET Interactive
General Inquiries
1235 W Street, NE
Washington, D.C. 20018-1211
202-608-2000 or 212-258-1000

BTW thanks for the links to Tazz on Facebook and to Womanist Musings. ;-)

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute

Yeah, That Whole Supporting "Our People" Thing

Megan Smith — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:23:52 -0500

I've got nothing against "supporting our people," but I'll be damned if I sit silently by while some of the clowns of the music industry pretend to represent me. They don't.

If they just went about their business making bad, non-mysogynistic music, I'd say go right ahead. But when they start talking about how they're "the real black people" I've got a problem.

Dude, I'm almost ready to bring back the days when Jesse Jackson "spoke for all black people." Or even better, when Spike Lee was the media-anointed king of "what black people are thinking."

Almost.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute

Megan Smith, take a bow

Lisa Stone — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:50:13 -0500

This is one fantastic piece of journalism-meets-commentary. Thanks for your wrap-up.

Renee, I hear you re: letters to BET. Is there a petition site out there that you're using to get the word out? Or do you recommend snail mail?

Best,
Lisa

Lisa Stone
BlogHer Co-founder
Surfette

BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News.

Letters to BET

cutiebootycakes — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:24:17 -0500

I think that you hit the nail on the head when you said that BET really hyped the show as an MJ tribute but it never manifested. Although I was live tweeting and was subsequently booted from twitter, I did not see Lil' Wayne perform. Let me clarify that - I did see him on the screen but my eyes glazed over and I continued to focus on talking with friends on facebook about this travesty of a show.

I had NO idea that he had children on the stage because I did not look up after his appearance on screen and the numerous bleeping made it impossible to know what he was rapping about - the profanity made the performance a fail for me.

However, this morning it has come to my attention that the lyrics were not only filled with explicatives but were of a sexual nature - he had his child and other children on the stage during this performance!

I AM SHOCKED! Here is a link to the lyrics - http://jezebel.com/5303695/bet-awards-recap-lil-wayne-performs-inappropr...

All I can say is I was embarrassed that I watched the show and now I am horrified. I will be writing a letter to express my disgust and hope that more people do too.

Cutie Booty Cakes

Guuurrrrrl!

Nordette — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:25:24 -0500

I've come across lots of blogs since this topic came up with people saying they hated the show. Hmm. And I thought I was being hard. :-) Just saw tweets from one person, who also blogged her distaste. To non-tweeple reading this, start at the end of the time-stamped tweets of her relaying a tiff with a relative over the BET Awards and read up:

leave me the hell out of it. She said she didn't see what I meant and I said make a paradigm shift and move up a class tier. was i wrong?
32 minutes ago from web

then she said I was judgmental and she wanted to support our people. I said if want to identify with lower class dysfunction be my guess but
33 minutes ago from web

I said it was a display of dysfunction & coonery for the world to see.
34 minutes ago from web

my relative told me not to speak to her b/c i gave my opinion about BET Awards. I didn't make this up.
about 1 hour ago from web

Had a nightmare that BET Awards was on tv last nite
about 18 hours ago from mobile web

(HG)

And she's generally pretty low-key.

Lots of people are not happy with what they saw last night, and I think part of it was BET's build-up that it would be a tribute to MJ. People expected more for Michael Jackson, I guess, even from BET, which they otherwise don't seem to expect much from.

I didn't mention it in my post, but Lil Wayne with the girls who looked like tweens bothered me. I tweeted that much last night.

Nice round-up, Megan. No comment on white people who think only white people are online. :-/

Nordette Adams is a BlogHer CE & you can find her other stuff through Her 411.

I Have Not Seen It

Tina Lane — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 12:36:14 -0500

I have not seen this one. However, I am not surprised if TV land has found a way to make a storyline about philanthropy somehow sexier and more provocative than we we would expect it to be in real life. www.floridagirlmidwest.blogspot.com

Jada As "Nurse Jackie?" Hmmm.

Megan Smith — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:01:25 -0500

I thought about Jada as "Nurse Jackie" and honestly I don't think she could pull it off, but I sure as heck would love to see her try. It's possible she would surprise me.

But any number of black actresses could handle that role, Angela Bassett, CCH Pounder, and even Vanessa Williams or Pam Grier.

Like you, I also don't think of "Nurse Jackie's" actions as being that of a black person or a white person. It's just that because "Nurse Jackie" and "HawthoRNe" premiered a couple of weeks apart, it got me thinking about the lack of casting opportunities black actresses have.

Thanks for commenting.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute

You are probably correct

JRoc2205 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 23:00:33 -0500

You are probably correct that if nurse jackie were black many people would be going crazy. However, in my personal opinion and I feel many others would agree there are certain African-American actress who just might be able to pull of the role of nurse jackie and I feel Jada Pinkett Smith is one of them, another one that comes to mind is Halle Barry. Both are well respected women and have great range in their acting abilities. Now personally I have not seen either show, but if I were to watch an episode of nurse jacke regardless if she is white or black I don’t think I would immediately think of race when watching her actions. If she is doing drugs on the job I would think she is a drug addict, if she is having sex with random men around the hospital I would think she is a "hoe" or "slut." I know those terms might offend people, but in today's world a girl who sleeps around with a lot of men has that term placed on them, just like a guy who sleeps with a lot of women is called a man whore. Anyway back to my original point, if I were to watch nurse jackie and see these acts I don’t think skin color would come into MY mind, it would be the other terms based on her actions. In the end there would most likely be anuproar if nurse jackie were black. Still wouldn’t it be interesting if a great African American actress like Jada could pull it off, what could that do for black actress in bigger leader roles? Just something to think about.

What I'd Like

Megan Smith — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 21:37:00 -0500

What I'd like is to get to a point where black actresses can take a role like "Nurse Jackie," do a fabulous job with it and have no one talk about it except to say how great the performance is by the actress.

Unfortunately, we're not at that point yet.

Megan
BlogHer Contributing Editor, TV/Online Video

Megan's Minute