![]() In short, I yearn for some unashamedly normal (read positive) televisual representations of the multi-faceted and disparate nature of the Black British experience, not the trite, one-dimensional, clichéd ghetto dross that we are continually served up and expected to be content with. Or for that matter, a TV drama about black barristers, art world types, city bankers or even black bee-keepers in the Home Counties– in short, any representation which does not tirelessly conform to articulating the pathologies of the black underclass, but which instead depicts ordinary Black working class or ordinary Black middle class realities – realities of normality, decency and stability realities of good values, balanced, grounded, law-abiding citizenship, imbued with hopes, dreams and fears, just like any other British family.Ī hooded youth walks past a burning vehicle in Hackney: The recent London riots will do little to convince people that the black culture portrayed in programs like Top Boy are unrepresentative ![]() ![]() Instead of this pathetic, unfilling and frankly distasteful morsel of stereotypical pabulum, I crave to be satiated by a Black British Cosby Show type sitcom, with educated, middle class protagonists who don’t talk in ebonics, deal drugs, have children out of wedlock or resort to violence. Stereotypes pander to and reinforce prejudice, which should be avoided at all costs. The protagonists in these dramas simply conform to (as opposed to confound) damaging stereotypes about black masculinity and therein lies the real, grave danger. Right now (as I have been for the last ten years), I am sick to the back teeth of the never-ending deluge of intellectually vapid 'You get me, blood?' ghetto hoodie dramas (as well as films, plays and books) which seem to be churned out with a tediously depressing regularity. Walters has effectively cornered the market in thuggish bad bwoy and gangsta roles.īe it in last year’s Off Da Endz at the Royal Court theatre, or as a member of the garage crew So Solid, he is seemingly content to be cast in the same limiting, uber-stereotypical mould. ![]() What is beyond doubt is that Ashley Walters is an exceptionally talented actor, full of mercurial charisma, effortless panache and quixotic charm. Hagiographic portrayals of the gang and drug lifestyle are highly irresponsible, and can only result in lionizing such behaviour among young people.ĭramas like these, however much they attempt to portray the black underclass with ostensible veracity – lots of street slang, rap music, fast cars, baggy jeans and baseball caps - are in fact facile, formulaic and arguably exceedingly detrimental to the cause of equality. Dramas like Top Boy, being anchored in such a specific geographical, racial and social milieu, do a great disservice to the overwhelming majorityįor a start, the ardent glorification of gang culture and its concomitant violence is not something we should ever take lightly. ![]()
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