Left Behinds: What Do We Make of Flavor of Love?

Sunday, October 15, 2006

What Do We Make of Flavor of Love?

The finale is in less than 12 hours, and I've been meaning to blog about it (I haven't had internet access the past week, hence my radio silence).

I am already on record calling it one of my top three favorite shows. It is also, of course, politically troubling in terms of race, class, and gender. Critics call it the latest nigga spectacle, the new Amos n' Andy minstrel show. It's bad for women, it's bad for black people, it's bad for anyone who watches it.

But Flav isn't really Amos or Andy. In fact, it's not really about Flav. He plays the same supporting role as he did in Public Enemy: the funny guy who interjects wisecracks from the sidelines. The show is really about the women, and really it's about one woman, one gloriously fucked up woman in particular: New York.

I can't really do her justice, so I'll just let her speak for herself.

I have to think more about why I love the show.

For now, I'll just leave you with this brilliant commentary (pay special attention to "A Civil Body Poli-trick" and its comments).

SPOILER ALERT:

Judging from NY's Myspace page, it seems she doesn't "win" Flavor of Love. Which only makes tomorrow's episode all the more a must-see. Imagine her reaction to losing for a second time. It is going to be sublime.

4 Comments:

At 3:44 PM, Antid Oto said…

I hate MySpace pages. People load way too much crap on them and the autoloading music and video freezes up my browser every time.
At 3:48 PM, Antid Oto said…

I wasn't into the clips, but I find most reality shows boring so that doesn't really mean anything. I don't know why I make an exception for Laguna Beach, maybe because it's less contrived.
At 12:09 AM, Solomon Grundy said…

I hate to say it, but it may be a gay thing.

I felt pretty bad for the two bored straight men at my mini-party forced to watch Project Runway as a roomful of banshees cackled around them.
At 11:55 AM, Solomon Grundy said…

I saw the final episode last night, and she definitely delivered the crazy.

Her appeal is more than just as a campy cat fighter. There's something truly deranged about her, and in contrast to her self-presentation as a Black Barbie (of which she has a personal collection of over 2000 dolls, as she points out on her Myspace page) it's fascinating.

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Left Behinds

Sunday, October 15, 2006

What Do We Make of Flavor of Love?

4 Comments:

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