AAD ON TV, MUSIC, MOVIES

Have you noticed that black actors often get the roles of the most powerful characters (the person in charge) on many television shows, but the roles are typically "supporting" and not "starring?"  Fox Broadcasting Co. is good for this.  The "Supervisory Special Agent in Charge" on the new show Standoff is a black woman, yet when the show is airing it's [...]

I work for a non-profit organization that serves children and families.  I get a lot of social commentary just about every day (I must admit that I'm usually the on giving it) and I don't think I want it in my commercials.  I was reading an article in Slate that reminded me of that fact. Most [...]

My boy Devin is currently addicted to a couple of classic "Blues Clues" movies on DVD.  In the old school shows Steve is Blue's owner.  If you have a toddler, or are some kind of weirdo, you know that now Joe has adopted (?) Blue and leads our kids in weekly games of Blues Clues. [...]

I try not to comment on entertainment stuff too much, but the whole Tom Cruise debacle of the last year coming to a head with his Paramount Pictures contract termination is kind of hilarious.  Normally I would not laugh at someone with a family being fired from their job, but Mr. Cruise is worth something in [...]

If you have children, especially boys, then you know, and perhaps hate, Thomas the Tank Engine®.  This little blue train and his friends have been controlling the minds of small children for 60 years with no end in sight.  If I were Thomas, and not Daddy, my son would probably like me more, and may [...]

I love Hip-Hop.  It has framed my life as it has and does for so many.  I was cutting class in high school and The Notorious B.I.G. walked into the pizza shop where I had stopped to grab a bite.  His red Land Cruiser gleaming in the bright Brooklyn sun.  I'll never forget that moment [...]

I was reading an article today in Slate about a possibly racist gay white (folk?) rock artist that thought that the notoriously racist 1946 Disney song Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da was a “great song.”  Then I was reminded of a run in with a rather questionable Disney CD that I picked up at a major toy store chain [...]

Tonight the soon to be defunct UPN premiered two episodes of the black family comedy “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.”  The show was created by, of course, Tyler Perry (aka “Madea”).   He’s a guy I usually like (my wife on the other hand LOVES him), and it was very clear by the time the credits rolled that it [...]