Stay black!
"The black Sex and the City." Since its debut in the
fall of 2000, UPN's Girlfriends has been compared to
HBO's critically acclaimed show about four women friends in
the big city. Obviously, it's unfair to dismiss
Girlfriends (or any show with a black cast) as a
copy of a white show. (And technically, isn't Sex and
the City the white Living Single?) Even if the
shows often deal with similar issues (including sexual
addiction, marital dilemmas, and the strains of
friendship), such a tagline is too clumsily designed to
make Girlfriends look "universal."
What's most interesting in this context are the issues the
show sets up as potentially "universal." Consider the
situation for biracial Lynn (Persia White). Adopted by a
white family when she was young, she grew up in a
predominantly white environment and only learned about her
black heritage while in college. Not unlike A Different
World's Freddie Brooks, Lynn moves between communities.
While her girlfriends are black, she has never denied her
biracial heritage. For her, "race" is a daily negotiation.
Refreshingly, Girlfriends repeatedly raises patently
political questions. At the start of the second season, an
athlete publicly accuses a sports beverage company of being
racist, and Joan (Tracee Ellis Ross), a successful L.A.
attorney, steps up to defend the company. Her friend and
assistant, Maya (Golden Brooks), who often refers to her
own working-class community roots, feels that Joan is
selling out, in particular because the company exploits
inner city residents. Joan and her colleague, William
(Reggie Hayes), by contrast, feel that they are just doing
their jobs as attorneys, and not black attorneys. Joan also
has a specific stake in the case: if she wins, she's one
step closer to making partner.
This plot sets up a debate about blackness and the politics
of social class that goes beyond Joan and Maya's conflict.
In laying out both Joan and Maya's cases, the episode
points out that the black "community" is not monolithic.
The show challenges viewers to consider various questions:
where and how do race and class determine one's identity,
perceived by others or understood by oneself? What does it
mean to be an attorney (or a teacher, or writer, or
whatever), as opposed to a black attorney? Is it possible
to imagine oneself as a professional "without" race?
These questions are connected, of course, to
Girlfriends' status and/or marketing as a "black"
show, and it self-consciously uses these questions to
provoke laughter, calling attention to differences in the
girlfriends' class and lifestyle. For one instance, Joan,
Maya, Toni (Jill Marie Jones), and Lynn go shopping at an
expensive clothing store. While Toni, the resident "black
American princess," is only concerned with how certain
blouses accentuate her cleavage, Lynn is worried about
cost, as she's in debt due to her pursuit of multiple
master's degrees. At the same time, Joan is trying to talk
Maya into splurging on a dress. Maya is skeptical about the
purchase. She has to take into account that she and her
husband Darnell (Khalil Kain) have a dinette set on
layaway.
When, despite her initial hesitation, Maya buys the dress
and brings it home, Darnell reacts. After listing the
reasons they can't afford it (they need to fix the car, get
the dinette set), he concludes that she has to "Take it
back." Maya mocks him her under her breath as he walks
away. When he asks her what she's just said, she quips, "I
said, 'Stay black!'" The joke is multifaceted, allowing
viewers to identify with the couple's strapped finances
(not unlike the Connors on Roseanne), but also to
appreciate the specificity of their blackness (and their
self-awareness) in relation to the surrounding culture. At
its best, Girlfriends is unafraid to introduce
controversial issues but also point out the humor in them,
encouraging viewers to think while they're laughing.
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