As we get ready too close out another year, I wanted to make sure I got you all ready for what is hitting your tv and film screens in 2022!! Mixed it up for you as always with a little television and some film! Check them out below:
Power of the Dog (Streaming on Netflix December 1st)
Mother/Android (Streaming on Hulu December 17th)
Women of the Movement-Limited Series (Premiering on ABC January 6th)
Ray Donovan: The Movie (Premiering on Showtime January 14th)
The new season of Insecure has started and we are 2 episodes!! Let me tell you as someone who has been watching the show since DAY ONE, Issa rae and the show never ceases to amaze me!! So much so that I had to write down a few notes in the form of a ‘thank you’ note post expressing my appreciation!! I remember actually hearing about the show in 2016 while vacationing at Martha’s Vineyard and attending the annual MVAAFF. If nothing else I had planned to watched the series off the strength of Issa Rae’s previous web series “Awkward Black Girl” and the fact that it was a series about young Black professionals. With little to no expectations, like many others we just dived in. In the words of R&B singer Vivian Green, we were always riding an “emotional rollercoaster” 30 mins at a time when it came to this show.
It is not often that you find a show that tells so many stories and is so relatable that you have to step back and say “damn that’s really close to my life” or “I totally know that feeling!” Every season has created an on-going dialogue, surrounding everything from entrepreneurship to family planning (birth and death) to complex relationships/dating to self-preservation to job security to simply just believing in one’s self, all topics that will surely continue linger in the atmosphere even after the last and final episode. For me, Insecure is the Living Single of its time! As a professional, awkward, funny, driven Black woman seeing the various experiences of Black womanhood play out on-screen via the vision of a Black woman always gave me a sense of hope and promise.
And so I have to thank you for showing the many complex layers of relationships and friendship and that they are not perfect nor should we strive for them to be. To be honest in each of the four main Black female characters (Issa, Molly, Kelli, and Tiffany) I found a piece of myself in each character. That’s what makes being a Black woman so great!! Life truly is a learning process. You provided us another outlet that permits us to stumble, fail, get back up, find joy, be angry, and persevere!!
Black women friendships as personified in HBO’s Insecure
Thank you for normalizing therapy, particularly for Black women…The familiarity of each session was so very refreshing….this is so needed and necessary. The way therapy is showcased on this show is a great example of how it can be utilized in fiction but translate into reality.
Molly in a therapy session on ‘Insecure’ Season 2-Episode 2 “Hella Questions”
The fashion and hair…So versatile..Daring…Forward-thinking…Inspiring…I definitely picked up a few things and added them to my closet.
How about all the cameos….Syd, Sterling K. Brown, Lil Rel Howery, Kyla Pratt, Luke James, Kofi Siriboe, Jidenna, Hayley Kiyoko, Dawn Richard, Wendy Raquel Robinson, and many more…
I will always look at couches, Best Buy shirts, and Coachella very differently and I’m good with that!
New and improved vocabulary…words/concepts/phrases like ‘zaddy’, ‘ho-tation’, ‘Go for it, go for it, go! Ho for it, ho for it, ho!’, ‘work in progress’, ‘thug yoda’, and ‘we got y’all’ will always have a special place in the Black community.
Thank you for the location…location…location!!
Oh and I cannot forget the amazing soundtracks, my music game continues to level up thanks to this show!!
Official ‘Insecure’ Playlist from Spotify
Watching this show this show for me personally allowed me to have those moments of thinking about how to evaluate my life and actions. Lots of growth and self-reflection!! I definitely increased my intake of daily affirmations and learned to truly be honest with myself and others. About five years ago, Issa Rae made a statement to NPR that definitely resonated then and even more so now, “We don’t get to just have a show about regular Black people being basic.” Who would have thought basic, regular, and awkwardness were just the things we needed in life.
Once again my Sunday nights will never be the same after Insecure comes to a final close. Insecure will join such shows as Lovecraft Country, Power, and The Wire, as premium channels shows that were well worth the extra purchasing cost.
So when it is all said and done…Issa you switched up the tv landscape around how we CAN center Black people and culture in a variety of ways….And I thank you Issa Rae for making this contribution to the pop culture landscape!!
Keeping it short and sweet so you all can get straight to the trailers!! Plus it’s the end of the month!! Just know I am pretty excited about this list especially the 2022 joints!!
Check them out below:
Colin in Black & White [Limited Series] (Streaming on Netflix October 29th)
Amina (Streaming on Netflix November 4th)
Season 3-Narcos: Mexico (Streaming on Netflix November 5th)
The Tender Bar (Streaming on Amazon Prime December 17th)
Well I am always for #BlackGirlMagic especially when it’s in the comic book genre, and The CW is giving us some with their latest series, Naomi!! Many fans and viewers know that The CW has a unique approach to its DC shows, and this latest series is adding to that catalog.
Television and Comic book version of DC Comics “Naomi” (Photo Credit: The CW)
As a fairly new character (only being introduced in 2019) Naomi McDuffie is making a transition from comics to television very quickly!! And just in case you are new to this character, or just want a little more info see some facts about Naomi and the upcoming series listed below:
The series is expected to re-tell Naomi’s origin story
Naomi’s origins include the life of an adopted high school teen who yearns to know her beginnings and while doing so discovers that she has some embedded superpowers
She can morph into a superpower form and possesses such powers as flight, resistance to injury, and superhuman strength
Her adoptive parents have a unique back story as well
Naomi is joining an established crew of young, Black, and gifted comic book characters (Milestone Media–Static Shock and Rocket; Marvel Comics– Lunella Lafayette/Moon Girl, RiRi Williams/Ironheart, Miles Morales/Spiderman; Stranger Comics–Niobe)
You will have to tune in next year to learn more!! Actress Kaci Walfall (Army Wives) will play the role of the super powered teen. I’m really excited that we are seeing more leading youthful representation not just in comics and television, but pop culture as a whole!
Created by creative television and film genius Ava Duvernay and CW veteran Jill Blankenship, Naomi is set to premiere on The CW in 2022 and will take place within the Arrowverse.
Check out the teaser trailer below:
Talk about being hyped!!
I am definitely excited to see more Girl Power on the television screen and this looks like it is definitely fitting the bill!! 2022 can’t come fast enough!!
Earlier this month I had the opportunity to sit on an AMAZING panel with a great group of women to discuss women in media and entertainment as part of the Meliora 2021 celebration at the University of Rochester!!
So I wanted to make sure I shared the video with you just in case you may have missed the LIVE presentation, or you just want to re-cap!!
Glad to be able to participate in another event where I get to talk about a few of my favorite discussion topics: race, gender, media, and entertainment!!
On this coming Friday October 1st (12-1 pm/ET), I will be taking part in the Distinguished Panel Discussion: The Portrayal of Women in Media and Entertainment presented by the University of Rochester-Women’s Network!! Check out the info below:
Over the last few decades, the portrayal of women in film, television, and magazines has evolved, and in some cases, improved to include a stronger presence and influence of women both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Join our esteemed panelists virtually for a conversation exploring the issues around the media’s portrayal of women and girls—from effects on body image and self-identity—to the ways in which media both limits and empowers women and girls in today’s society.
This virtual panel includes myself as well as an awesome group of women: Kate Hearst (Film Historian, Critic, and Filmmaker), Roberta Myers (longest-serving Editor-in-Chief and Vice President of Brand Content of the US edition of the fashion media brand, ELLE), KaeLyn Rich (Vice President of Organizational Advancement at UltraViolet) and Norma Holland-Moderator) (Director of Public Relations and Engagement for the Office of Equity and Inclusion at the University of Rochester)!!
To register to attend click here!! See you all Friday!!
New Month!! New Week!! And of course New Trailers!! Go some good stuff for you all this week especially as it relates to Fall TV returning!! Check them out below:
The Wonder Years (Season Premiere September 22nd [Wednesdays] on ABC)
Season 3-Doom Patrol (Streaming on HBO Max September 23rd)
Queens (Season Premiere October 19th [Tuesdays] on ABC )
Marvel Studios’ Eternals (In theaters November 5th)
Black Future Feminist 