Wednesday, February 15, 2017

I’m DONE with The CW’S Riverdale





I was committed to watching the full season of the CW’s Riverdale. However after watching the third episode featuring Chuck Clayton I’m done with this series.


My beef with Riverdale isn’t just the total maligning of Chuck Clayton’s character. It’s the fact that the episode featuring Chuck Clayton is one of the most racist things I have seen in the last 25 years on Television. 


When I think about Chuck’s actions in a historical context it shows how completely out of touch the writers of CW’s Riverdale truly are. On that episode Chuck Clayton brags online about giving White girls “Sticky Maples”, saying he had sex with them when he didn’t. Only a writer and a producer who was either braindead or retarded regarding race relations in America would think a Black man lying about giving White girls “Sticky Maples would be a good idea to present onscreen, especially in this tense period where White Supremacist bigots have been polarized and emboldened by politicians like President Donald Trump.


What makes this episode really racist is how completely clueless the writers and producers of Riverdale are regarding the Black family and Black culture in America. No matter how diverse the producers want to make their version of Riverdale to appear on the surface with their Black Pop Tate, Black Mr. Weatherbee, and Black Josie and the PussyCats, they showed how little they understood Black history and Black culture in that episode of Riverdale featuring Chuck Clayton.


If the clueless writers at Berlanti productions understood Black culture and Black history, they’d understand that an older man like Coach Clayton who grew up in that predominantly White town during the 1960s and 1970s would have definitely sat down with his son and taught him about racism. And he would have taught him to watch himself when interacting with White people, especially White girls. And he would have explained to him how numerous Black men like Emmitt Till were lynched due to the false accusations of White Women like Carolyn Bryant.


To show a Black man on a TV show lying about having sex with White girls and saying he was giving them “Sticky Maples” was the height of insensitive especially when you think about 14-year-old Emmitt Till who was tortured, castrated, and murdered in real life based on the false accusations of a White woman. And to this day Black men can have their lives put in jeopardy based on the accusations of a White woman.


 So why would any Black man knowing the history of AmeriKKKa be STUPID enough to put his own life at risk by lying about giving White Women “Sticky Maples?”


Waiting for someone at Berlanti Productions to answer that question.


The whole idea of Chuck Clayton being presented as some sort of Black Brute was out of character. And the reason why Berlanti Productions, Riverdale’s Producers changed Chuck’s character wasn’t about cyber bullying, but pushing a covert agenda against Black men. In some way these writers and producers wanted to take a jab at Bill Cosby for the alleged sexual assaults of all those White Women. 50 years ago and sought to use Chuck Clayton as a Cipher to have Betty and Veronica exact their revenge against Mr. Cosby.


I’m sorry, I don’t watch comic book adaptations like Riverdale to see producers push a political agenda. Nor do I want to see them taking jabs at celebrities they don’t like. I was eager to see Chuck Clayton the friendly artist depicted the same way Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Reggie and Josie were depicted on this show. Instead all I got shown was a Black Brute lusting after White Women and projecting his sexual fantasies about giving them “Sticky Maples” online.


Damn. Just Damn.


If only Greg Berlanti and the Producers of Riverdale knew Black men like myself don’t sweat White women that hard in real life. In spite what many White men believe, most Black men could give less than two fucks about getting attention from a White woman. For most of us pussy is just pussy and we’ll get with whoever offers it to us regardless of race.


Since the writers and producers of Riverdale want to turn the show into a soapbox for their racist agenda, I’m gonna find something else to do on Thursday nights at 9. As a comic fan, I want an adaptation that makes efforts to stay true to the source material, not one that perpetuates the producers’ racist ideas about Black men. From what I saw in the first two episodes Riverdale was going to be must see TV for me. Unfortunately after seeing how Chuck Clayton was depicted on February 9th I’m just going to stop watching Riverdale altogether. 


Greg Berlanti, you just lost one viewer for Riverdale. And I’m about to walk away from your other programs such as Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl due to the negative and stereotypical way you present Black men onscreen. Every person of almost every race can be seen in a positive light on a Berlanti Production except for a Black man. I don’t know what your issue is with Black men, but you need to get help with that before it costs you more of your audience.


1 comment:

  1. I could make the argument that Supergirl's James Olsen is really new age Uncle Tom in that he seldom socialises with other blacks, let alone take care of his own family.

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