In the latest round of Hero/Zero, the winning spot goes to a television show whose most recent episode echoes the sentiments of America right now. The loser is an actress who is catching a lot of heat for her “support Trump” comments.
Hero – Blackish
I have been a Blackish fan, pretty much, from the beginning. I love the take on the American dream the ABC show has. Kenya Burris and his team keep it all the way real when it comes to black middle-upper class families and often times the subject matters hit home for more than just those in the black community. That’s why the TV show is the latest hero because of their episode “Lemons” in which they nail the way the presidential election unfolded and how people feel about a Trump presidency.
This episode was poignant because it didn’t just look at the black perspective. If you follow Blackish, you know that there are a lot of characters that have views that represent the different kinds of people within our society. The interesting thing about the show this week is that it didn’t just say, “Fuck Donald Trump” in its censored for television way. It broke it down and, dare I say, made you empathize and understand just a little bit more some of the ones who support/supported the man, among other things.
What they did is much appreciated because it brought perspective. It tackled the reasons why most of the 53% of white women who voted for Trump, gave their vote him. It explored why some white men who fit the bill of a Trump supporter, didn’t vote for the reality TV star. And of course, it beautifully articulated why black people and other people of color feel the way that we do about his pending presidency. For me, it was moving, and I walked away from my TV screen enlightened.
I firmly believe that we as a nation needed this episode because it shed so much light into the minds of the people that we come across every day. Anthony Anderson’s monologue was especially powerful. His sentiment about being black in America, and loving America even though it doesn’t always love us back, is truth.
For using their platform to bring understanding to an immensely intense topic, and for giving us all something to think about, Blackish continues to be my hero.
Zero – Nicole Kidman
It should really come as no surprise to me now when I hear privileged actors and actress express their “positive thoughts” about Donald Trump as president. This is across the board regardless of race. To hear those with resources to protect themselves in the event of a major conflict brought on by the immaturity of the president-elect, tell us common folk who are losing our health care and fearing for our safety, to get behind Trump, is disheartening. That’s why Nicole Kidman is this week’s zero because she recently told people to, essentially, forgo your instincts and support this man-child.
Kidman has gotten a lot of backlash for her comments, in which she says,
“I’m always reticent to start commenting politically; I’ve never done it in terms of America or Australia. I’m issue-based… So I just say, he’s [Trump] now elected, and we as a country need to support whoever is the president because that’s what the country’s based on.”
Her call to support him dismisses so many issues, valid theories and questions around his presidency; a presidency that many consider illegitimate due to the circumstances surrounding the ways and reasons he won the election. Kidman goes on to say in her interview with the BBC,
“Whatever, however, that happened, he’s there, and let’s go. For me, I’m very, very committed to women’s issues.”
This is not good advice. We cannot forget “Whatever, however, that happened.” He’s there because he, essentially, got help. You can support the issues you are personally committed to without giving a pass to the man who stole the highest position in the land. I refuse to acknowledge him in the role because, as civil rights activist and congressman John Lewis recently said,
“I don’t see this president-elect as a legitimate president… I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.”
These are my feelings exactly. Famous people have to be careful with their words because America is very touchy right now and they come off as extremely out of touch when they make these kinds of statements. Kidman telling us to forget the bullshit and support the illegitimate president does nothing but continue the normalization of everything this man stands for.
For not seeming to get it and speaking on a serious matter from an incomplete perspective, Nicole Kidman, unfortunately, this week is a zero.