Sunday, April 15, 2012

Boondocks: Guess Ho's Coming to Dinner



This video is an excerpt from an episode of the Boondocks. This show often tackles heavily satirical topics, and this excerpt is no exception. What are the issues of gender and sexuality that are being raised here? How do they intersect with the racial dynamics of the video? If this is satire, what is the message the episode is aiming at? What is it trying to say about sex and gender?

16 comments:

  1. This video is trying to raise the issue that beautiful women are "ho's" and only like a person for their money. The woman even says at the end that she can't go to school and get a real job. It is partially trying to make you see that no attractive woman would like to date an old man unless they got something for it. The something that this prostitute was after was money. It also implies that men in love are naive because the old man expected the best from the Miss Crystal and continually made excuses for her until she eventually got caught. Even afterward, the old man still wouldn't face the fact that the woman was a whore and was going to stay a whore. The man was being ignorant for not listening to his grandchildren when they brought up various instances of proving she was a Ho.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This video is satirizing "gold-diggers", a younger person who acts like they love an older person to get/use their money. The stereotypical gold-digger is a female, like this video shows. It satires that gold-diggers are basically doing what Crystal does, giving up their bodies for money. I agree with Jacob, that the video also shows that men in love act naive, making excuses to try and rationalize to keep their love. The video also stereotypes the pimp as a black man that wears purple suits, has a cane, and gold teeth.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My first thought upon watching this video agrees with the two previous comments. The woman in this video is under the scrutiny of being a gold-digger. This is confirmed by the playing of the song "Gold Digger". This video tries to show that young attractive women are only in relationships for material items and high-class living. I found Jacobs point interesting how men look past the obvious facts to assure themselves that they are in love.

    ReplyDelete
  4. After reading the previous comments, I can agree with what has been said. This excerpt is definitely satirizing gold diggers. When the song "Gold Digger" came on, it played perfectly into the scene, demonstrating the typical older man-gold digger relationship. I found the beginning of this clip interesting. The kids were talking about feeding the gold digger. The boy with the dreads mentioned that buying her dinner was basically the same as paying her. This comment changes the situation. If buying her dinner were the same as paying her, that would mean that a simple date is really an act of prostitution.

    ReplyDelete
  5. As its been said, this episode is parodying the gender/power dynamic of the typical gold-digger situation. Usually one person has accumulated wealth, which in turn attracts the other person. Another point of satire is that the grandfather makes the distinction between paying a prostitue for sex and paying for dinner in the hopes of having sex with a woman. When this show boils it down the two seem one in the same. However, The grandfather and society in general still like to hold the belief that there is a clear divide between the two. What's funny is the family is an African-American family and there is a perceived stereotype that African-Americans can spot a whore or a pimp a long way off. Also, the stereotype continues that African-American men are generally only attracted to good looking white women. These are all controversial.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This video mainly focuses on the relationship between the older man and the younger woman, who happens to be a ho. The man really only views her as an object or an item of sexual pleasure. The woman only views the man as a source of money to buy her new clothes, food, and pay for her past debts. The relationship between these two does not extend too far past these aspects. The man appears to become emotionally attached by the end, however. He does not want to see her leave with the other man. The video also says how hos are not capable of getting a real job or making money for themselves through moral or legal methods.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The video not so subtly addresses the issues of "gold diggers". (see Kanye West song) They illustrate that the only reason a young beautiful woman would be with an older man is due to financial reasons. I also thought it was interesting how they talked about the rather abstract idea that paying for a woman's dinner, etc on a date is no different than paying, i.e. being a "ho". I'm not really sure how I feel on the matter, but it is interesting nonetheless. And finally as always in the Boondocks, it is not void of racial humor. My "favorite" being the quote that grandpas girl "eats more than a black ho".

    ReplyDelete
  8. I agree with the above comments on how the video addresses the issue of "gold diggers." A lot of stereotypes were hit through the 7 minute clip. When the kids were whining about food, it was as if the video was directing at how blacks were poor. The video also presents a few stereotypes about women as well. The video pointed out how women are dumb and how they are only good for sex.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The previous comments said all there is to say about gold diggers. The part that i though was interesting was when the little boy said why do i have to take them out to eat and pay, he is making a very bold statement about women. That when a man takes a woman out to eat it is considered a form of payment to the women from the man in return to some type of service from the woman.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Basically, the excerpt satirizes the fact "gold-diggers", and I agree with comments here. However, it seems the old man does really fall in love with the young woman, and he is willing to buy her things and pay her past debts. Therefore, I think there is something about old man's love issue which should be cared more. Besides, I am not sure if the old man is black; if so, it seems some racial problems were satirized.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Racial problems come up often with the boondocks and they mostly deal with every type of stereotype so having a old black man as a pimp isn't surprising coming from this show.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This video satirizes gold diggers like everyone has said, but most people did not mention the role the grandpa played in the satire. The typical gold digger is a girl who shows affection towards a man in return for him spending his money on her. This video, starts off differently, however, because the girl does not start out as a gold digger, but as a hooker. The hooker offers her services to the grandpa which he misinterprets as him taking her on a date and spending his money on her. In this way, the female did not technically initiate the "gold digging" relationship, she just took advantage of the situation. By setting the plot up this way, I think the audience is forced to consider whether the relationship really is unhealthy for the grandpa due to the fact that he initiated it and was happy to be providing her with money.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The video illustrates that the only one reason for a hot young woman that would be with an old man is his money. It typically talked about the problems of "gold digger". For the relationship between them, the old man is the resource of money for the girl while the old man views the woman as the true sweetie and was so nice to her although his grandchildren showed that she is a whore. As the child said that, the man buying her dinner seems as paying her. In the end, the man still think the girl will be back though she has left as a whole.

    ReplyDelete
  14. In this video, a sexy young woman pretends to like one old man. She "used" this old man to satisfy her desires of different staffs. The woman used her beauty to attract the man. The video also shows a inevitable tendency in soecitey. Women usually prefer to rely on men. They believe that men can serve all their wants. For specific, the dresses, pants,bags,and jewels.It trys to express this wired and unbalanced relationship between men and women. Our society lacks true love. on the other side, the grandpa in the video didn't listen his grandson's advices.He just lost.

    ReplyDelete
  15. In this video, the old man pay for the dinner and also pay the woman for shopping. It talks about a tendency nowadays in the society that hot women use their beauty to attract men to pay for them. And the grandpa in the video didn't get true love from the hot girl. I think in the beggining of the video what the boy said is right. The granddad should ask himself why a 20 year old girl will go out a date with an old man like him.

    ReplyDelete