Source: Stephen Shugerman / Getty
A lot has changed since 2014.
On June 23, 2014, the last episode of The Boondocks aired on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. Less than two months later…Ferguson happened.
The uprising that occurred in the Missouri city showed the outrage people felt after another unarmed Black person, Michael Brown, was killed by the police. This time, however, people were getting organized around the country and the weeks that followed were filled with heated online debates, news coverage and a new awareness of police brutality and Black oppression.
Since then, a plethora of movements have followed suit pertaining to women’s rights, LGBTQ rights and more. Tensions probably hit a national peak in 2016 when Donald Trump was elected President of the United States.
Could Aaron McGruder, the creator of The Boondocks, have predicted all this?
Source: L. Cohen / Getty
Now, in 2019, there’s even more to talk about and McGruder might partake with his signature satire in a Boondocks reboot. According to Deadline, Sony announced the reboot at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on Wednesday. They say the reboot will be a “complete re-imagining” of the previous show and it “chronicles the adventures of the Freeman family against the evil local government tyrant Uncle Ruckus, who rules fictional Woodcrest County, Maryland with an iron fist.”
Well…it definitely sounds interesting.
With such a grand set-up, the show could be a more serialized comedy with different story arcs that last multiple episodes.
But the question remains, what kind of political themes will the show cover, or will it completely abandon the hot button issues the original series was known for tackling?
If politics are still the name of the game, hit the flip for six topics the show should revisit to still be relevant in 2019.
1. White people and the police
The Boondocks briefly covered White people’s excessive need for surveillance and the police in the season two episode “Thank You For Snitching.”
But they weren’t around when “BBQ Becky” and “Permit Patty” were going viral for calling the police on Black people. In Uncle Ruckus’ local government, he probably has an army of such White women with their fingers hovering over 911.
2. Black women
The Boondocks didn’t have the best record when it came to Black women characters. Although most people on the show are more caricatures than characters, the Black women especially had a bad rep for being conniving, adversarial or simplistic love interests. Rarely were any of them political leaders or just everyday women trying to understand their complicated lives.
Considering a lot of movements, including #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo and #BlackGirlMagic, have been led by Black women over the years, The Boondocks is going to have to switch up their writing if they want to stay relevant to the cause.
3. “That’s gay”
One of The Boondocks most popular and admittedly hilarious episodes came with season one’s “The Story of Gangstalicious,” a closeted gay rapper who fronted as “straight” for the public. Since the first episode aired in 2005, many rappers have actually become more open about their sexuality, including folks like Taylor Bennett and iLovemakonnen. Not to mention, representations of Black gay men have thankfully become more varied, rather than just the “closeted rapper.” It’d be nice to see these interpretations in the new series.
The Boondocks also had a horrible habit of equating gay pride with Whiteness, virtually erasing anyone who was proud to be Black AND gay. Revisiting the subject with more nuance would make for a refreshing show.
4. R. Kelly
This one isn’t as urgent since The Boondocks already had a critique of R. Kelly and his irrational supporters in the episode “The Trial of Robert Kelly.” But considering R. Kelly has continued to be put on blast via campaigns like #MuteRKelly, and he now faces multiple abuse charges, it would be interesting to revisit his case and all the other Black men who were idolized but have since fallen from grace (*ahem* Bill Cosby). This would be a good time for McGruder to make room for the Black women writers.
5. Prisons
Huey’s straight-laced Black neighbor Tom was terrified of going to prison and getting anally raped. In one season three episode, “A Date With The Booty Warrior,” Tom even has to escape a number of sex-crazed inmates.
Back in 2010, the episode might have been funny to some, but now more real-life stories are being told about the horrors of incarceration and the failings of the criminal justice system. A fresh lens on how prisoners are actually navigating incarceration could be powerful without losing The Boondocks‘ signature satire.
6. Obama’s presidency and what came after
In the season three episode “It’s a Black President, Huey Freeman,” Huey is wary of Barack Obama even though he’s the United State’s first Black president.
And let’s face it, Obama did have some major faults.
But how would Huey prepare for the exhausting Donald Trump and the far right politics that rose behind him? If Uncle Ruckus is leading a local government in The Boondocks reboot, will the conservative policies sweeping the nation, such as attacks on abortions, be a topic of discussion?
Seems we’ll have to wait and find out.
