RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Media Boondocks: What do you think?

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Pariah said:
I was actually unfortunate enough to watch this one because nothing else was on.

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There's a King-sized controversy brewing over in The Boondocks.

Aaron McGruder, the mastermind behind the popular comic strip turned animated series, is under fire from the Reverend
Al Sharpton for an episode in which Martin Luther King Jr. drops the N-bomb.

"Cartoon Network must apologize and also commit to pulling episodes that desecrate black historic figures," Sharpton said in a statement. "We are totally offended by the continuous use of the N-word."

The episode in question, "The Return of the King," was broadcast Jan. 15, the day before the MLK holiday, as part of the cable net's Adult Swim programming block. Its story line imagines what would happen if King wasn't assassinated in 1968, but instead wound up in a coma only to wake up in the present.

The animated King delivers a fiery oratory blasting sexually aggressive hip-hop videos, at one point yelling "will you ignorant ni--as please shut the hell up!" In McGruder's satiric vision, King and his famously nonviolent ways are seen as traitorous in the post-9/11 world. King's declared a terrorist sympathizer, and he forsakes the U.S. for Canada, where his speech sparks a second civil rights movement.

The Cartoon Network questions whether Sharpton, himself an outspoken advocate for civil rights and sometime Democratic presidential candidate, didn't get the joke.

In a statement, the network defended the episode as a celebration of King's values. "In no way was [the episode] meant to offend or desecrate" King's legacy, the network said.

"We think Aaron McGruder came up with a thought-provoking way of not only showing Dr. King's bravery but also of reminding us of what he stood and fought for, and why even today, it is important for all of us to remember that and to continue to take action," the statement continued.

McGruder launched The Boondocks strip in 1997. It follows the misadventures of two urban black kids who move in with their grandfather in the predominantly white, middle-class suburbs. The edgy 'toon regularly lampoons the Bush administration, BET, hip-hop culture and racism, and has become one of the most popular--and polarizing--comic strips in circulation. The TV version of The Boondocks was recently nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

While Sharpton agreed that McGruder deserves much praise for his past work, he said the "Return of the King" episode went "over the line" and hinted that if no apology is forthcoming, he and his supporters will picket the corporate headquarters of Time Warner, which owns the network.

In happier news for McGruder, Cartoon Network suits have green-lighted a second season of The Boondocks, ordering another 20 episodes, up from this season's 15.

The Boondocks's debut episode on Nov. 6 attracted 2.3 million viewers, the best audience for a series premiere in the history of Adult Swim, according to the network. And the ratings have been steady ever since.

Ten of the original 15 episodes have already aired. The new season will begin airing later this year in the show's regular Sunday, 11 p.m. time slot.

"Cartoon Network must apologize and also commit to pulling episodes that desecrate black historic figures," Sharpton said.

In the episode, which aired the day before MLK day, the show's creator, Aaron McGruder, depicts King waking from a coma and using the slur in a speech decrying hip-hop and rap videos. The Cartoon Network said the episode was in no way meant to offend or 'desecrate' King's name.

The NAACP has nominated the show for one of its annual Image Awards.