America, meet the newest member of the burgeoning circus show that is
modern day ‘reality’ television: Shawty Lo.
If his name doesn’t ring a bell off the top of the head, let’s refresh your memory.
Remember the group D4L? They had a major radio hit, ‘Laffy Taffy’ which was
EVERYWHERE. I remember being down in their hometown of Atlanta and it was
on about every 15 minutes. Since then, this cat has gone solo, recently signing
his label, D4L Records with 50 Cent’s G-Unit. But this latest news has gotten a
ton of people upset. Shawty Lo is at the center of a new reality show that is being
pitched by Oxygen, home to ‘Bad Girls Club’ and ‘Snapped.’ The name of the show?
‘ALL MY BABIES MAMAS’. No, you haven’t stumbled upon a downloadble script for
a future episode of ‘The Boondocks’. This really exists. The premise is that the show
will follow the rapper as he manages his career and his eleven children by ten different
mothers. I’ll allow you a minute to get your breath.
The trailer offered up gives us a rundown of some of the women, starting with Ecreia
the former fiancée known as the “First Lady” because she controls the cash flow. There
there’s Angela aka “Chocolate” who is the ‘Fighter Baby Mama,’ Amanda is the “Jealous
Baby Mama,” Sujuan is the ‘Wanna-Be Bougie Baby Mama,’ Tamara is the ‘No Drama Baby
Mama,’ Serena who is the “Shady Baby Mama,” and Liana aka “Pebbles” who’s the “Baby
Mama from Hell. Oxygen, the network co-founded and formerly owned by mogul Oprah
Winfrey is ecstatic about this, with their senior vice president of development, Cori
Abraham, offering this endorsement: “All My Babies’ Mamas’ will be filled with outrageous
and authentic over-the-top moments that our young, diverse female audience can tweet
and gossip about.”
Because make no mistake, that’s what this crap is all about. Buzz. Buzz that drives up
ratings, ratings which translate to profits. Oxygen already has ordered a one hour episode
that is set to debut next spring. They already have joined the reality show frey, but after
seeing the success of shows like ‘Love & Hip Hop’ and ‘Basketball Wives’. they wanted
some of that action. They couldn’t resist creating a show that was sure to contain all of
the ‘ratchet’ entertainment that we talk about, blog about and share on social media.
Yes, we are to blame for this. Let’s be real. They analyze who watches these shows, they
check out what’s trending on Twitter when those shows air. They know that there’s a
number of us addicted to women of color fighting, cursing and acting a damn fool on the
small screen as entertainment. What it is, is reinforcement of stereotypes. What it is, is
a new explotiation. Digital minstrelsy that you can even watch streaming online that comes
with hashtags. And now, we’ve got this show. A show which by its approval, says again
that Black women and Latinas are ‘baby mamas’, not mothers. A show which will, whether
we choose to focus on it or not, will showcase and put the lives of eleven children up for
display for the world to see. A show which will give a pass to impressionable young Black
and Latino men that this is ‘pimpin’. And there will some of you that watch, and act as if
that act won’t mean much. But indifference feeds machines just as well. Oxygen realizes
how bad this looks, releasing the press statement the day after Christmas when they
figured people would snooze. Make no mistake, the fact that this show was approved and
filmed is a certain kind of crazy only a rapper - anyone - with few options would entertain.
And this kind of craziness is NOT entertainment. Especially when ratcher reigns over the
television tube. It’s time to stop letting it hold court over yours.