BET, The Boondocks, and Teairra Mari
Ambiguity (noun): A lack of decisiveness or commitment resulting from a failure to make a choice.
Black Entertainment Television (BET) has displayed great moral ambiguity of late. You’ve probably seen the classic Boondocks episode about BET where writer Aaron McGruder portrays the network as hell-bent on destroying black people. Watch the hilarious clip below.
Is BET truly detrimental to the black community and does it need to be stopped? Does BET air videos with gratuitous violence and constantly show debt-consolidation commercials that may or may not be a trap? Perhaps. And yes, with now-defunct shows like BET Uncut, BET has made some questionable decisions in their programming choices.
Certain videos do raise concern as to whether they should be aired. Nelly‘s “Tipdrill” is a fine example. Usher‘s new “Lil Freak” could be brought into question, as well. And as you probably already know, the video “Sponsor” by Teairra Mari has reportedly been banned by 106 and Park, a programming jewel. The same network that allowed Lil Wayne to perform “Every Girl” with little girls on stage has allegedly banned a video that has little to no sexually explicit content. According to reports, there’s no official ban but BET has decided to limit the play. Below is Usher’s “Lil Freak”:
With all the other wildly explicit videos such as Ciara‘s “Ride,” why has BET suddenly gained a conscience and decided to ban a video that “glorifies gold digging.” Ciara’s video is over-the-top explicit and Usher’s “Lil Freak” has lyrics such as “If you’re f**king with me/really f**king with me/you’ll let her put her hands in your pants and be my little freak.”
What’s up with this double standard? I don’t condone gold digging, but why is gold digging ban-worthy while the usual videos portraying women as pawns and background sexual objects are completely acceptable? Compared to Usher’s “Lil Freak” is “Sponsor” explicit enough to be banned? Is BET the definition of moral ambiguity? Are they indecisive in choosing what is explicit and what is not? Should Teairra Mari’s video be banned? Decide for yourself.
Mari video shouldn’t be banned.
I agree with Real. And they can ban videos if they want, They’ll just lose love from the artists. I don’t care though. I watch my videos on MTV2. BET ain’t about nothing in my book.
The video doesnt really condone gold digging because if you pay attention it makes it seem as if she used soulja boys money to go shoppin then it shows at the end that she used her own credit card.
IF WHOMEVER PAID CLOSE ATTENTION THEY WOULD SEE THAT THIS VIDEO HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GOLD DIGGING IT JUST GIVESNTHE ILLUSION OF THAT TYPE OF BEHAVIOR UNTIL YOU SEE THE END WHERE THE CAMERA ZOOMS IN AND DISPLAYS TIERRA MARIE’S NAME ON THE BLACK CARD.SO IF BET WANTS TO BAN SOMETHING THAT IS NOT EVEN THREATENING THEN THEY ARE STUPID.