So it turns out Tanya was recruited to be part of the movement to get “Basketball Wives” to shape or ship out:
When I received an email a couple of weeks ago asking if I would join a petition boycotting Basketball Wives due to the negative portrayal of women of color, I was too busy juggling my daughters’ schedules, working as a “talking head” on television, writing articles about Trayvon Martin, and dealing with my estranged husband’s recent release from prison to respond to the inquiry. In fact, I gave little credence to the effective possibilities of the petition. However, with more than 20,000 names and growing, this petition could be a real problem for the Basketball Wives franchise. Ever since celebrities like Sherri Shepherd, Wendy Williams, and Star Jones have denounced the shows, the ratings have consistently declined.
We’re pretty sure the declining ratings have less to do with how Sherri Shepherd feels than the sorry excuse for a plotline and growing number of cast members with borderline personality disorder (Hi Kenya).
But Young also attributes some of the show’s failure to the lack of diversity among the powers that be and we think she has a great point there:
I oftentimes think that if VH1 and the production company that produces BW would hire at least one African-American woman producer, with a legitimate say in the creative and editing process, there would be a heightened level of awareness and sensitivity to the images of black women they are broadcasting. Nevertheless, the producers, the director, the cameramen (yes, they too are all men), and the tech personnel can’t force any cast member to throw a punch, toss a glass of water, or curse someone out. The women must take responsibility for their actions and the resulting consequences.
We say this might help and it might not.
We never thought a show based on people who let ballers skeet in them without walking down the aisle would be the success either, but “Basketball Wives” seems to be a reflection of society’s fascination with money, power and fame. Those things won’t ever go away and much of what keeps that cycle going is negative.
Black women don’t like watching embarrassing reflections of themselves but watching Tanya Young extol the virtues of holistic living will get us hitting the clicker quicker than a Jayson Williams taking a shower in the clink (okay bad analogy). Where do you stand on this issue — is Tanya right about this or do you like your BBW like your 2 Live Crew albums — Dirty and Nasty as they wanna be?
