…and right now…”The Boondocks” is lookin’ kinda familiar.
–Riley (giving his argument on why R Kelly shouldn’t go to jail for filming himself peeing on an underage girl)
I finally watched my DVRd episodes of Aaron McGruder‘s newly Adult Swimed “The Boondocks“. I waited to watch them ’cause I was worried it would be overly-preachy bullshit(see any Spike Lee movie for reference). I’m rarely in the mood to be preached at by anything, least of all a 22 minute piece of entertainment. I was pleasantly surprised at the biting, and more importantly funny, satire that is “The Boondocks”. Although it does have its soapbox moments, I deal cause damn if McGruder‘s caricatures are damn funny. At the moment, anyway.
Now I find myself looking for archives of his syndicated comic. You know. The reason he even has a show on cable. Sometimes I’m last to the table of goodness. I know this.
I get Huey’s keen observations on the world around him. I dig Riley’s common-sense attitude and tendency to yell out exactly what’s on his mind. I identify with Huey and Riley’s anger more than some may realize. I understand Tom DuBois only wanting to do the best job possible. Although his neurosis may be the driving force behind that.
Laughing at McGruder’s funny is easy cause a lot of it is true. Hell, I grew up around many of the people he archetypes. I went to public school with them. They came over wanting my dad to fix their cars. I saw a damn lot of them. Too damn much most days. I’ll leave it to you to figure out the true bits. Otherwise, how’ll ya learn?
And someone in Hollywood please give Regina King some leading roles in one of your damn movies! She’s damn-well above the role of concerned-sensible black friend of the leading girl-of-the-moment. Her talent is the fresh, glacial air cutting through the steaming rank pile of any movie she dares grace with her presence. Her double voice duty as Huey and Riley in “The Boondocks” only proves that she needs, no deserves, more lead roles in big-budget flicks. So yeah, Big Hollywood, buy a clue.
–Huey (at the end of R Kelly’s trial, after R Kelly gets off)
One last thing: has anyone else noticed that “The Boondocks” is the spitting image formula of “Ducktales“? I mean, old, ornery and apparently well off patriarch. Precocious kids under his care. Various wacky friends. It’s just so damn obvious and brilliant in its simplicity. It makes me wonder what the Boondock version of Gizmo Duck would be. Hopefully, they’ll shoot their Launchpad McQuack right between the eyes before he opens his fool mouth.
Gods I hated that duck.
