Hot Ghetto Mess Does Damage Control

It amazes me how a college-educated brother can be in such denial. I see where Reginald Hudlin was doing damage control over the weekend. Reginald Hudlin heads up the Entertainment portion of Black Entertainment Television (BET). Hudlin feels that "Hot Ghetto Mess," a BET series that's provoked criticism and lost advertisers before it's even aired, will prove detractors wrong. At least two companies, State Farm Insurance Cos. and Home Depot, asked BET to drop their ads from the series' debut. Hudlin dismisses this by noting that neither sponsor had yet to see the show.

"It's unfortunate that people are making an erroneous presumption based on absolutely zero information," Hudlin told a meeting Sunday of the Television Critics Association.

"Hot Ghetto Mess," debuting July 25, combines viewer-submitted home videos and BET-produced man-on-the-street interviews that the channel said are intended to challenge and inspire "viewers to improve themselves and their communities." The six-episode series is hosted by comedian Charlie Murphy ("Chappelle's Show") is based on a Web site that features photos of men and women, mostly Black, with extreme hairstyles and clothing typically linked to hip-hop fashion.

I was surprised to learn that the website was created by a 34-year old Black female attorney from the Washington DC area ... Jam Donaldson. Turns out that Jam is also the executive producer of the television show. Donaldson told reporters that the series has "exceeded my expectations."

"Everyone that sees the show will be pleasantly surprised. ... I think they will learn something. There's Black history. We go to the community and ask what their opinion of some of these images are," she said.

"The show is so much more than the name," Donaldson said. She started the site because of "images of Black dysfunction" that were being distributed on the Internet without any discussion of the need for change. Personally, I think that she started the site because she saw an opportunity to exploit the Black community for money. She is no better than a street corner pimp in my view.

Hudlin had nerve enough to compare the show with a true American icon when he said, "The intent of the show is no different than what Bill Cosby is doing as he's going across the country and lecturing as he talks about the problems of the (Black) community that we need to address," he said. "Hot Ghetto Mess" approaches its goal in a lively way that will engage BET's young audience, Hudlin said.

"At the end of the day, the most responsible thing we can do is create a dialogue about those things," Hudlin told The Associated Press.

Most villagers agree that this show is simply a mess and that we can have a dialogue without demeaning African Americans for the entertainment of whites and others. It is simply a case of exploitation by Hudlin, Donaldson and the white media conglomerate, Viacom, that owns BET.

We encourage all villagers to take proactive steps to protest 'Hot Ghetto Mess' including your support of online petition to remove the show from the airwaves.

Well villagers, what say u? What do you see as the outcome of this situation?