In the Awkward Black Girl series, the main character is depicted as a normal black woman in today’s society simply trying to figure it all out. I am a huge fan of the series and what drew me to it on YouTube was that it was extremely relatable. Granted, I do not have to go to a job that I hate every morning with a racist and desensitized boss nor do I have my own apartment, but I knew that as a black women, these things are extremely common within the 25-40 year old community. The lifestyle depicted in “Empire” was unrealistic and a far stretch from what I see for myself in the future. Having parents as record label owners, being able to express your emotions in a professional recording studio, and never having to worry about missing your rent are luxuries that only a few black women have in the United States. In “Empire”, the show executives are basically selling the audience a lifestyle saying, “I bet that you wish that you had this”, while in the Awkward Black Girl
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The show’s title is an indicator of that. Rae chooses to include the word “girl” instead of “woman” signifying that her character still has room to mature and has not yet blossomed into the “woman” whom she plans on seeing herself as. In “Empire”, Cookie makes it known that she is a woman and Cookie would never refuse to call herself a girl. A common trend within mainstream media is that black women are usually depicted as strong to an outside audience, but within their home or with people they love, the black women seem to break and display themselves as fragile creatures. In the ABG series, the character displays herself one way, give or take some personality tweaks due to the environment in which she is in. In mainstream television shows, black women are very careful with how they display themselves to a larger audience in order to fulfill the requirements for their “public
The show’s title is an indicator of that. Rae chooses to include the word “girl” instead of “woman” signifying that her character still has room to mature and has not yet blossomed into the “woman” whom she plans on seeing herself as. In “Empire”, Cookie makes it known that she is a woman and Cookie would never refuse to call herself a girl. A common trend within mainstream media is that black women are usually depicted as strong to an outside audience, but within their home or with people they love, the black women seem to break and display themselves as fragile creatures. In the ABG series, the character displays herself one way, give or take some personality tweaks due to the environment in which she is in. In mainstream television shows, black women are very careful with how they display themselves to a larger audience in order to fulfill the requirements for their “public