Somebody Tell BET To STOP Insulting My Intelligence (Part 1)

Do you remember what BET used to be? Do you remember Teen Summit? Do you remember when BET had a conscience? From my understanding, BET's original goal was to give the marginalized black community a chance to showcase its vast talents in an under represented industry. Now, one of two things has happened since its inception. Either the aforementioned black community has become supremely untalented, or BET has sold its soul to the devil. For the sake of my sanity, i'm going to choose to believe the latter over the former. Don't get me wrong, BET is still a major source of black representation on TV; that is an undeniable (unfortunate) fact. But words cannot express how absolutely horrendous their selection of programming material truly is...but I'll try anyway.

BET's Wackbuster...i'm sorry Blackbuster Movie is usually a low budget, low quality, showing of an IGNORANT movie that when watched feels like cruel and unusual punishment. Seriously, instead of employing whatever illegal practices are in place to torture terrorists or whomever, just make them watch 3 Strikes over and over and over and over again. No, better yet how about Three Can Play That Game (we aren't even worthy of TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME!) or even that one movie with LisaRaye and others as ghetto, loose cowgirls (Who knows what that vomitous movie is called?) The list could go on and on, but my question is who does BET think they're fooling? Ever since Bob Johnson sold the company to Viacom, it has taken a downturn similar to what George Bush did to the country once he got elected for the second time and realized that since he doesn't have to worry about getting re-elected anymore he doesn't even have to try. Viacom owns MTV, Nickelodeon, and a host of other successful (quality) networks. Do you think its coincidence that they have run BET into the ground while MTV has continued to flourish? I think not.

Sadly, it's not all their fault. It's OUR fault for continuing to watch their poo poo platter of coonery. Why would they give a show to the INsignificant others of Lil' Wayne and T.I.? I'll tell you why, because these two hoodrats are so ineloquent and ridiculous that they're "entertaining" to some. Because they know that millions of blacks and whites alike will tune in for another episode of T.I.'s terrible wife and Lil' Wayne's leftovers make fools of themselves. Why do they continue to find priceless works of art like "The Boot" (or whatever that show is called)? Or how about the fact that all of the sitcoms they have the right to show have been recycled so many times by other networks (and BET since they show 5 episodes of the same show everyday!) How many other channels have blessed us with the opportunity to watch "gems" like "Sister, Sister" before BET? Like three or four. Yet and still we watch...and watch...and watch some more. Why? Because it's BET! It's OUR channel! Or not...it's time to let BET go. I know as black people we have a tendency to stay loyal to people and things that once meant something to us, even after they spit (or peed) in our face (ahem, for example: O.J. Simpson, Michael Vick, R. Kelly), but that's a dangerous and misguided trend. Get some standards and demand responsibility from the things and people we hold so near and dear to us. Otherwise, we're just going to be like that girl that we all know who gets cheated on repeatedly, slapped around, and refuses to move on because they don't think they can do better...or they "love him"...or they're just plain stupid. Give me a break.

Even the fact that they only show religious programming in the wee hours of the night upsets me. Now i'm not saying that I would watch televangelists from mega churches across the land preach. I wouldn't, it puts me to sleep. But Church is (or used to be) the backbone of the black community. STOP subjugating these programs to the graveyard shift when very few people are watching. For my money, one of the best things BET has to offer is the screaming of Pastor Kerney Thomas (If you don't believe me, fall asleep with BET on and see if he doesn't wake you up at about 4AM).

All I want is an accurate portrayal of what black people really are in this country. We're intelligent, we're refined and sophisticated and we deserve to have these qualities catered to by OUR channel. And until that happens...

I HATE BET. (Tomorrow: Part 2: The BET Awards)

Ahh, that feels better.