Somebody Tell BET To STOP Insulting My Intelligence (Part 2)

So yesterday I went on quite a lengthy rant about my discontent with BET. I promise to try to be concise and limit my words. Key word: try. Before I get going on the BET awards as promised, I must make it clear that I did not watch the entire show. I couldn't. I LITERALLY got sick to my stomach and angry to the point that the veins in my temple began pulsating. That's how much I HATE BET. I know, I know it sounds extreme and you probably think i'm being dramatic. That's fine and I would usually agree with you...but not this time. If you're not offended by large groups of black people acting a fool in public then shame on you...let alone on national TV. But then again, I bet you're the kind of person that still enjoys Black Expose'...I mean Expo for all the wrong reasons. But I digress...two words I would use to describe these "awards" are simple: crappy and crude.

First off, everything about what I saw was poorly performed, organized, edited, and planned in general. If you're going to put on an outrageous spectacle, you could at least make sure that the organization and execution is up to par. The performances as a whole were very average. I love Jamie Foxx, but he was way over the top as he did something that he usually doesn't do which is try to be funny. He was all over the place, maybe due to the fact that he had a new outfit on every segment. I understand the attempt to honor Michael Jackson (which I will touch on more in a moment) but the way this was done was very contrived and unnatural. So in summary, the first issue that began raising my body temperature in disgust was the quality of the awards. Let's move on to the bigger issue which is...(drum roll please) the crude and IGNORANT people.

Now, like I said before I didn't watch the whole show, but in the short amount of time I did suffer through it, I saw enough to get the point: opulence and comedy is all black people are good for. The one segment in which they threw classy black America a bone lasted for about 1 minute in which they honored the black doctors who grew up together and were each other's support system. A great story except...THEY DIDN'T EVEN LET THEM SPEAK! Out of all the uneducated crude people to get on the microphone that night, they didn't even let real hardwork and dedication shine! This was the breaking point for me (and Beyonce's heinous and mundane performance). Even though they were trying to provide a break from the coonery, it was a huge slap in the face as we're bombarded with T. Pain's top hat charades non-stop but we only get a glimpse of truly inspirational individuals for approximately 1 minute right after a commercial break. Again, maybe i'm reading too much into it and I should just put my brain on hold when watching things like this, but that's not in my nature. Sorry BET and whoever else. In the interest of not rambling, I'm just going to summarize my feelings with an acronym for what BET really is...no not the ever popular Black Exploitation Television (even though that's very appropriate). But an original one (I like acronyms). From this point on BET to me means Beyond Embarrassing and Tacky (yeah I added the and, so what?). Now, substitute that for BET and we witnessed the Beyond Embarrassing and Tacky Awards. Sounds good to me.

Now, to the whole Michael Jackson thing. I respect and love Michael Jackson for who he was and as such think that honoring him is appropriate...if done with the proper perspective. It's hard for me to get really super duper sad like most other people...because of other people. Let me explain. It's very irritating to me when someone dies and EVERYONE acts like they were the biggest fan of the deceased person. People weren't paying him ANY ATTENTION for the past decade pretty much. We laughed when he went to court dressed like Captain Crunch, we weren't sad that he was in trouble again. We made countless jokes and shook our head that he gave some kid wine to get him tipsy and called it "Jesus Juice". Nearly NO ONE bought the album he released with the number ones and some remixes or whatever (as you can see I didn't either) within the past 2 years. He died millions of dollars in debt because PEOPLE STOPPED SUPPORTING HIM. So then he dies and suddenly you can't find his music or paraphenalia anywhere because it's sold out. Let's stop and think about it before everyone claims to have "loved" him their whole life. It's sad and he will be missed and his contributions to the world are undeniable. But give me a freakin' break. Some of you don't get this sad when your family members die, but that's your business. All i'm saying is if we really cherish these figures we should act like it BEFORE they die. Kanye West said it best: "People never get the flowers while they can still smell 'em." Take it as a learning experience, I for one will be crushed when my childhood hero dies (Michael Jordan), that's why I proclaim and defend his greatness NOW.

Alright, enough angry rants...maybe something funny tomorrow.

Ahh, that feels better.