If you aren’t familiar with Hood Adjacent With James Davis, an intriguing show on Comedy Central, you really don’t know what you are missing. Despite the fact that this show airs on Comedy Central, it isn’t all about fun and games. Sure, there are plenty of light moments but there are also a lot of serious ones. The whole point of the show is to make people more aware about what is really going on in the lives of black individuals and how it has impacted culture for everyone. If you really stop and take the time to look at the show, you will notice some things that stand out right away.
1. Davis provides an honest look at the subject of race
Part of the reason the show exists is to talk about racism. Racism exists in every possible form and the only way that it really gets better is to address it head-on. Of course, this is a show that attempts to draw people in and then start hitting the more serious issues. Therefore, everything seems a little bit funnier at first. Things get serious when you really stop and take the time to hear what is being said. In addition, Davis isn’t just talking about racism but about race and culture. He wants the public to understand how race affects people and how culture has a tendency to spill over in the strangest of ways, which will be discussed in the next paragraphs.
2. Real life versus people’s perceptions is a main part of the show
Davis spends a lot of time talking about what it is really like to be a black individual who is raised in the hood. He also talks about how people that have never lived anywhere near the hood and who aren’t even black perceive the individuals that are actually living that life. The truth is, people’s perceptions are a lot different from reality but it is the perceptions that have been perpetuated by popular culture that people have a tendency to believe the most.
3. He talks about twerking and box braids
Believe it or not, these are two things that have always been around for black people growing up in the hood. It wasn’t until fairly recently that the general population started to notice this and decided these things were cool so then they started copying them. It’s funny because you have a comedian that is talking about how these things have always been around in his culture, and then all of a sudden it explodes in popularity and everybody else thinks that they have to do it. For some people living in the hood, this creates a lot of animosity and others just find it hilarious.
4. He talks about people selling tours through the hood
Davis brings up the fact that there are actually people selling guided tours through the hood where they will put you in a vehicle and drive you from place to place or even walk you around. To him and probably to most people that have lived there all their lives, this is ridiculous but people are actually parading around looking at the people that live there almost like they’re looking at animals in a zoo.
5. When things get too heavy, he uses his humor to make it work
It’s important to remember that Davis is a comedian, first and foremost. That makes him the perfect fit for something like this because he is able to talk about the heaviest of issues without allowing it to become so serious that the audience gets uncomfortable. He keeps enough levity that people want to tune in but he is simultaneously educating them.
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