For those unfamiliar with the phrase, “The Dozens” is not just an episode title or a phrase ‘Dre or black-ish made up: as he attempts to detail, it’s a long-standing tradition in the African-American community, something that’s been a much-studied part of African-American culture since the mid-20th century. There are a lot of theories to why “The Dozens” is such a thing, from African-American males learning how to deal with verbal aggression, to deep-seeded issues of rejection by, and dominance of females noted in American society (most studies observe this dynamic as an African-American thing, but it’s really something all of America still struggles with). “The Dozens” turns that into an ugly, ugly story about bullying – or more succinctly, a “what if” scenario where the proposition is “what if ‘Dre and ‘Bow were horrible parents for an entire episode?”
What frustrates about “The Dozens” is how brazenly tone deaf it is; even when it’s trying to make its point, it’s undercutting itself with its obnoxious, short-sighted protagonist, whose attributes in recent weeks have been a lot more grating than appealing. ‘Dre has kind of transformed into a shallow jerk, one who insults his son at every turn, and whose only advice to him throughout the series has been about him being a wimp for wanting to play field hockey, and how insulting people is the only way he could fight back against a bully (or the only way he should, since it’s in his proud lineage to demean people). There’s some truth to the idea of a child (particularly a minority) having thick skin and being able to respond without escalating a situation (and doing so with some semblance of poetic grace, which the best trash talkers of the world do – like Larry Bird or Ali), but “The Dozens” just turns Dre Jr. into an awful person, and watching ‘Dre cheer him on, right through the ending when the morality play is supposed to be taking place, is just off-putting.
Not only is it unfunny, it’s unhealthy – and had me shaking my head “no, no, no, no…” like ‘Bow while Diane was telling her that night never comes. Everything about ‘Dre’s story is off-tone; the broad “nerd” jokes about Star Wars (is this 1984? Can we get anything more recent than that for material?), the arrogant scene where Dre dances and exclaims “I finally have a son!”, to the toothless resolution that says it’s perfectly okay for Dre Jr. to go on insulting kids, because he’s willing to make fun of himself once in awhile.
‘Bow’s story is no better: basically, she’s too tired to do anything, like notice her daughter’s reading skills or that Diane tortured Jack into watching The Shining so she could continuing sleeping with a night light. Again, black-ish seems to think these woeful attempts at parenting are something to be laughed at; that alone is kind of disturbing, and black-ish gives the parental units of the family no agency to be decent human beings, ignoring everyone around them while they exist in their little bubbles of overworked exhaustion and self-righteous celebration: the kids joke about them sending “mixed messages,” everyone laughs, and the episode ends.
Ultimately, what bothers me is how irresponsible the episode is, both with its views on parenting and how it addresses the social conundrum of “the dozens.” What this episode never considers is what “The Dozens” leads to: turning people against each other, often those of the same race – and letting white culture adopt those insults and turn them into deprecating bits of humor against its creators, all for the sake of broad race parody. It’s unfunny, disturbing – and worst of all, black-ish doesn’t hold anyone accountable for ignoring the simple facts that “The Dozens” is fundamentally grounded in damaging negativity. “The Dozens” may be funny for a minute, but these situations often encourage violence and more conflict in the long run, furthering the stereotypes about young African-American males I assumed black-ish was trying to destroy. Black-ish cares about this for a fleeting moment, embracing a ‘dark side’ that gives us an unsettling, thoroughly unfunny story about ignorant people succeeding – an episode that proudly reaches for low-hanging fruit, and thinks nothing of how rotten it might be.
[Photo via ABC]
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