As a whole, I did like this show. But unfortunately, after a while it became predicable and stereotypical. And the hand of Oprah becomes too visible as the show progresses, clearly showing a desire to portray the plight of black people. No one will deny that black people face an uphill battle in this country, in their everyday life. But in this show, it all becomes too stereotypical. Blacks are shown as bitter and mainly in the victim role; whites are in the roles of nasty land owners, all out to short-change blacks. And of course, there is the quintessential racist cop. And then there is Nova in the role of the black Joan of Arc, also a predictable character. Some of the scenes I found outright disturbing. Such as the scene where Aunt Vi scolds Hollywood (her fiancée) for having invited a white colleague to her house to watch a sports game. Reverse racism, and not very believable in my opinion. Also, the character of Ralph Angel is not very believable. The guy seems to be his own worst enemy, and is in tears half the time we see him. And - is his child (Blue) really his child or not? A chewed-out theme of course - after that, I started to feel that I was watching an African-American soap. Which, of course, is exactly what it is. But a soap with a clear message from Oprah woven into the whole: Blacks have it hard in this country. Again, I definitely believe that there is a lot of truth in that statement. But this show is actually not helping the black cause in that respect. It shows black people as angry; vengeful, cunning, and even racist. Probably not the message Oprah wanted to get across, but it is there nevertheless.
But I have to be honest; this was made during a bad period in our history, the Trump years. So, I can understand why Oprah had the desire to push back against that with this TV show. That I can respect. I therefore still give a 7 out of 10.
But I have to be honest; this was made during a bad period in our history, the Trump years. So, I can understand why Oprah had the desire to push back against that with this TV show. That I can respect. I therefore still give a 7 out of 10.