Empire: Drama is not My Genre but I’m Watching

Random Thoughts, , , , ,

When I told my sister that I had watched the first four episodes of Empire, all she said was, “You did?  Somebody must have told you about it.”  She knows that drama is not on my preferred genre list.

And my sister was right, someone did tell me about Empire, the new family drama airing on Fox on Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST.  A friend of mine suggested I watch it, stating it was on episode 3, and currently one of the best shows on television.

Not only was I behind on Constantine (I’m a comic book nerd) by a couple of episodes, I was skeptical about Empire because I don’t do drama.  So I decided to put Constantine on hold that night and give Empire, a musical family drama, a try.

Thanks to Comcast’s On Demand feature, I watched the first 3 episodes of Empire in one sitting, and set my DVR to record the series.  I was madly in love with thuggish Lucious Lyon by the end of the third episode.

Lucious is a hip-hop artist and the CEO of Empire Entertainment.  Diagnosed with a debilitating medical condition, he has to decide which of his three sons will take over the company.  And it is not an easy task.

With a large cast of black actors, some may think that Empire is comical or ghetto.  It’s neither.  If it was, then I would not have been easily hooked.  The show is very intense and fast paced.

The creative writing team deserves a round of applause for the show’s phenomenal scripting.  Empire has several strong themes, all happening simultaneously, and all emotion inflicting.

  • Family
  • Greed
  • Corruption
  • Homosexuality
  • Interracial Relationships
  • Vengeance
  • Loyalty
  • Deception

I am all caught up with the series, and there has not been an episode where I didn’t laugh, cry, or get angry.  I rarely use bad language, but some of the characters has actually made me say a bad word or two.  But that’s a good thing.  A good script plus good acting equals happy viewers. And just who are these people who keeps me coming back for more?

  • Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard).  Handsome, former drug dealer, still a thug but on the down-low, hip-hop artist, CEO of Empire Entertainment
  • Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson).  Beautiful ex-wife of Lucious, recently released from prison (her drug money started the music company), feisty, aggressive
  • Andre Lyon (Trai Byers).  Oldest child.  College graduate, brilliant mind, corrupt, treacherous, envious, mental disorder, will go the extreme to take over the company, the only non-musical talent in the Lyon family
  • Jamal Lyon (Jussie Smollett).  Middle child.  Talented singer and dancer, shy, gay and hated by his father for it, friendly and loving attitude, positive outlook on life
  • Hakeem Lyon (Bryshere Y. Gray) – Youngest child.  Talented rapper, focused more on fame than anything else
  • Anika (Grace Gealey).  Boo Boo Kitty (as called by Cookie), girlfriend of Lucious, big whig at the company, corrupt, backstabber
  • Rhonda Lyon (Kaitlin Doubleday).  Wife of Andre, just as no-good and two-faced as her husband
  • Vernon (Malik Yoba).  Friend of Lucious, big whig at the company, greedy, and crooked as can be
  • Porsha (Ta’Rhonda Jones).  Cookie’s assistant, hilarious, loyal

I rarely watch drama, but I watch Empire for two reasons.

  1. Lucious and Cookie Lyon.  It is the stellar performances of Howard and Henson, two amazing actors that keeps me craving for the next episode.  They are trying their hardest to keep the Lyon family together.  I am a black female, and I know damn well what it takes to run a black household, a strong male AND female.  Not only is Cookie the only character that’s not stone crazy, she is also a realist.  She sees things for what they are, and she has no problem telling it like it is.
  2. Watching Empire gives me one hour away from my own real-life family drama.

Now, here’s what I need you to do.  I need for you to stop Facebooking, tweeting, tumbling, and skyping  about that dress (I say it’s white-and-gold) and tune into the new Fox television series, Empire.

I Prefer Autism Over Normal Anytime

Parenting, Random Thoughts, Rants and Tantrums, ,

BEWARE:  I am in full rant mode right now, and my tongue is explosive.  No holds barred.  Anything goes.  Consider yourself warned.

Last week I worked as a substitute in an autistic classroom, at a school for special needs, of adult students ages 20-26.  Their speech levels ranged from nonverbal to hyperverbal.  Before I left the building for the day, I decided that I would prefer to associate myself with people in the special needs community, especially autism, over the so-called normal people anytime.

Special:  Unusual, unique, exceptional, better.  In other words, different from the usual. 

Normal:  Typical, standard, or what’s expected

So why would I prefer autism over normal?  Well, the entire time that I was inside the school, not just in the classroom, but as I walked through the building interacting with other staff and students:

  • I didn’t see or hear anyone poke fun at someone else
  • There was no gossiping
  • There were no cliques
  • I didn’t hear the ‘R’ word (retarded is not in my household’s vocabulary)
  • Everyone minded their own business
  • Intelligent conversations
  • Extremely smart
  • Problem solvers

So how does that compare to so-called normal people?  Come on now, do I really need to go there?  Since this is a ranting blog post, I’m definitely going there.

As I look back over my K-12 school years, college, and now the workplace, I can see why special needs is called just that, special.  Look at my bulleted list above.  Isn’t that amazing?

Now let’s take a look at my list of qualities of a normal person.

  • Gossip
  • Cliques
  • Ridicule
  • Belittle
  • Hatred
  • Envy
  • Prejudice
  • Discrimination
  • Greed
  • Arrogance
  • Corruption

This list is nowhere near finished, but I just got home from work and I’m tired.  Otherwise, I would type until my fingers get numb.

Can you see why I prefer to associate myself with autistic individuals?  There was a hyperverbal student with a superhero obsession.  For those of you who don’t know, I’m a lifelong comic book nerd, so I was excited to talk with him.  But what I didn’t know was that he was allowed to talk about superheroes at snack time only.  He knew it, but as one of the other teachers said, “They know the new people!”

The students made Valentine’s Day cards.  The handwriting of one of the students’ was perfect, as if she used a ruler and a stencil.  Everything on the inside and outside of that card was positioned perfectly.

I would go on with my bragging about the students at that school, but I don’t want to make us normal people jealous.

My 8 year-old son is a special needs child.  He has a rare condition called Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC).  Those with the disease have a range of issues, including autism.

My son is also autistic.  At one point he lost his speech, but he regained it a few years later.  I met several students at that school, that reminded me of my son.  He is verbal, loud, make sounds, has behavior challenges, and other issues.  But, my son is intelligent.  His obsessions are trains, geography, and numbers (including dates and years).

My son also holds mature and highly intelligent conversations.  Last school year, I closely observed his interaction with one of his classmates at the bus stop every morning.  He eventually stopped talking to that child, because his responses weren’t good enough for my son.  He’s like that with adults too.  If you can’t hold a mature and intelligent conversation, then he will have nothing to do with you.

I kept to myself when I was in school.  I was on the honor roll, and I participated in sports and other activities.  I was quiet and shy.  I had specialty classes in math and science, and most of the students I associated with, when I did talk, were quiet in nature like myself.  No gossiping.  No poking fun at others.  No cliques.  No jealousy.  Intelligent conversations.  We minded our own business.

Hmmm, am I special?  I don’t know, but with the definitions I provided above, and all the smack I ranted about in this blog post, I would say that I am special.  And guess what?  I don’t care.

 

 

 

If Rip Van Winkle went to sleep 20 years ago, and woke up to today’s messes, he would close his eyes and go right back to sleep. – La Cracha

Black Best Buy Worker Helped White Customer, Ignored Black Customer

Rants and Tantrums, , , , , , , , ,

 

bestbuy

I visited my local Best Buy store, located at G-3660 Miller Rd., Flint Township, Michigan in the afternoon on Sunday, December 21, 2014.  Out of all the years of visiting my favorite tech store, I encountered the worst customer service experience ever.

I went to Best Buy the day before and made a purchase, but I forgot to buy ink for my printer.  So on the 21st, I stood in line, in the computer area, to get a price check on the packs of HP ink I was holding.  The ink was on sale the day before on the store’s website.

There were two male Best Buy employees at both registers, one black, the other was white.  There was a white female customer being waited on by the black worker.  I was in line behind her.  The white employee couldn’t help anyone because his register was processing slowly.  Both workers were talking and laughing with the white female customer, while her significant other stood off to the side playing on his phone.  The black worker was skinnin’ and grinnin’ so hard, he could barely ring her up.  And the white employee held a brief a conversation with the customer in another language.

The white employee eventually left.  I was the only other person in line.  When the customer left, the black employee looked down and around as if he was looking for something.  Then that joker walked off WITHOUT ACKNOWLEDGING ME.  He didn’t even look up at me.  He started talking and laughing with other store employees, never once looking back at me.  Actually, none of them did.  An obvious case of discrimination.

A black male employee walked over to the group and exchanged words with them (I was unable to hear everything).  The black worker that left me hanging said (while looking around), “I’m going to help her.”  That son-of-a you-know-what pointed to a white female, and walked off to help her.

I told myself, “Ain’t that a bitch?  No the fuck he didn’t.”  I rarely use bad language, but this was a no bars hold situation.

I walked around the area to find someone to scan my items, but was unsuccessful.  I looked and saw a worker helping a customer at the same register.  As I headed back in that direction, the black employee looked right at me, turned, and walked off to help ANOTHER WHITE FEMALE CUSTOMER.  This time I said, “What the hell is going on?  Ain’t that a muthafuckin’ bitch?”

All I wanted was my HP 564 black, and multi-color pack of ink scanned for a price check.  But instead, I received discrimination at its’ finest.

Of course I tweeted about it, as soon as I left the store.

bestbuytweet1

Best Buy commented on my tweet.

bestbuytweet2

I responded.

bestbuytweet3

I didn’t get another response from Best Buy.

I returned to the store the next day to purchase the ink.  I only went because my kids needed it for their projects.  That joker was working, wearing a bow-tie looking like Orville Redenbacher.  I was still frustrated, so I turned down the nearest aisle so that I wouldn’t have to walk past him.  I could have looked at his badge for his name, but I didn’t want to.  I already remember how he looks.  I don’t want to remember his name.

It’s not just about black-and-white.  It’s about customer service.  And the service that I received was downright POOR.

Best Buy.  Flint, Michigan.  Discrimination.  One day before my birthday.

 

I will not be engaging on social media sites on New Year’s Day.  I do not want to read everyone’s New Year’s resolutions that will get broken, as soon as the words leave your mouths.

Where Will You be on Black Thursday?

Rants and Tantrums,

Yes, you read the title correctly.  Black Thursday.  That is what stores are turning Thanksgiving Day into.  Stores are opening their doors for Black Friday shopping, as early as 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

I cannot describe in enough words how ridiculous and insane this country has become, over “deals” that really don’t save you any money.  Well, maybe a couple of dollars here and there.

I don’t remember what year this Black Thursday madness started, but I do recall reading advertisements and watching commercials about a couple of years ago.  Do people really skip their Thanksgiving meals to stand in line for a doll or toy truck?  I’m a regular customer at certain stores, so I laugh when I see “Black Friday deals” that aren’t really deals at all.  There are only a few items that’s an actual steal.

Since I’m ranting about the upcoming circus, I must say that I haven’t watched the local news at all this week, or read the newspaper.  That’s because I’m not in the mood to see all the tents set up in Best Buy’s parking lot.  At the beginning of the week, several families actually start camping out in the store parking lot.  That just sickens me.

So, where will you be on Black Thursday?  I’ll tell you where I’ll be.  I will be at home eating my Thanksgiving turkey, dressing (made from scratch with chicken, I don’t do stuffing), fresh spinach, baked macaroni and cheese, barbecue ribs, dinner rolls, and homemade sweet potato pie.  Then my boys and I are going to fix a plate for my mother, and take it to her new apartment (she finally decided to downsize) she just moved into this week.  After that, we’re going to swing back home, fix my brother a plate, and take it to the nursing home where he lives.  No, he’s not some elderly man, he’s young but paralyzed with Multiple Sclerosis.

Besides, I’ve been doing a lot of shopping online the past few years.  The stores offer the same deals online as they do in the stores.  And most of them begin their online sales hours before the brick and mortar stores open.

Whatever you decide to do, be safe and have fun!