A true example of diversity. A black godfather, who ruled Harlem with an iron fist and actually acts like The Godfather and EARNS the fear and respect he gets from people because he is a clever dastardly villain we love to hate. And yet the Italian mafia doesn’t like this at all. Because of racism, yes but mostly because they are bumpy’s competitors. And man, I don’t know the name of the actor who plays chin gigante, but boy oh boy does he ever sell the fact that he is a racist asshat AND bumpy’s rival. And cmon, Forrest Whittaker is an amazing actor and if anyone could be a humanized, flawed, complex and craftier black version of tony soprano, it’s him. He was perfect for this.
My favorite thing about this show is it’s a realistic depiction of all of the various camps that either oppose or support the social justice issues this show tackles. And I love that there are a bunch of camps that don’t necessarily hate each other but still oppose each others beliefs for many reasons.
Bumpy doesn’t exactly think white people are the second coming of Christ, but he thinks malcom is borderline delusional whenever he talks about black separatism.
Not because he doesn’t necessarily disagree with the idea. But because he doesn’t think it’s realistic. He also doesn’t see the problem with selling heroine. Malcom does. Yet he respects malcom and needs his help multiple times.
Chin does not seem to jive with the families view of bumpy. He thinks Harlem is his. And for as long as bumpy was in Alcatraz at least it was. And even though he hates bumpy. And he hates that the families don’t hate him. He doesn’t outright hire assassins to kill the guy.
I also like how bumpy’s wife pretty much forced him to reconcile his time in Alcatraz. Because she knew that it was ugly in there and if bumpy bottled it up he’d regret it. And I also like that he listened to her.
This is how you do social justice themes in entertainment right. You don’t preach at us. You make it believable. You depict it as real people with beliefs that may or may not go together having to deal with the fact that they don’t agree, and still get along. You don’t make them caricatures. Or stereotypes. You make them themselves and let the audience decide if they like that and don’t shame them afterwards.