Have you ever watched "The Chi?"

[Troy]

 

I just watched 6 seasons of The Chi it took me about 6 weeks to get through it.  A friend recommended it to me, and she expressed an interest in my opinion.

 

I found it interesting enough to get through it but on a scale of 1 to 10 id give it a 6.  You really had to suspend disbelieve to get all the plot lines and the overlapping characters.

 

@Pioneer1's post about Smoking Weed was what made me think about The Chi.  Smoking weed was such a big part of the series -- almost everyone smoked weed constantly.  They were smoking it, growing it, selling it and killing over it. It was a major character of the series.

 

Another big part of the series was sex.  Most characters had multiple concurrent partners. A father and son shared partners.  There was sexual abuse. Everyone gender and sexuality combination was expressed to the point that it felt forced. Man with man, woman with woman, young with old, trans with cis, and most of these liaisons were between unmarried people. I'm no prude but it was a bit over the top.

 

Well, maybe I'm a prude by today's standards... 

 

 

[ProfD]

Several years ago, I watched a few episodes of the The Chi. 

 

The Chi, Power and other Black shows reinforce the stereotypes, storylines and narratives.

 

From a purely artistic perspective, the shows are very well produced.  The many folks involved are getting paid too. 

 

Until Black folks truly *own* the production companies and networks, they will be forced to produce content that is acceptable to the folks financing it.

 

White folks are perfectly fine with Black folks "telling their stories" through a perpetuation of negative images.  No superheroes or positive role models allowed. 

 

In The Chi, a drug-dealer becomes an Alderman or some political operative.  I believe he eventually gets killed by one of his drug-game lieutenants.  A back-handed slap.

 

Another example, in The Chi, Kevin, Papa and Jake start out as *smart*  kids who have to deal with the BS of their environment in one way or another. 

 

I believe Kevin "makes it out" of The Chi.  He moves *up* into the dominant society by going to Los Angeles to pursue gaming.

[Troy]

You needed to give a Spoiler alert @ProfD LOL! 

 

At any rate, are all the Black TV should nowadays dealing with crime, ghettos, sex, drug use, family dysfunction.  If that is all we see how can our youth aspire to anything.

 

Personally, I was remember being shocked to learn when, during my freshman year in college, that not all Black people were from an urban ghetto like me or the kids in The Chi.  I know that is why so many Black people called the Cosby Show "unrealistic," because it bucked every negative stereotype we were brainwashed with.

 

 

[ProfD]

23 minutes ago, Troy said:

You needed to give a Spoiler alert @ProfD LOL! 

Nah bro.  I didn't give way too much of anything.  Keep watching.

23 minutes ago, Troy said:

At any rate, are all the Black TV should nowadays dealing with crime, ghettos, sex, drug use, family dysfunction.  If that is all we see how can our youth aspire to anything.

Some of the Tyler Perry produced shows are dramatic to a different extreme by still unrealistic and dysfunctional.

 

 

23 minutes ago, Troy said:

Personally, I was remember being shocked to learn when, during my freshman year in college, that not all Black people were from an urban ghetto like me or the kids in The Chi.  I know that is why so many Black people called the Cosby Show "unrealistic," because it bucked every negative stereotype we were brainwashed with.

Right.  There's always been a ton of Black folks who weren't born in urban environments. 

 

Because Black folks aren't a monolithic group, that's how and why they see and deal with the system of racism white supremacy differently.

[Troy]

On 2/6/2025 at 6:09 PM, ProfD said:

that's how and why they see and deal with the system of racism white supremacy differently.

 

…but as Fuller teaches we all have to deal with it.

[ProfD]

44 minutes ago, Troy said:

…but as Fuller teaches we all have to deal with it.

Actually, NF Jr. teaches a code for how we should deal with the system of racism white supremacy (RWS).

 

The end goal of NF Jr.'s teaching is that we  replace RWS with a system of justice (balance & fairness).

[Troy]

Yes, your are right @ProfD Fuller described this in the interview with Rock Newman a couple of years ago:

 

 

[Pioneer1]

On 2/6/2025 at 8:29 AM, Troy said:

 

 

Another big part of the series was sex.  Most characters had multiple concurrent partners. A father and son shared partners.  There was sexual abuse. Everyone gender and sexuality combination was expressed to the point that it felt forced. Man with man, woman with woman, young with old, trans with cis, and most of these liaisons were between unmarried people. I'm no prude but it was a bit over the top.

 

Well, maybe I'm a prude by today's standards... 

 

 

No, I haven't watched one moment of the series....yet, anyway.
I really had no desire to watch it because unlike New York or even L.A., Chicago isn't really exciting enough to feature a crime or 'hood drama, in my opinion.

However, since you brought it up I'm curious about the sexual aspect of the show..............

More specifically, since it IS cable.....how much NUDITY was actually involved in the sex scenes?

I'm curious because I've noticed that compared to the Black movies of the 70s where there was plenty of Black nudity.....most modern Black films and television shows will talk about sex all day long and even have people doing crazy dances or feature women in skanky "hoochie mama" clothes.....but show very little and usually NO actual nudity.
 

[Troy]

10 hours ago, Pioneer1 said:

how much NUDITY was actually involved in the sex scenes?

there were plenty of sex scenes in the series. Typically several in each episode. There were no vulvas or penises shown, and I don’t think there were any nipples on female breasts visible. One of the lesbians was shown sporting a strap on, and they were butts shown as far as I know that was about it.