So this week’s episode of The Boondocks wasn’t as good as the first. The whole “re-vitiligo” bit was really funny, but Dave Chappelle already did a stand-up routine that used many of the bits Aaron broke out for the R. Kelly trial. Still good stuff, but nothing as funny as, “I bet you wish you had your raincoat right now.”
But I was reading the strip today, and I realized the cartoon has changed the way I read the strip forever.
The biggest thing about the cartoon is that it gives all the main characters voices. Instead of relying on the ones I’ve used in my head forever, I now hear Regina King, John Witherspoon, et al. when I read the strip every morning.
I kinda like my voices better.
That’s really unfair, isn’t it?
Well, not quite. Most of us pictured Huey as being a precocious child, but the cartoon has sorta eliminated that. Huey and Riley are definitely children on this show. They’re frequently irrational like children are, and they frequently oversimplify issues like children have a tendency to do. Using King for his voice makes him more child-like than anyone of us had given him credit for being, and that sorta changes the dynamic when I read the strip.
And I’m just not sure how I feel about that.
Talk to me after the season, and I’ll be able to tell you if the television show has killed the strip for me. I don’t think that’ll happen, but it’s entirely possible.
14 Comments
by Kirk
Definitiely. Those voices ruined the characters. I don’t know what the hell they were thinking. I’m not saying the kids have to sound like Chef, but come on. You can almost hear the “I feel like an idiot for talking this way” in Regina’s voice.
by Lord Amaru
Hey, call me old school, but i do miss the political analysis (or at least an image of Huey beatin down his school teacher).
by Valencia
I like the voices in my head better too. I imagined Huey with more toned down voice.
Is this the voice Aaron McGruder had in his head?
by Valencia
I like the voices in my head better too. I imagined Huey with more toned down voice.
Is this the voice Aaron McGruder had in his head?
by ronnie brown
and i thought it was just me…LOL
the voices of Grandpa and Uncle Ruckus fit like a glove to me…but Huey and Riley, the characters are rapidly becoming unwatchable…love me some Regina King, but it’s time for a change.
by ronnie brown
and i thought it was just me…LOL
the voices of Grandpa and Uncle Ruckus fit like a glove to me…but Huey and Riley, the characters are rapidly becoming unwatchable…love me some Regina King, but it’s time for a change.
by King Solomeen
I realize this is after the fact, but I watched the episode last night and damn near gave myself a sports hernia. (Shouts-out to the latest trendy sports injury!)
I know it’s wrong, but I always find pimps and hoes to make for GREAT comedy, especially when an 8-year-old is doing the running commentary on how much “game” his grandfather DOESN’T have.
For me, this has been the best episode.
I promise my next post will be socially redeeming and uplifting.
Remember: You can’t turn a hoe into a housewife…
by Fred Batiste, A Weapon of Mass Destruction
Ya’ll are sounding like those comic book geeks that criticize the Lord of the Rings movies (Frodo don’t look like no Elijah Wood) and Star Wars (Harrison Ford was too short to play Han Solo…they should got Nick Nolte) or even X-men (Halle Berry’s titties too small to be Storm or Chris Benoit woulda made a better Wolverine than Hugh Jackman because he’s Canadian like Logan) …when it comes to criticizing the Boondocks’ TV adaptation.
I greatly disp..wait, comic book geeks criticizing a film/TV adaptation of a comic book/strip/literature piss me off. They use their myopic views and their ideas of what their favorite comic book/strip/literature should be and apply it to the film/TV product a tad too liberally and way more literally. They get mad like they the ones that poured the hearts out to get what they read out. Just because you pay a few bucks for an issue or read the strip passionately does not make you the one that gets creditied for making the stuff.
I think the shows have been very funny, given the parameters McGruder has to work with on television (reminder: some of these episodes will not be current with time because it takes weeks, maybe months, for animators to get everything in order…)…Episodic television isn’t going to be consistenly off the chain every show (unless it’s 24-but that’s because of the show’s premise)….
To make it short, y’all (fill in your respective cuss word/ethnic or gender slur here) expect too damn much.. Just chill, enjoy and be glad TV execs let another crazy black guy to drop the N-bomb on TV while poking fun at a whole lot of people.
Regina King as Huey/Riley isn’t a bad choice. Think about it, how many deep-voiced 8- and 10-year old boys you know? I have four nephews, ages 13, 11, 9 and 5. The 13-year-old’s sac just dropped and his voice is cracking and getting deeper.
(SIDE NOTE): I will not allow anyone to talk bad about my Regina after seein her in dat lingerie in Enema of the State (I know it’s Enemy, but who’s countin). I’ll go to 227 er’ night fa Brenda, mane!!!
and yes Solomeen, pimps and hos do make for great comedy, especially in person in a Dallas IHOP.
by Fred Batiste, A Weapon of Mass Destruction
Ya’ll are sounding like those comic book geeks that criticize the Lord of the Rings movies (Frodo don’t look like no Elijah Wood) and Star Wars (Harrison Ford was too short to play Han Solo…they should got Nick Nolte) or even X-men (Halle Berry’s titties too small to be Storm or Chris Benoit woulda made a better Wolverine than Hugh Jackman because he’s Canadian like Logan) …when it comes to criticizing the Boondocks’ TV adaptation.
I greatly disp..wait, comic book geeks criticizing a film/TV adaptation of a comic book/strip/literature piss me off. They use their myopic views and their ideas of what their favorite comic book/strip/literature should be and apply it to the film/TV product a tad too liberally and way more literally. They get mad like they the ones that poured the hearts out to get what they read out. Just because you pay a few bucks for an issue or read the strip passionately does not make you the one that gets creditied for making the stuff.
I think the shows have been very funny, given the parameters McGruder has to work with on television (reminder: some of these episodes will not be current with time because it takes weeks, maybe months, for animators to get everything in order…)…Episodic television isn’t going to be consistenly off the chain every show (unless it’s 24-but that’s because of the show’s premise)….
To make it short, y’all (fill in your respective cuss word/ethnic or gender slur here) expect too damn much.. Just chill, enjoy and be glad TV execs let another crazy black guy to drop the N-bomb on TV while poking fun at a whole lot of people.
Regina King as Huey/Riley isn’t a bad choice. Think about it, how many deep-voiced 8- and 10-year old boys you know? I have four nephews, ages 13, 11, 9 and 5. The 13-year-old’s sac just dropped and his voice is cracking and getting deeper.
(SIDE NOTE): I will not allow anyone to talk bad about my Regina after seein her in dat lingerie in Enema of the State (I know it’s Enemy, but who’s countin). I’ll go to 227 er’ night fa Brenda, mane!!!
and yes Solomeen, pimps and hos do make for great comedy, especially in person in a Dallas IHOP.
by nikki
i was thinking the same thing! actually, i had expected huey’s voice to be a bit more smoky, kinda like marlon brando’s voice from the godfather (but with that all so important ‘brotha’ tinge to it)
i’m still ambivalent about the cartoon itself. i think it is raw in comparison to what’s out there as nothing out there is addressing race issues as candidly as ‘the boondocks’ is doing it. on the other hand, i wonder if in the end it’ll make me less patient to the point where i stop reading the comic and instead depend completely on watching the cartoon in order to get my ‘boondocks’ fix.
The only thing is that the cartoon won’t have current even stuff, so hold on to the comic. Plus, it’s debatable whether the cartoon will last past next season.
by nikki
i was thinking the same thing! actually, i had expected huey’s voice to be a bit more smoky, kinda like marlon brando’s voice from the godfather (but with that all so important ‘brotha’ tinge to it)
i’m still ambivalent about the cartoon itself. i think it is raw in comparison to what’s out there as nothing out there is addressing race issues as candidly as ‘the boondocks’ is doing it. on the other hand, i wonder if in the end it’ll make me less patient to the point where i stop reading the comic and instead depend completely on watching the cartoon in order to get my ‘boondocks’ fix.
The only thing is that the cartoon won’t have current even stuff, so hold on to the comic. Plus, it’s debatable whether the cartoon will last past next season.
by nikki
that’s true. i’m not even sure if i should get caught up in the cartoon. shows like this have a way of disappearing rather quickly (anyone remember when richard pryor was doing his sketch show on cbs?)
this might be 2005 but all you gotta do is look at the lack of shows like this on tv to understand how dangerous ‘boondocks’ really is. i’m gonna start taping them so that next year, after we all lament about it being taken off of the air, i can remind myself it actually existed for a while.
by Miss_Swizzle
So I just watched my first episode of ‘Boondocks’ and yes I’m a month late. The Christmas episode was on tonight and all I have to say is..”Dear Santa, You are a bitch ass nigga.” Classic.
by Miss_Swizzle
So I just watched my first episode of ‘Boondocks’ and yes I’m a month late. The Christmas episode was on tonight and all I have to say is..”Dear Santa, You are a bitch ass nigga.” Classic.