What Happens In Black-Ishs Donald Trump Episode? Why Its So Controversial – Screen Rant

Please, Baby, Please, the Black-ish episode which criticized Donald Trump, has finally been released on Hulu. So, what was all the fuss about?

What happens in the Black-ish episode focused on Donald Trump, and why is it so controversial? Created by Kenya Barris, the ABC sitcom centered on an upper middle-class Black family has regularly tackled political and social issues. Please, Baby, Please, which is the title of the episode ABC decided to pull, would have been no different.

Days before Please, Baby, Please was scheduled to hit the airwaves, on February 27, 2018, the episode was shelved. At the time, ABC entertainment president Channing Dungey only said that the network and Black-ishs writing team couldn't come to an agreement about the episode. This incident would have lasting implications, as it led to Barris exiting ABC and ultimately moving to Netflix. Well over two years after it was scheduled to release, Barris announced that an agreement had been reached to release the episode on Hulu. So, what was all the fuss about?

Related:Fear City: Donald Trump's New York Mafia Connections Explained

Please, Baby, Please, which is co-written by Barris and Peter Saji, takes its name from the childrens book by Spike Lee and his wife Tonya Lewis Lee. The story begins with Dre (Anthony Anderson) trying to get baby Devante to sleep during a stormy night. Dre tries to read a few bedtime tales to the baby, including the book by the Lees. When that fails, however, a distressed Dre tries to explain the election of Donald Trump to Devante. He refers to Trump as The Shady King, which comes complete with a cartoonish illustration, and he blames Trump for dividing people and stoking discontent between different groups. Dre also sees Trumps presidency as a backlash against the election of Barack Obama as the first Black president.

The political thread runs through the episode. Dre briefly chats with Pops (Laurence Fishburne) about the difference between White pride and Black pride. As explained by Pops, while footage of white supremacists fills the screen, Black pride emerged as an uplifting response to relentless and brutal oppression. White pride, he says, is like boasting about being rich and beautiful. Later, Dre runs into his son Andre Jr. (Marcus Scribner). Andre confesses to his father that hes not sure if he agrees with the kneeling protests of Colin Kaepernick and other athletes, because it might offend the troops, but hes adamant that its their right to protest. Near the end of the episode, Dre has a chat with two of his younger kids about the dangers of climate change. Some jokes about Americas voting system are also thrown in.

Its hard to imagine just what about Please, Baby, Please gave ABC, and its parent company of Disney, such pause. Trump is indeed criticized, for enabling and exploiting bigotry and for wanting to create a wall between the U.S. and Mexico. Hes also dinged for standing in the way of climate change policies and for being a narcissist. Obamas administration is called out as well, for its reliance on drones as a military tactic. Tellingly, the episode generally seems to have some degree of sympathy with Trump votes who were alarmed by the pace of social change in the Obama years with regards to LGBTQ+ rights. Overall, as the scene delving into Kaepernicks protests make clear, the episode goes to pains to highlight opposing views.

The episode even ends on a positive note, with Dre believing that what unites people is stronger than the issues that divide them. In an era where Roseanne, which also aired on ABC, was explicitly marketed as a show with a political viewpoint, the decision to shelve Please, Baby, Baby in the first place is perplexing. Charitably, perhaps the network got cold feet because Black-ish had already waded into the intersection of race and politics with previous episodes like Hope and Juneteenth. In the end though, the worst thing said about Trump in the Black-ish episode is that some of his policies and traits are bad. Compared to what is said about him in other scripted shows, The Good Fight, for example, its fairly mild stuff.

More:Why Love, Victor's Disney+/Hulu Controversy Wasn't Justified

Agents of SHIELD: Why Fitz Was Missing From Season 7

Abdullah Al-Ghamdi joined Screen Rant in August 2019, focusing on movie and television news. In January of the same year, he wrote a 3500+ word piece on why Primo Coln is underrated. He considers it his finest work. When hes not arguing for the merits of his favorite wrestler, he can be found posting reviews of varying lengths on Letterboxd. Hes also on Twitter, @dulealghamdi, though he doesnt really tweet much.

Read this article:

What Happens In Black-Ishs Donald Trump Episode? Why Its So Controversial - Screen Rant