Case Study: 'Black-ish' screenwriter Kenya Barris
Creator of Black-ish :
Kenya Barris
D.O.B: 9.08.1974 California
Best Known for: Black-ish, Girls Trip, The Game
Brief Synopsis of Black-ish:
A family man struggles to gain cultural identity, as he raises his kids in a predominantly white, upper class neighbourhood.
The sitcom has a familiar trope "fish out of water" to address unique experience. Similarly with my sitcom, its about a race trying to fit into a specific culture.
Kenya Barris on writing:
When I was researching how Barris writes he gets his motivation to write from advice from Stephen Kings book 'On Writing', where King suggests that you should write a little it everyday at the same time in the same place. That way you program your mind to want to write even on the day when you can't be bothered. Do anything you can to free your mind and find inspiration wether its playing a video game, going to the movies or just driving around i your car.
https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/kenya-barris-interview-part-one/
Barris tackles social issues that entertains and also educates its audience. Topics such as Donald Trump's election, the N-word, postpartum depression and police brutality.
When Barris created Black-ish he was completely inspire by his family. The sitcom, just like his life, is based on a black man growing up in lower class, his wife biracial, and his children who grew up in wealth and white neighbourhood. For Barris, he felt out of place and like he didn't belong and how something still haven't changed for black people. Therefore he drew on his own life experience to create a comedy but also something that the audience can relate to.
"As a creative, you have to be your truest form. You can't worry about fitting into whatever boxes people want to put you in."
The reason Barris decided to discuss social and political issues on his sitcom is because it's something that is still not being discussed in America, and with comedy you can hide behind it. Likewise, English Cypriots aren't really portrayed in British TV even though there is a large minority.
How does this relate to my work and what has inspire me:
As my sitcom is about and english Cypriot family moving from Cyprus to London, I tackle issues such as drugs and sex, not in an educational manner, but for comedy through the grandparents. Being Cypriots, who left Cyprus in the 1970s because of the war, they did not grow up in the British culture, unlike their kids and grankids who have been exposed to it.
Yiayia Maria still believes in arranged marriage and Pappou Andrea is your stereotypical Cypriot man who thinks is the boss while he just drinks all day. Andy is an alternative character with her hippie personality and free love attitude while Hara is being completely exposed to the world of drugs through her friend Chantelle and her freedom with boys which is not still not accepted in Cyprus.
Just like the title of Black-ish is about some black people being a bit white and white people acting black it goes both ways. My sitcom is called 'It's all Greek to me', because even though they live in London, they are constantly surrounded by Cypriot products, people, culture and traditions. This is because of the war in 1970 which caused many Cypriots to leave Cyprus and try and lead a better life in England.
Similarly, Black-ish has a smart child who points out the obvious and is constantly trying to educate her family whilst in mine there is Kotchy who does the exact same thing. This is because it creates humour and points out how ridiculous everything is.
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