Eh:
Looking at The Boondocks Through the Lens of Fanon’s Colonial Upheaval and
Jameson’s Postmodernity
By Jake Pontius
CMC 300
Prof. Gournelos
12/2/11
Abstract
The animated show The Boondocks, created by Aaron McGruder, is a controversial
comedy show on the network, Adult Swim. Dealing primarily with black culture and racial
issues, The Boondocks tells the story of the Freeman family as they encounter and deal with
various racially charged situations. The main character of the show, Huey Freeman, is a ten-yearold political activist who draws his inspiration from former leaders like Malcolm X and Che
Guevarra. Since both of these leaders were heavily influenced by the work of Frantz Fanon, it
was a no-brainer to look at the show through Fanon’s theories, especially about colonial
upheaval. However, a slightly less obvious choice to complement Fanon’s work when looking at
the show was Fredric Jameson’s theories about postmodernism. Through a textual analysis of the
episode, “It’s a Black President, Huey Freeman” (Season 3, Episode 1), this paper demonstrates
that, by framing the episode through Fanon’s and Jameson’s theories of colonial uprising and a
dehistoricized postmodernity, it can be seen that the culture surrounding the Obama presidential
campaign and election was a shining example of the difficulty, or maybe impossibility, of a
successful upheaval of the Dominant white culture in a schizophrenic society.
One of the most intriguing aspects of theory is the idea that most theories can be applied
to various texts in order to further or alter the way the texts and theories are understood. Ideas
from decades ago, when life was vastly different than it is now, still influence everything around
us. This is the case when looking at the work of Frantz Fanon and Fredric Jameson, especially
when using the theories of these men to frame a modern work such as the television show The
Boondocks. The Boondocks is an Adult Swim animated series created by Aaron McGruder, who
also created the comic strip that the show is based off of. Despite its origins as a “funny” in the
papers, McGruder’s show has proven to be quite controversial as it follows the Freeman family
through racially charged topical mishaps. It is the show’s focus on black culture and race that
makes it ideal for analyzing through the lens’ of Fanon and Jameson to see how they translate in
contemporary culture. Through a textual analysis of the episode, “It’s a Black President, Huey
Freeman” (Season 3, Episode 1), this paper demonstrates that, by framing the episode through
Fanon’s and Jameson’s theories of colonial uprising and a dehistoricized postmodernity, it can be
seen that the culture surrounding the Obama presidential campaign and election was a shining
example of the difficulty, or maybe impossibility, of a successful upheaval of the Dominant
white culture in a schizophrenic society.
Before getting into the intricacies of the episode, it is important to understand the nature
of the shows’ characters. The main character is Huey Freeman, a ten-year-old black male who
lives with his grandfather, Robert, and his younger brother, Riley, in an upper to upper-middle
class suburb of Chicago known as Woodcrest. While Robert and Riley are essentially parodies of
black stereotypes (the grandfather who is quick with his belt and the rebellious “thug”), Huey
serves as the voice for McGruder, who retains sole writing credits for the majority of episodes.
The peculiar thing about Huey is that he is an extremely intelligent, deeply political kung-fu
expert whose heroes and influences include Malcolm X, Che Guevarra, and, most likely, Franz
Fanon, whose ideas inspired the two former leaders. Up until the episode under review, Huey
generally acted according to his beliefs, involving himself in the escape of a political prisoner
and even convincing Martin Luther King Jr. to take a more militant stance on civil rights.
Generally, The Boondocks’ animation style and motifs draw heavily from Japanese anime
and manga. Although this is still noticeable in “It’s a Black President, Huey Freeman”, the
episode separates itself from the others by being presented in a documentary style; specifically a
Werner Herzog documentary, considering the prolific director actually lent his Kissinger-like
vocal talents to the role of the filmmaker. This is apparent from the first “shot” and already
points at Jameson’s idea of pastiche and parody, in which the author defines both as the
“mimicry of other styles and particularly of the mannerisms and stylistic twitches of other styles
(Jameson 1848).” The difference, as Jameson continues, is that parody is mimicry with the
purpose of satirizing or poking fun at the mimicked style, whereas pastiche is simply neutral
mimicry with no motive (Jameson 1849). The episode includes many instances of
pastiche/parody, however, like with the Herzogian style, it is difficult to make the distinction due
to the subtlety of the humor.
Prior to the opening credits, the audience is informed that the “documentary” is about the
Freemans’ and their friends’ participation in and feelings about the Obama presidential campaign
and election. Right before Asheru’s title song begins, Huey watches as Obama, having been
accused of being friends with “domestic terrorist” Huey on Myspace by caricatures of
Republican heavy-hitters Rush Limbaugh and John McCain, publicly denounces Huey, ending
his speech with the eloquent statement, “Fuck him.”
This denouncement of Huey by Obama is the first point in the episode that Fanon comes
into play. As previously mentioned, Huey is heavily influenced by the ideas of Fanon and, as
such, can be considered the mouthpiece for Fanon’s theories that violent revolution is necessary,
but can only truly work if the dominant culture and structure are completely disposed of.
Essentially, due to pressure from the Dominant (wealthy, white males), Obama is denouncing the
ideas of Fanon to avoid any controversy that could keep him from attaining the presidency. As
the episode progresses, more and more themes of Fanon’s work emerge as well as Jameson’s.
Shortly after the opening credits, the interviewer asks Huey, “As a black African-American
negro, are you merely excited or are you extremely excited that everything is going to change
forever?” to which Huey shrugs and offers a meager, “Eh,” in response, which, along with “I’m
retired,” is one of the only answers the usually outspoken Huey gives throughout the episode. It
is important to note the phrasing of the interviewer’s question, which excludes any possibility of
non-change or of non-excitement towards the change while also making no clear indications as
to what changes they are referring. Robert admits that he believes in the “hope” and “change”
offered by Obama, but, again, that is as far as the ideas go.
It is significant that during this scene, Robert is replacing a picture of Huey and Riley (his
family) with a picture of Obama (a person who he has neither met nor does he know anything
about), which validates the idea that Obama has become a symbol associated with words and
“blackness”, but neither him, “blackness,” nor the words have any actual definition. In a way,
this relates to Jameson’s notion concerning the death of the subject (Jameson 1850) in that
Obama has lost his image as an individual and now serves as a symbol for various ideas or
groups. All the while, Robert mentions how much his generation struggled for “this” (a recurring
theme) as he “recalls” his stories from the Civil Rights movement during which he managed to
whip a couple of police dogs with his belt while Jesse Jackson hid in a dumpster. As the
interviewer suggests, Robert is most likely lying, building himself an identity as an integral
participant in the Civil Rights movement through common references to famous events and
people like Rosa Parks. This is representative of Jameson’s idea that postmodern society has lost
its sense of history, building its identity through the present and references in media. To Robert,
the Civil Rights movement is now just a series of film reels and pictures with no concrete sense
of purpose or emotion. As Jameson puts it, “The way in which our entire contemporary social
system…has begun to live in a perpetual present and in a perpetual change that obliterates
traditions of the kind which all earlier social formations have had in one way or another to
preserve (Jameson 1860).”
As the episode progresses, the audience is introduced to the Freemans’ neighbor and
popular rap musician, Thugnificent. Thugnificent’s status as a musician (read: artist) is especially
important in terms of Fanon, as he represents the national culture aspect of revolution, which, as
Fanon says, is “part and parcel of the values which have ordained the struggle for freedom
(Fanon 1446).” While the Herzog character briefly introduces Thugnificent, we see the rapper
being given a gold record by white executives, firmly establishing his status as part of the
Dominant’s construction of “black culture.” The episode continues to introduce the audience to
Uncle Ruckus, the most controversial character in the series (and one of the funniest characters
of all time), as well as Tom and Sarah DuBois, a mixed race couple who are volunteers on the
Obama campaign. At this point, it is made clear that Huey and Uncle Ruckus are the only two
featured who are not excited about the prospect of Obama as president, although for entirely
different reasons (Huey is jaded and indifferent, whereas Ruckus is the “biggest Uncle Tom to
have ever lived”). Also, it is apparent that the titles of the characters in the “documentary”
constantly change. For example, Huey is labeled a “Hostile Youth” then a “Domestic Terrorist”
while Thugnificent goes from “Rapper” to “Rapper/Activist” and back to “Rapper.” This is a key
concept of postmodernism that Jameson discusses, which is the idea of the fragmentation of the
self. These contemporary characters are not static and can change their “identities” at will.
Thugnificent is the ultimate example of this as he goes from total cluelessness about Obama to
collaborating on a song for the campaign with real-life contemporary pop musician Will.I.Am,
which he was able to do by embracing “hope” because “hopin’ is easy,” although he remains
completely unaware of what that hope is for.
The song, called “Dick Riding Obama,” is a wonderful blend of parody and pastiche in
that it combines everything from Will.I.Am’s repertoire with a hint of satire, however, the video
and song can be directly applied to Fanon, too. The song is styled exactly like a real Will.I.Am
song in that it is a catchy, simple melody with autotuned vocals, giving it a happy, nonthreatening, poppy feel that seems tailor made for the Dominant. The video features clips of
mostly white people dancing and kissing posters of Obama while the two artists dance and sing
while wearing “white,” “preppy” clothing like tight jeans and bright colored sweaters with bow
ties. Whereas Fanon suggests that upheaval of the dominant system will inevitably produce a
national culture through the process of upheaval (Fanon 1445-46), the culture surrounding the
Obama campaign is presented as actually playing up to the Dominant, both in music and dress.
Rather than inspired creativity, the “change” that is coming begins with aspirations to be
included in the dominant culture.
The announcement of Obama’s win is greeted with raucous cheers at the Freeman’s
election party where the many black faces are beaming “as though they each had been elected
president.” Again, we see the loss of individualism conveyed by Jameson in the way that the
partygoers feel about the election results. Since Obama is associated with abstract concepts and
connections, the people feel as if they have obtained this power, even though that is far from the
case. To all this, Robert remarks the “the black struggle is officially over,” and, although he
never actually contributed to the campaign, he continues to talk as if it is a victory for all black
Americans, even though many white people are shown celebrating just as much. Obviously, the
idea that the “black struggle” officially ends with the election of a black president is fairly naïve
considering the situation of many black Americans will remain harsh and unforgiving no matter
what the presidential skin color is. After this, Thugnificent makes a statement that would have
Fanon rolling in his grave when he details his new plan to “call all [his] niggas, Obamas, and all
[his] bitches, Michelles,” now that they are in a “colorless, flavorless, and unscented era.” Fanon
would abhor this because it is a direct example of the ways in which revolutions can fail, which
happens when the usurpers fail to eradicate the dominant culture and structure, causing them to
fall back into the same system as before, just with new rulers. Basically, changing the word
“nigga” to “Obama” is not going to eliminate the concept of “nigga,” just change the wording.
Later in the episode, Huey is confronted and attacked for not being excited about
Obama’s upcoming inauguration, which sparks national protests against the radical ten-year-old.
As the narrator says, “Here is the danger of too much hope; skeptics are treated like blasphemers
and indifference becomes equal to hate,” while a doll of Huey is set aflame to cement the idea
that this “change” is part of the Dominant since anybody who does not actively support it is
immediately considered an enemy and outcast. All this precedes the inauguration, which Robert
and Riley attend while Huey attempts to leave the country with Uncle Ruckus. As Huey takes
what would be his last look at his room, the narrator comments that the incendiary youth “does
not have a place in Obama’s America,” which is represented by the excessively messy room
littered with Riley’s various consumer goods like basketball equipment and rap posters. This
implies that “Obama’s America” is a late capitalist system in which people define themselves
through their items. It may not be different from the America under the previous President’s
tenure, but there was an actual capacity for change. With the blind acceptance of Obama,
however, the system remains unchanged. At the same time, Robert and Riley arrive at the
inauguration only to find out that everyone had been invited. Due to the enormous crowd, the
police refuse to let them by and promptly taser Robert, effectively erasing any sense of “black
togetherness” that the family may have felt towards Obama. The episode ends with all the
characters back in their normal lives. Thugnificent is officially done with any “activist” activity,
Robert has found out that he is actually against most of Obama’s policies, and Huey simply
restates, “I’m retired.”
Glimpses of Jameson and Fanon can be seen throughout the entire episode, whether they
are minor references or central themes. Everything helps illuminate Huey’s concern over the
ineffectiveness of the Obama campaign based on Fanon’s ideas of effective cultural/political
upheaval and the idea of a postmodern society through Jameson. The entire Obama campaign
promised “change” and “hope” without ever defining what they mean, but the black population
went with it anyways. In building up to this “uprising,” cultural productions tried to assimilate
into the dominant culture instead of branching off to find new, creative voices. According to
Fanon, both of these circumstances would lead to an ineffective change because they are both
instances of the opposition going with the Dominant rather than overthrowing it, and, based on
the rapidity in which the characters go back to their normal lives, the episode implies that no
change has really been made. There may be a black president, but he is the same as any other
president because he worked within the dominant system. Also, another interesting aspect in
relation to Fanon is the fact that the main characters, with the exception of Ruckus, are all upper
to upper-middle class. This suggests a lack of oppression or tension, which Fanon says is critical
to the formation of cultural production from the oppressed (Fanon 1441). Coupled with
Jameson’s postmodern musings that allow us to see the loss of sense of history exhibited about
the goal of the Civil Rights movement (whose chief concern was not securing the right to a black
president) and the fragmentation of the self, it seems that Huey has given up on attempting to
change anything. He recognizes that, within this schizophrenic, aesthetically-centered culture, it
is extremely difficult to subvert the power structure. Jameson might say that this is due to the fact
that, “There is another sense in which the writers and artists of the present day will no longer be
able to invent new styles and worlds – they’ve already been invented; only a limited number of
combinations are possible; the unique ones have all been thought of already (Jameson 1851).”
When connected to Fanon’s concept that uprisings start with and build a new national
culture, these ideas do offer some insight as to why subverting the power structure of
contemporary late capitalist America. If developing a new culture and system is a necessary part
of the process, how would we go about doing so in a culture in which every idea has been done
before? Perhaps the Dominant is too powerful. Perhaps postmodern society presents a challenge
to Fanon’s 50-some-year-old theories. After all, how can a nation develop a single identity when
a lowly individual can have multiple identities running concurrently? No matter what the
answers are, both Fanon’s and Jameson’s work broach similar subjects in different ways, but
looking at them side-by-side offers the chance to explore numerous possibilities, themes, and
theories.
Works Cited
Fanon, Frantz. “The Wretched of the Earth.” The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism. Ed.
Vincent B. Leitch. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. 1440-1446. Print.
“It’s a Black President, Huey Freeman.” The Boondocks: The Complete Third Season. Writ.
Aaron McGruder. Dir. Sung Dae Kang. Adult Swim, 2010. “DVD.”
Jameson, Fredric. “Postmodernism and Consumer Society.” The Norton Anthology of Theory &
Criticism. Ed. Vincent B. Leitch. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010.
1846-1860. Print.
Leitch, Vincent B., ed. The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticism. New York, NY: W.W.
Norton & Company, 2010. Print.