More Like The Stupidest Black Man In America

The Cleveland Show, S03E15

Although I did find some pieces of this episode to be funny, I think I should have listen to my gut about after seeing the previews and skipped it.  Cleveland struggled to find his identity based on a lot of stereotypes for both black and white people.  In the end, he finally accepted himself for who he was inside, not what he looked like on the inside, but his journey there was less humorous and more irking on a racial level for me.  I feel like many African-Americans worry about whether they are too "white," and this story could have been a good way to decry notions of some racial stereotypes through humor, but somewhere I think it fell short.  I just found myself thinking that the end credits couldn't come quickly enough.

Before Cleveland began his identity crisis, I didn't see how he was going to get there through his new love of Justin Bieber.  Instead, I thought his appreciation for the pop singer would lead him to a life of acting like a silly teenage girl or something.  After all, Cleveland claimed that the music was only for "girls and Usher."  When he was competing in the competition for the tickets in a ridiculous wig and dancing like a fool next to kids a 1/3 of his size, I was just thinking, "Man, Cleveland is an idiot!"  But the DJ viewed his dancing to be typical of white people, and apparently the fact that he was competing for Bieber tickets in the first place also made him look "whiter" (according to Rallo).  Maybe that was supposed to be a joke about the stereotype that all black people can dance (or the stereotype that white people are the opposite).  Either way, that DJ's opinion was unsavory to me.

The best part of that scene was when Cleveland asked about Wayne Brady holding the title of "Whitest Man in America" already.  Wayne Brady appeared and handed his sash over to Cleveland.  I liked this because thanks to Dave Chappelle, Wayne Brady has always seemed like a joke to me.  If I may quote from his guest appearance on Chappelle Show, "I make Bryant Gumble look like Malcolm X, huh?"  To say that Cleveland had become a bigger joke than Brady was quite a funny thing to imagine.

While I laughed at that, I wasn't laughing too much when Cleveland was consulting with his family (and  Federline--ugh) about whether the DJ was accurate about him.  Cleveland just displayed his ignorance and disconnect with current phrases (making him sound really lame), rather than evidence that he wasn't as "black" as he should be.  The funniest thing in that scene was when Cleveland drew the curtains after Rallo used the word "honky."  But I was annoyed that Cleveland thought it was just as offensive as using the n-word.  Come on, Cleveland.  You can't be that much of an idiot that even Federline is setting you straight.

Cleveland went on a horrible stereotypical trip to become more "black."  I love me some Soul Train, so when it started coming down the track, I couldn't help but smile, especially after it had made Cleveland wait so long for it, and he commented "You're late."  But after that, I was just doing a series of sighing and hoping for things to develop in another direction while he went to change his hair and learned to play dominoes.  Ugh.  But I felt bad that when Cleveland asked the conductor to take him to the "blackest city in America," he claimed it was Detroit, and that's what I was thinking in my head.  I hoped that I wouldn't have a preconceived idea like that, but somewhere along the line of lots of TV and movies, I must have heard that before.  I've never been to Detroit myself, or know much about it, so I can't think of how else I might have known the conductor's answer.

Cleveland's "black" outfit was horrible.  I just couldn't wait for him to get out of it and stop talking so unnaturally.  So glad that Donna sent him to his parents' house, where I thought they might encourage him to stop acting crazy.  Instead, Cookie sent him to find his old nanny, who Cleveland began to believe was the reason why he was so "white."  I think him accepting his "white" side was just as painful to look at.

At dinner, there was an awkwardness between Freight Train and Barbara, but it wasn't clear at first as to why.  I guess the two used to have feelings for each other?  Or maybe they were still there, after all the years.  Either way, I wasn't excepting that at all.  Doesn't surprise me that Cookie might have had a girlfriend while her philandering husband had disappeared for some years.  Rather than judge Cleveland on his race, everyone should have just been amazed he's not a twisted bastard with the way FT raised him off and on in his life.

I straight up hated when Cleveland was singing about his damn identities in The Cleveland Show theme song melody.  Just terrible.  I'm glad that Barbara came along and smacked him with her purse (although she did start to sing the song too--ugh) and finally made him stop worrying about all that dumb shit.  As much as I don't like Bieber myself, I was happy to see him go off to the concert after all that bullshit in the episode before. I would have much rather seen Cleveland try to get Junior from loving that music, while secretly loving it himself, than what the story actually turned out to be.

I don't think I ever want to see this episode again.  Sometimes I find that stories I didn't like too much the first time, are a little less repugnant after they appear in re-runs, but I don't see that happening with this week's episode.  Just strike that from the record and label it a failure in my eyes.  I'd much rather watch a story where Cleveland acts like an asshole to his family for no reason except for his own self desires than this mess.  Hope this will be the last of the episodes even remotely like this one.