Many in the black community carry their contempt for the Fox hit show “Empire” on their sleeve. It is no secret this show sparks up too many negative images and buffoonery for the greater black community to embrace.
There are a variety of issues with the show from the perspective of the black community, but one of the biggest is the overly apparent gay agenda being shoved down our throats. The black community isn’t comfortable or ready to just wholeheartedly accept gay people in their television shows and movies.
This was the sentiment expressed before Empire aired on television during testing various focus groups. When the first gay kiss was introduced between Jamal (played by Jussie Smollett) and his same sex boy friend Michael (Rafael de La Fuente), the ratings plummeted.
Cecilia Kang, Washington Post entertainment reporter, sat down with HuffPost Live to discuss the series and revealed the ratings dip during the testing phase.
From Cecilia Kang on the Huff Post Live Show:
[ADSENSE2]“The test audiences they showed this to…the ratings plummeted,” she said. “They did not like that scene at all.”
But much to the show’s creators’ credit, they refused to remove the scene.
She went on to cite the discussion with the co-creators, saying they are aiming to “push buttons with this show” and deal with “real issues, rich topics that really resonate.”
Empires Ratings This Week
True to their word, the creators of the show refused to take out the gay kissing scenes between the male actors and let them fly in this weeks episode. However, it didn’t have the effect many thought it would with homophobia being so rampant in the black community.
In fact, Empire continued to thrive and push the ratings records with an unprecedented 6th straight week of audience growth. This is unheard of and proof television isn’t a dying medium, but the content needs to be altered for audiences willing to watch.
With 11.9 million viewers this week, Empire has risen each week in viewership it has aired. The .1 increase isn’t huge, but another solid week of growth for the Fox show.
Like it or lump it, looks like Empire is here to stay despite the stereotypes that the black community will not embrace a show with homosexual characters.
What is gay anyway? How do the LBGT’s define it? I am confused. How are we supposed to accept something that goes against our belief system without proof it really exists?
Let me break it down. The only difference I see is that the LBGT so-called community is their sexual preferences and sexualy gratification without consequences (post AID’s). It’s like having your cake a eating it too. ( No pun intended). So the LGBT say they were born this way. Where the proof? The only proof I see is the visual presentation and wanting/demaining acceptance. So what do you say to a pedophile a rapist a serial killer and others that say I was born this way, so you should accept it? It so diluted to a point of absurdity. Somebody got a secret agenda going on?
I’m just saying