Good Times. Marsai Martin as Grey in Good Times. Cr. COURTESY OF NETFLIX © 2024
Netflix’s model new animated sitcom is out now globally, and it’s truthful to say there’s been some backlash at not solely the execution of the brand new present based mostly on the Nineteen Seventies basic but in addition the concept of rebooting it within the first place. What’s the controversy about it, and the way have the folks behind the present reacted?
It should be stated when the present was first introduced, it didn’t entice an excessive amount of warmth from followers of the unique and leisure junkies at massive. However, folks had ideas when the first appears dropped in late March 2024 forward of its April twelfth premiere. Those have been amplified additional when the official trailer for the present dropped on March twenty seventh, 2024.
At the time of publishing, that trailer has over 50,000 dislikes to the 5.8k likes. As the children would say, it’s been ratioed.
So, what’s the crux of individuals’s issues with the present? It boils right down to a number of components. First, it’s value wanting on the originals and themes it covers.
Airing between 1974 and 1979, the unique had potent social commentary along with its signature humor. At the middle of the present was poverty, with the present specializing in a lower-income household dwelling in a housing challenge—one of many first to do that within the mainstream. The present additionally tackled racial points, crime, training, household, and unemployment.
When the primary photos have been launched, the remark part of our preview had some folks with cautious optimism however many questioned why Hollywood was attempting to reboot a basic. One of the extra optimistic folks in our feedback was Sapphie Trojan who posted:
“That will be awesome if it keeps the same premise as the original by tackling issues with comedic grace. I still watch re runs the appeal an sad fact that we have the same problems now as they had then. One of which is black history not being taught as well as standardized testing. Excited to see what they have come up with.”
Then the trailer dropped.
Following that, an eruption of controversy broke out throughout the web.
The commentary neighborhood, significantly on YouTube, has been very forthright in sharing its opinions on the animated collection. Tiffany Byrd Harrison has one of many most-watched movies in regards to the topic titled “Netflix keeps playing in our face with this TRASH.”
Finding the trailer disrespectful and uninspired, the YouTuber states that what’s proven to date is stuffed with offensive stereotypes and includes a full lack of progressive themes. Other sticking factors have been having Steph Curry and Seth MacFarland’s involvement plus the very idea of getting a drug-dealing child.
There’s lots extra studying up on the controversy to do however that video summarizes the largest points most have with it. For additional studying, we’d recommend testing Philip Lewis’s Tweet, which has amassed over 29.9M views and has loads of reactions.
Ahead of the launch, the collection drew criticism from the head of the NAACP and whereas the sitcom’s authentic forged in the end have been holding off for the complete collection to launch, they weren’t optimistic.
How have the creators responded to the backlash to Good Times?
Carl Jones, who was concerned with the challenge from the early days, has been vocal about distancing himself from the challenge regardless of nonetheless being labeled as a co-creator. In a Tweet on March twenty eighth, the famed producer behind the likes of The Boondocks and Black Dynamite stated:
“For the record I was involved with the Good Times animated series in the very VERY beginning but due to creative differences, I had to walk away. So I haven’t even seen one episode or script of this version of the show…”
Alyson Fouse, who wrote on the present, stated that she hopes folks will try the ultimate product, saying:
“I wrote for this project, so I know it’s a different generation of the Evans family living in the same circumstances. Only with animation you get to leave the apartment. I hope it does well and that people will at least stop making assumptions before they watch it. Or don’t.”
Star of the present Yvette Nicole Brown responded to a fan asking why she hooked up herself to such a challenge in a Tweet:
This model of #GoodTimes is edgier and extra irreverent than the Good Times of our childhood, but it surely’s nonetheless a present about household, combating the system and dealing to make issues higher regardless of the place you begin out on this planet. That 100% strains up with my values. https://t.co/4lNRbMhxK2
— yvette nicole brown (@YNB) March 27, 2024
How nicely will Good Times carry out on Netflix? We’ll need to see within the coming weeks and months. Still, after Netflix has had a string of failures within the grownup animated house within the comedy house particularly (Blue Eye Samurai is one of many latest successes), it’ll be fascinating to see if this one nets a season 2 renewal (or whether or not it’s been given an upfront order for extra).
What’s your opinion on Netflix’s new Good Times reboot? Let us know within the feedback down under.