Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people • Hacker News Board

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#101

Post by GordonS » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #31

josteink wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seconding this. And imagine the outrage if someone had made “X for white people”. There’d be riots in streets. The bizarreness and racist double standard behind this is just astounding seen from the outside.

Huh? They do make TV for white people. There's Polish TV, there's Russian TV, there's German TV, name it. It's rude to troll on someone's Launch thread.

Having an opinion is not trolling - I would guess the OP wants honest feedback.

Personally, I'm divided on how I feel about this launch, but if there is a market for it anywhere, it's the US, with its deep-rooted racial divisions and disparities.

The comparisons you are making seem very different, as they are based on language and global geography, rather than skin colour.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#102

Post by hn8788 » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

alasano wrote: post #54

It feels like people (early on in this thread) are more offended because of the chosen phrasing in the title? Are those same people offended by BET? With the accompanying explanation by Uzo0312, how is this racist? "For black people" does not mean "Not for any other people". I want to watch great content and if Blackoak produces it, I'll watch it like I would with any other provider. The fact that they'll encourage a…

My issue with "for black people" isn't that it's exclusionary against other races, but that it implies all black people are a culturally homogenous group. Just changing the description to "Netflix for black creators" would be more descriptive of the actual service, and doesn't imply "if you're a black person, these are the shows you should like".

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#103

Post by salamanderman » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

kitcar wrote: post #35

Out of curiosity - you mention that in the 90's there were a number of TV shows featuring prominent black characters but there isn't anymore. Why did you decide the solution to that problem was to create a black-focused distribution platform, instead of production company focused on creating new shows of similar quality to those in the 90's - has something changed about the market that would prevent shows like those…

Netflix was a distribution platform before it became a production company as well. If you have a revue stream from existing content then you have the money to make content. Also, if minorities have content that they want to be seen, they'll potentially have a better shot here because of the focus. So from this website's perspective, there might not be a shortage of content to licence right out of the gate, compared to what they could create themselves. Also, it sounds like they know how to make websites.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#104

Post by mrits » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

tptacek wrote: post #91

throwaway2037 wrote: post #72

Can any French, Belgians, or Dutchies with significant Black African sub-culture comment? I am curious: If there was a French-language or Flemish-/Dutch-language "Netflix for black people" in your country, what would be the reaction?

French people of African descent are not culturally the same as American Black people. Black culture is unique in that it was created artificially by kidnapping millions of people from the African content and stripping them of their cultures, family ties, and names, prompting those people to construct a new culture (while uniting them for another 100 years in the experience of apartheid and the civil rights movement)…

"Black culture is unique in that it was created artificially by kidnapping millions of people from the African content and stripping them of their cultures, family ties, and names, prompting those people to construct a new culture."

That certainly isn't unique.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#105

Post by werber » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

hn8788 wrote: post #49

runjake wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't call it a cultural divide (despite what our media wants), I would call America more a collection of cultures and I love being exposed to multiple different cultures just outside my proverbial front door. That said, this is a great idea and I wish this company the best. I'd love to see something similar for the Hispanic community, as well.

"Netflix for black people" implies that the color of someone's skin determines so much about their personality that they need their own separate streaming service to watch shows on. I don't see how this is any improvement over the existing streaming services that already include a ton of indie content from a lot of different cultures.

They explictly say that they're trying to break out of homogenous black programming. Obviously being black doesn't correlate to a consistent personality, but it does in many ways lead to a shared experience that someone who is not black has not had.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#106

Post by zwieback » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

commandlinefan wrote: post #53

zwieback wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

100% agree. How is it racist to offer something as a business, it's not like it's a government or other public project. We already have BET so this is just a similar offering in a different format. "Netflix for black people" might not be a good choice as a tagline, though.

> How is it racist to offer something as a business, it's not like it's a government or other public project I've seen people suggest that censorship is only censorship if the government does it, but suggesting that racism is only racism when the government does it too is a first.

You might want to parse out my sentence again. There's tons of racism perpetuated by businesses but I don't think this is one of them

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#107

Post by h3daz » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

jandrese wrote: post #88

h3daz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My only problem with marketing "X for black people" is that marketing "X for white people" isn't socially acceptable.

You say this like the Hallmark channel or Lifetime don't exist.

I am not familiar with those channels since I'm not american, but I am fairly certain that they are not marketed as "for white people".

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#108

Post by cblackthornekc » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:47 PM UTC

f6v wrote: post #2

“X for black people” sounds so bizarre to me(non-American). The cultural divide between the people must be insane.

If you are generally curious about why this is something that is required, I suggest "Trigger Warning with Killer Mike" on Netflix. Specifically the first episode which deals with Mike trying to get to a concert only using black products and services.

Long story short: The average lifespan of the dollar is approximately 28 days in Asian communities, 19 days in Jewish communities, 17 days in white communities — and just six hours in Black communities. Meaning after that time, that dollar has to go into another community for a product or service.

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#109

Post by knicholes » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:48 PM UTC

sokoloff wrote: post #37

f6v wrote: post #2

“X for black people” sounds so bizarre to me(non-American). The cultural divide between the people must be insane.

BET wasn’t offensive me. Telemundo wasn’t offensive to me. Nickelodeon wasn’t offensive to me. Food Network wasn’t offensive to me. Serving targeted programming to an identifiable minority audience seems like a perfectly reasonable business (and social) proposition. I don’t know that “Netflix for Black People” will test well, but it seems perfectly fine to me. [white middle-aged male if context matters]. Edit to add:…

It kind of assumes that all black people will like these kinds of shows, like Nickelodeon assumed that all kids would like their shows. In a world where diversity is so celebrated, I find it odd to try to show black people only other black people. Kids like kids shows because the content is more suited for kids. I know the original poster said they felt good seeing the shows with black people in the 90s, but can't those shows be found on other platforms?

Maybe some black people like to see shows with diversity, too.

In some other post someone was commenting how their wife, who is a director of advertising, got complaints for using a white female hand for an advertisement. I proposed using profile information to show people advertisements of people that matched themselves, but that was met with disdain in HN. It was argued that we need more diversity, not pigeonholes for people to be isolated in their subcultures.

Honestly when I read the title, I immediately thought, "Drinking fountains for black people."

Re: Launch HN: BlackOakTV (YC S21) – Netflix for black people

#110

Post by brownerd » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 2:48 PM UTC

Ethically, I wouldn't want to work at a company which profits from encouraging the segregation by race which has unfortunately become socially acceptable again, but clearly many on HN have embraced the paradoxical double-standards where segregation and discrimination on the basis of color of skin is good as long as it's done for/against the right groups.

As a purely business concern, it seems like you're going to struggle against an already crowded marketplace. Netflix is already "Netflix for black people" (as are Hulu, Prime Video, etc). They've been focused on creating and promoting that content for years and already have multiple categories based on race, gender, sexuality, ethnic background, etc. Do you expect users to switch away from those services or add another service on top of the existing ones?