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

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

#371

Post by disneygibson »

yaacov wrote: post #333
disneygibson wrote: post #152

This just makes me sad. We seem to be returning to a segregated society with separate services for every ethnic group. It’s not the “melting pot” idea of America that I was raised with, where everyone contributes their own unique culture to a unified American whole. That was the brilliance of American identity, which is now fracturing at an accelerated rate.

Black people mostly aren’t immigrants and it’s not fair to demand that they assimilate if they don’t want to. America forcibly enslaved black people for hundreds of years, then excluded them from our society and political process for a few generations, it’s not surprising that they developed their own culture.

Assimilation implies giving up your culture for a new one. That isn’t the melting pot idea, which is about giving and taking.

Otherwise I don’t really get the solution. Don’t try to integrate different cultures, thereby continuing to exclude them?

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

#372

Post by imbnwa »

fnord77 wrote: post #324
f6v wrote: post #2

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

it's pretty bad. Not just on race. Youngest vs Young vs middle age vs old. leftist vs liberal vs conservative vs rightwing. LGBT vs non-LGBT. Working-class vs white collar class. nortnern states vs southern states. California vs flyover states. hipsters vs squares. punks vs. preps. It's really tiresome.

Really? Hipsters vs Squares is an equivocal history to that of LGBTQ+/Straight socio-political dynamics, or dare I say, the history of racial dynamics? Did you consult any queer folk on that one? Did you ask any Black folk about that?

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

#373

Post by skyde »

liotier wrote: post #273
mattlondon wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Where I work (US-company, but I work outside of US) it is similarly weird to me. We appear to have gone backwards in the past 5-10 years in my view - no longer can you just be "you", but now it feels like we have to be labelled, categorised, and segregated into different groups. We now have to make a big deal and a big song-and-dance to highlight our differences and define what our ethnic backgrounds are (app…

I'm typical French and my daughters' mother is African... I had to explain to my daughters the whole concept of race categories and I struggled because it seemed ridiculous and aberrant to them - it is alien to their multicultural daily life. They would laugh at having to chose between being black or white. I don't understand how Americans tolerate being categorized this way. My category: "Other" - always.

Most people of dark skin color also don’t try to isolate themself from the rest of the population. But USA is special it is now trendy to try to tell other you are the biggest victim. And it’s easier for the black community to win this battle and officially be the biggest victim. I watched “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” as a kid and absolutely loved it. But today’s show about black African American try drill in people heads that black are different and always victim of racism. It might be true but it make the tv show extremely boring for everyone black and white.

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

#374

Post by masterof0 »

afavour wrote: post #39
f6v wrote: post #2

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

I don't know what country you're from but if you don't think there are subcultures in your country under-represented by the dominant media I'd assert you're almost definitely wrong. Perhaps it feels a little strange from the outside that such a subculture is definitively "black" but yeah, that's basically how things are in the US. The country has a deep history of racism and black people being literal slaves, in that…

Nah, in the US is pretty bad, I have lived in Europe for a long time, and in Asia for a few years, we, here in the US make sure you understand your place, as a x (black, latino, asian, white, .....) Everything you do, from applying for a job , to getting your kids in school, requires you to write your race in a piece of paper. You get all the time , this product X for that race, that other thing Z for this other race, etc... Is like you are not Juan, you are the Mexican guy that lives here. And obviously you get labeled with all the stereotypes as well. If you are white(or any other race), and you feel sorry for other races, maybe just leaving them alone is a start, and stop classifying us like dog breeds.

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

#375

Post by volandovengo »

There are a lot of efforts to increase diversity in media.

One effort that has been happening is providing incentives to have diverse top of the line staff on productions so that they share their stories and angle on things.

We at wrapbook (https://www.wrapbook.com) at making it easy for productions to measure their diverse staff so that we can incentivize diversity down the line.

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

#376

Post by rootusrootus »

unixhero wrote: post #165
f6v wrote: post #2

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

The US must be sooooo ripped apart by now.

That is the impression you get if you only experience life through media.

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

#377

Post by kadabra9 »

KittenInABox wrote: post #226
kadabra9 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Realistically though, how many white people would pay for a platform with all black content, one that they are told is explicitly not for them?

My understanding is that they may not need to cater to white people, but they also don't need to exclude them either. Black hair often has a texture that requires specialized hair products and the people who make them can make a ton of money. It isn't excluding white people to cater to black people.

I'm not saying they're excluding them. Black hair products are a great analogy actually. Virtually no white people buy them, and virtually no white people will sub to a platform like this. There will likely be slightly more white subscribers to Black Oak than there are white users of black hair care products, but my point is the number will be very small. That's OK. Its not marketed to them.

Black hair products can be a thriving business, just as this potentially can be as well.

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

#378

Post by fny »

Some feedback:

1. What is your cost per episode? Can your subscription fee sustain realistically sustain that?

2. Your design needs improvement, at least on desktop. Haven't looked at the apps yet. If you expect "product" do be your differentiator, there's a LOT of work. Also, I'm not sure this is a sufficient competitive advantage. (a) its replicable (b) I've never seen this as a reason for people to pick one content provider over another: content is king.

3. Do you plan to incorporate content from existing content providers or remain purely indie?

4. A lot of the shows are short and production quality varies. Do you have any concern that people might consume all the "good" content of interest and now have anything else to watch?

5. You all have some filters that aren't meaningful like "Author". These authors are so niche, I have never heard of them, making the filter useless. There's also a draft filter showing up!

6. You need to make it easier for people to sample content before going through the friction of installing an app or registering. Maybe a trailer plus the first 5 minutes of an episode? Right now I don't feel compelled to watch anything else or sign up because the page is a little janky and I can't really tell what some of the shows are about from the trailers.

7. Netflix had the initial advantage of not focusing on content creation, and instead leveraged existing content. Why not solely focus on distribution instead of cutting checks to creators for original content?

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

#379

Post by LordHumungous »

nix23 wrote: post #136
racl101 wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly. Nobody complains about the Latino channels on TV. lol

Out of curiosity, do all black people in the US have the same cultural background? Or is it just the skin color?

Yes, except for more recent African immigrants.

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

#380

Post by Ninjinka »

mattlondon wrote: post #228
f6v wrote: post #2

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

Agreed. Where I work (US-company, but I work outside of US) it is similarly weird to me. We appear to have gone backwards in the past 5-10 years in my view - no longer can you just be "you", but now it feels like we have to be labelled, categorised, and segregated into different groups. We now have to make a big deal and a big song-and-dance to highlight our differences and define what our ethnic backgrounds are (app…

You just gave the argument against critical race theory.
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