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

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

#341

Post by chrisofspades » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 3:46 PM UTC

ethbr0 wrote: post #151

afavour wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

It depends on where parent is from. There are a lot of relatively monolithic countries from an ethnic perspective. To the broader point, I think what Uzo is talking about is "representation." Which doesn't just mean "some type of person on the screen." It means the full diversity of experiences and aspirations of that type of person... on the screen. Living Single isn't Friends with African Americans. It's African Am…

> Living Single isn't Friends with African Americans.

Implies that Living Single came after Friends, but it debuted the year before.

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

#342

Post by jb775 » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 3:47 PM UTC

jhcxdfb wrote: post #244

spaniard89277 wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 What constitutes under-repressented? Is proportionally represented ok? I mean, I'm one of those "subcultures" and honestly I don't feel the need to be represented in media. I'm ok with it, but I don't see what does it bring to me or to m…

Well, some Americans, like myself, have hoped that the vision of the melting pot would come to pass instead of this new segregation movement. But it seems that the Woke movement wants us to resegregate: don't share culture, that's cultural appropriation. Don't move to an area that isn't your racial makeup, that's gentrification. Don't hire people who are white, if you can help it. That's inclusion. Create institution…

The WOKE crowd is literally making everything worse in America. They act like they care about certain subcultures, but gentrify those subcultures out of their own lives and indirectly take advantage of them. They probably represent less than 5% of Americans, but no one wants to deal with the downside of telling them to shut the hell up and that they're fake people.

"Bobo's in Paradise" and "Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy are good books to explain what's really going on.

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

#343

Post by disneygibson » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 3:47 PM UTC

yaacov wrote: post #327

disneygibson wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most “white” people in America today were not considered so 100-150 years ago. Irish, Slavs, Eastern Europeans, Italians, Jews, Levantine Arabs, and pretty much everyone other than English, Germans and French. My point is that this identity was expanded to be inclusive in order to build social cohesion. That was a good thing, but now let’s rename it to just “American” and include all ethnic groups, instead of going b…

The word ‘white’ means a lot of different things. Those groups may not have been considered white socially but they were always legally white for the purposes of immigration, not being enslaved, not being subjected to Jim Crow.

As a result, populations poorly represented in 1890 were prevented from immigrating in proportionate numbers—especially affecting Italians, Greeks and Eastern European Jews, as well as Poles and other Slavs.[1][3][4] According to the US Department of State's Office of the Historian, the purpose of the act was "to preserve the ideal of U.S. homogeneity."

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1924

Of course they didn’t have it as bad as black Americans, but that isn’t the topic of this discussion.

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

#344

Post by mikevm » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 3:47 PM UTC

warent wrote: post #277

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…

The problem is that white Americans don't have the same American experience as black Americans, which is where the divide comes from and it creates another culture. It's been getting a lot better, but there are still two legal systems, two education systems, etc. My perspective as a white man is that when black people create something for themselves like this, it's reclaiming the power. Like how they use the N word w…

The thing is that no one has the same experience as anyone else. Do all "white people" have the same life experience? That's just absurd.

Ask yourself this, what makes Blacks in America different than Jews or Asians? Heck, the Jews are probably the minority who has suffered the most historically (and still does, btw!), and they managed to integrate quite well.

What has the gov't done to help Jews or Asians advance that it hasn't done for Blacks? Nothing.

I think it's time to look for other solutions, rather than keep blaming the amorphous "white man" for all problems.

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

#345

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 3:48 PM UTC

bxjaii wrote: post #271

afavour wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

[flagged]

[deleted]

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

#346

Post by dragontamer » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 3:48 PM UTC

jonhohle wrote: post #310

mc32 wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah people used to say video games and violence on TV had no effect on people -that is was just made up worlds and allowed people to role play, etc… now they are admitting there is influence and it does affect people…

As a teen in the early 90s, I distinctly remember significant campaigns against violence represented in TV, movies, video games, and music. There were several congressional hearings demonizing Mortal Kombat, rap music, Doom, etc. Now as a parent with a tween and younger kids, my understanding of the current state of the science is that there still is no overwhelming consensus on increased violence related to media, h…

> 30 years later Mortal Kombat is the number one fighting game franchise of all time

Smash Bros and Street Fighter are probably more popular actually.

Mortal Kombat really, really sucked between 3 and 7. MK started to get good again around 8, but really it was "Injustice" (which used Mortal Kombat's engine) that made people start taking MK seriously again.

MK9 is a modern, competitive fighter. But its not as well respected as other games: Street Fighter, Tekken, Smash Bros even. Japan has a real arcade scene (or at least, it did before COVID19 struck), so the games that have proven themselves in the public arcades are more fundamentally competitive than American games like MK9 or Killer Instinct.

I dunno how Smash Bros became so popular though.

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Honestly, the extreme violence of Mortal Kombat is a big turnoff to the competitive crowd IMO (much like the extreme "sexiness" of Dead or Alive is also a turnoff). Its good for carving out a niche, but... I don't think people actually like seeing the characters they attach themselves to die.

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There was a study I saw: its not that violent video games cause violence. Its that violent individuals choose violent video games.

In a mainstream setting, you'll just gross people out with a lot of the Mortal Kombat stuff. I think kids like it (because they like seeing their parents get grossed out). Otherwise, when adults get together to play fighting games... "Injustice" seems to be more popular than Mortal Kombat, despite Mortal Kombat being the mainline game and Injustice the DC-superhero "skin".

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Now that I'm an adult, here's my viewpoint on the whole thing. Children like breaking taboos. Adults don't like it when Children break taboos (children should listen to Adults). I feel like Adults sometimes make up stories for why children should listen to them, but this only encourages more taboo-breaking behavior from kids. That's why Mortal Kombat is such a draw for me when I was younger (I knew my parents didn't like it, but that was part of the charm).

Similarly, I see my sister freak out about her daughter playing Mortal Kombat (despite me and my sister playing MK back when we were her age) and turn off the game. My sister claims that the improved graphics make it different... but my eyes see the same thing. Her daughter likes breaking taboos and sometimes not listening to her mom, and playing MK is an avenue to do so.

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

#347

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 3:49 PM UTC

jonhohle wrote: post #310

mc32 wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah people used to say video games and violence on TV had no effect on people -that is was just made up worlds and allowed people to role play, etc… now they are admitting there is influence and it does affect people…

As a teen in the early 90s, I distinctly remember significant campaigns against violence represented in TV, movies, video games, and music. There were several congressional hearings demonizing Mortal Kombat, rap music, Doom, etc. Now as a parent with a tween and younger kids, my understanding of the current state of the science is that there still is no overwhelming consensus on increased violence related to media, h…

[deleted]

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

#348

Post by menzoic » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 3:49 PM UTC

warent wrote: post #277

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…

The problem is that white Americans don't have the same American experience as black Americans, which is where the divide comes from and it creates another culture. It's been getting a lot better, but there are still two legal systems, two education systems, etc. My perspective as a white man is that when black people create something for themselves like this, it's reclaiming the power. Like how they use the N word w…

Freeman recanted that statement. You can't solve bad culture by not taking about it. It will just thrive. Imagine a corporation had a toxic culture. In what way could not talking about it ever fix the company culture? The toxic people would just thrive. Would sexism and sexual harrasment just end if we stopped talking about it? The only thing close to what he said that would make sense is if parents and media stopped teaching their kids racists ideals both consciously and subconsciously.

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

#349

Post by endisneigh » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 3:49 PM UTC

tomp wrote: post #253

Wow, I didn't think YCombinator was so eager to jump on the racism train! What's next, Funeral services for Jews ?

What would be wrong with that? Different ethnic groups have different expectations for what a funeral means.

You couldn’t have picked a worse example lmao

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

#350

Post by chemeng » Fri, Aug 06, 2021, 3:49 PM UTC

brownerd wrote: post #166

chemeng wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it’s very interesting that “X for Women” seems non-controversial to most people, but “X for [underserved group]” brings out the trolls en masse.

Perhaps if you tried to approach people with different views from you with an open mind and genuinely listened instead of calling them "trolls" you'd learn more interesting things. If you study the history of the world, "tribalism" in some sense is a common theme throughout all cultures, many wars and many injustices. It might have been "Protestant vs Catholic" or "Sunni vs Shiite" or "Serb vs Croat" or whichever tri…

My point was more a question/observation as to why this is contentious, but "X for Women" is not seen as contentious.

While I don't appreciate your condescending tone. I agree with you that "tribalism" is generally problematic. However, you'll also find that "tribalism" has also been essential throughout history for the persistence of marginalized people and their cultures. There is an inherent tension in many places and times throughout history between identity and assimilation.

> but to remove the power and significance of racial identifiers entirely.

The issue is not the power of the identifier, but the difference in societal treatment, amassed wealth and political power that flows along racial and socioeconomic lines.

Which brings me back to my original point, why do we not see the same ire when talking about resources directly aimed at specific underserved needs of women?