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Afrostream is shutting down

okayafrica.com

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Re: Afrostream is shutting down

#41

Post by hsod »

watwut wrote: post #23
magic_beans wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a black person, sometimes I just want to watch a sitcom about regular black people, doing regular things. You'd think I'd be able to find this on streaming services. We have Atlanta and Insecure and Blackish now, but those are all tokens of their networks. BET and other Afro-centric networks/streaming services cater to that need for black people to escape from the constant bombardment of white lives and white issu…

Question from non-american: do you perceive there being difference between show about regular black people doing regular things and show about regular white people doing things? What is different? Besides skin color and hair style.

Are you asking if there's a "black culture" in America that is distinct from "American culture" or "white culture"? Because if so, the answer is yes.

Re: Afrostream is shutting down

#42

Post by zghst »

magic_beans wrote: post #14
whalesalad wrote: post #4

The mission behind a company like this is admirable, but I can't help but feel like it is the wrong approach to diversity. It reminds me of BET... why would we want to segregate content to one specific channel or network? It feels backwards to me. True diversity would be having this content everywhere. A service like this is almost like a specialty kitchen item. My fiancée is a stickler for this stuff and it is somet…

As a black person, sometimes I just want to watch a sitcom about regular black people, doing regular things. You'd think I'd be able to find this on streaming services. We have Atlanta and Insecure and Blackish now, but those are all tokens of their networks. BET and other Afro-centric networks/streaming services cater to that need for black people to escape from the constant bombardment of white lives and white issu…

BET is a horror agglomeration of MTV, E! news, and crude commentary so prevalent on the internet today. Show after show features a display infantile and disgraceful behavior, which I am sure that most rational, educated people would not enjoy. I'm black and I'm not even going to pretend that I enjoy the portrayals on TV as a stunted, emotionally-challenged stooge that is ever pervading on cable TV today.

Why marginalize us to an ethnocentric echo chamber free from exchange of values, aspirations, and customs? Content creators can just keep hitting repeat on the same political, depressive drama from the 20th century (which we have not progressed from). What I dream is for popular TV shows to have a black lead, where not every character has to be black, nor words spoken in a "black" vernacular, nor a need for the show to be transmuted into a platform for social justice or black values. We need shows with black leads that rival enterprises like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Simpsons, etc. I want something that everyone can get behind and imagine themselves as being.

As an individual of African descent, I stand against the attitude of viewing the world through a bitter lens of color, where issues are "white" or "black". Their issues are our issues and vice versa. That is that. We all live in the same society, we are all entangled, exposed to the negatives and pressures of prevalent problems. There's no need for anymore juvenile "us vs them" dialogue in this society.

Re: Afrostream is shutting down

#43

Post by zghst »

hsod wrote: post #41
watwut wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question from non-american: do you perceive there being difference between show about regular black people doing regular things and show about regular white people doing things? What is different? Besides skin color and hair style.

Are you asking if there's a "black culture" in America that is distinct from "American culture" or "white culture"? Because if so, the answer is yes.

I take this question much more lightly, as OP's innuendo leaves it unclear to what qualifies as normal behavior

Re: Afrostream is shutting down

#44

Post by purple-again »

hsod wrote: post #41
watwut wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Question from non-american: do you perceive there being difference between show about regular black people doing regular things and show about regular white people doing things? What is different? Besides skin color and hair style.

Are you asking if there's a "black culture" in America that is distinct from "American culture" or "white culture"? Because if so, the answer is yes.

There is no "black culture" or "white culture" there are many cultures and thanks to historical reasons people mostly still segregate themselves racially. The culture of inner city black Chicago and the culture of rural black Florida have very little in common. Both are predominately black but you will find that the culture of inner city white Chicago to be closer to the culture of inner city Black Chicago than rural Florida black culture is.

Re: Afrostream is shutting down

#45

Post by 40acres »

I've never heard of this product but it's sad to see it not work out. There is a huge gap when it comes to black media representation in the United States specifically and I believe it will be a huge opportunity to whoever can tap into it's potential. Black millennials in particular are such a driver of culture in America it's surprising to see how little they are catered to in terms of product. Especially in regards to social media, the impact of Black Twitter is well documented. Also, for anyone who used Vine it seemed like Black creators were really the base of the content that Vine was known for.

Re: Afrostream is shutting down

#46

Post by uncletaco »

purple-again wrote: post #44
hsod wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you asking if there's a "black culture" in America that is distinct from "American culture" or "white culture"? Because if so, the answer is yes.

There is no "black culture" or "white culture" there are many cultures and thanks to historical reasons people mostly still segregate themselves racially. The culture of inner city black Chicago and the culture of rural black Florida have very little in common. Both are predominately black but you will find that the culture of inner city white Chicago to be closer to the culture of inner city Black Chicago than rural…

> The culture of inner city black Chicago and the culture of rural black Florida have very little in common.

I went to an HBCU and honestly the biggest cultural difference was accent and tolerance for the southern heat. Sure you got skaters who showed up in skinny jeans or gamers who came in with their arcade sticks, but nobody ever grouped off like --say-- minority students usually do at majority institutions. My two best friends were from Atlanta and St. Louis and we bonded through late night Street Fighter sessions and DBZ reruns.

Re: Afrostream is shutting down

#47

Post by reaperducer »

dylz wrote: post #37
sandGorgon wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what is the kind of infrastructure that needs to be built ? Very curious to know what are the big tech challenges if someone wants to build a VOD startup in a niche. How did Viki make it ?

Here are some tech challenges, this is strictly my opinion and shouldn’t be read too deeply, just a casual observation during lunch. My background is (as a hobby) I’ve built medium-sized >700m PV/m esports analytics apps targetted for Asia, covering CN/most of SEA, and have had to get local connectivity and local hosting as an "outsider" These countries are fairly insular. China: GFW (we all know about this), ICP lic…

I feel ya. You have no idea how much I've paid in bribes to do even basic things in Thailand.

And a company I used to work for frequently had the same problem with Mexico. Traveling two and from on business led to frequent searches and impounding of very expensive equipment unless a bribe was paid. We started writing it off as an "airport tax."

Re: Afrostream is shutting down

#48

Post by mikeh1010 »

40acres wrote: post #45

I've never heard of this product but it's sad to see it not work out. There is a huge gap when it comes to black media representation in the United States specifically and I believe it will be a huge opportunity to whoever can tap into it's potential. Black millennials in particular are such a driver of culture in America it's surprising to see how little they are catered to in terms of product. Especially in regards…

Yes agreed. I'd also argue that black millennials (and younger) aren't just drivers of culture, they're also tech early adopters! Vine is a great example, Worldstar is a somewhat notorious example, BlackPlanet... those are just off the top of my head.

Re: Afrostream is shutting down

#49

Post by uncletaco »

zghst wrote: post #42
magic_beans wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a black person, sometimes I just want to watch a sitcom about regular black people, doing regular things. You'd think I'd be able to find this on streaming services. We have Atlanta and Insecure and Blackish now, but those are all tokens of their networks. BET and other Afro-centric networks/streaming services cater to that need for black people to escape from the constant bombardment of white lives and white issu…

BET is a horror agglomeration of MTV, E! news, and crude commentary so prevalent on the internet today. Show after show features a display infantile and disgraceful behavior, which I am sure that most rational, educated people would not enjoy. I'm black and I'm not even going to pretend that I enjoy the portrayals on TV as a stunted, emotionally-challenged stooge that is ever pervading on cable TV today. Why marginal…

> BET is a horror agglomeration of MTV, E! news, and crude commentary so prevalent on the internet today.

Its almost like the corporations that own those channels are trying to repeat their success except by targeting a niche group.

> What I dream is for popular TV shows to have a black lead, where not every character has to be black, nor words spoken in a "black" vernacular, nor a need for the show to be transmuted into a platform for social justice or black values.

Scandal.

> We need shows with black leads that rival enterprises like Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Simpsons, etc. I want something that everyone can get behind and imagine themselves as being.

They tried with M.A.N.T.I.S, Spawn: The Animation, Blade: The Series, and Cleopatra 2525. They succeeded with Star Trek: Deep Space 9.

Not only that but the middle class has pretty much been hollowed out in Hollywood. Its hard to make a movie or television show unless its supposed to garner awards (for which message movies/shows are generally shoe ins) or is meant to appeal to the widest audience possible.

Re: Afrostream is shutting down

#50

Post by magic_beans »

watwut wrote: post #23
magic_beans wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a black person, sometimes I just want to watch a sitcom about regular black people, doing regular things. You'd think I'd be able to find this on streaming services. We have Atlanta and Insecure and Blackish now, but those are all tokens of their networks. BET and other Afro-centric networks/streaming services cater to that need for black people to escape from the constant bombardment of white lives and white issu…

Question from non-american: do you perceive there being difference between show about regular black people doing regular things and show about regular white people doing things? What is different? Besides skin color and hair style.

It's the difference between watching Atlanta or even Masters of None and watching Friends or Girls.

Black people and people of color experience the world differently from white people. Sometimes it's nice to see those struggles shared on TV.

That's not to say I don't like watching Girls or Friends, but it's great to see people of color living their lives on TV too.

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