Whether it be movies, TV shows, or music, it’s no secret that we’re living through an artistic era of reboots, remakes, retakes, and occasional remistakes (yes, I made that up). Some are hits; some are misses. And as consumers of art, we typical fall on one of two sides of the “let’s do it again” spectrum: team “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” or team “omg, I loved that so much I can’t wait to experience it all over again!”
I myself am typically team “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” which is why I cringed extra hard when a television series based on the hit 1992 romantic comedy Boomerang was announced. Boomerang tells the story of Marcus Graham (Eddie Murphy), a successful advertisement executive who also happens to be a notorious womanizer. He ultimately has the tables turned on him when he gets played by his new boss Jacqueline (Robin Givens) and experiences genuine love for the first time with an artist by the name of Angela (Halle Berry).
As a fan of the movie, I was terrified to check out the show. Because 1). A Boomerang reboot wasn’t necessary, and 2). It’s BET (no shade, but y’all saw what they did to ‘The Game’). However, Lena Waithe has whipped up something quite special for us because the show is actually dope! Here’s a few reasons why you should be watching Boomerang on BET:
1. Role Reversals – Staying true to the concept of the film, Boomerang features what we would consider a swap in gender roles. The series follows alpha female Simone, daughter of Marcus and Angela from the original movie, and sensitive, well-meaning Bryson, son of Jacqueline. Both are trying to follow in the footsteps of their parents’ success while dealing with the complexities of their own relationship: lifelong friends who clearly have deeper feelings for each other but can’t quite get it together. What’s interesting is that it’s Simone who’s unwilling to commit and would rather keep a FWB on deck (truly her daddy’s daughter) while Bryson is the one putting himself through emotional turmoil trying to cope with his love for her. Honestly, it’s a nice shake up from the typical girl-wants-boy-more-than-boy-wants-her-even-though-she-can-do-so-much-better story line we’re more accustomed to seeing.
2. Representation – I love how this show features black mid-twenty-somethings out here getting it. And there’s literally somebody for everybody. In addition to power hungry Simone and idealistic dreamer Bryson, there’s Tia, a lesbian stripper and aspiring rapper, Crystal, Simone’s best friend and recent divorcee, David, Crystal’s ex-husband and a preacher, and Ari, a bisexual digital producer. Though diverse, these characters are woven together in a believable way – not like those old school standardized test questions where Kwan, Keisha, Miguel, and Chad work on fractions together. This friend group comes off as natural.
3. Relatable and Relevant – This is an exchange between Bryson and Crystal from the first episode:
Bryson: “You know what black millennials want?”
Crystal: “Someone to pay their student loans.”
Bryson: “We want it all. We want to be great at work. We want to have the perfect partner. We want the fly crib, we want the dope view. We wanna buy our mama a house. We want to show up at church every week just to make sure that we get into heaven. If we want to be great at everything, we have to be present for everything – because being young, gifted and black is cool, but it’s also exhausting.”
‘Nough said.
4. The Soundtrack – Music is no exception when it comes to keeping up with the show’s trend of blending the old and new school. From 90s bops (SWV, Brandy, Mary J. Blige), to music we turned up to in college (Travis Porter), to the up and coming artists of today (Summer Walker, Pink Sweat$), I sometimes find myself having to rewind certain scenes because I was so caught up in the track playing in the background.
5. Therapy is Normalized – In one of the first few episodes, we see Bryson attending a therapy session to work out his feelings of emasculation due to his dealings with powerful women in his life like his mother and Simone. While it may not be a big deal to most, what struck me is that he was just there. In a therapy session. With a woman therapist. There was no big conversation or hoopla about it. It was just therapy and it was normal. It was refreshing to see something so stigmatized in the black community (therapy) portrayed as being normal.
6. And If you’re still not convinced, Drew (now Bryson) from Everybody Hates Chris is still fine:
Boomerang airs Tuesdays on BET at 10/9c. Check it out!
X’s and O’s,
JF
BLACK&GIFTED 