ALTHOUGH the new primetime series "Platinum" is breaking ground bringing the world of hip-hop into the mainstream television line-ups, the breaking down of television's traditional barriers may lead to the inclusion of some controversial dialogue as well. Thematically centered around the rap music industry, "Platinum" seems to be giving its hungry audience an inside look at what really goes on in some parts of the world of rap music. But, of course, with television's censors on high alert, a network program, no matter how cutting edge, can only be so realistic. Like very few network programs before it, UPN's new series seeks to bring some of urban America's gritty reality to middle America, but the question may ultimately be: How real can a scripted network program be?
With it's first two episodes alone, "Platinum" seemed to cross a relatively controversial linguistic boundary with ease -- and did so on a number of occasions with several uses of the racially-charged n-word, without sight or sound of a network censor. But the silence may not last for much longer. The frequent use of the n-word will undoubtedly stir up trouble for the network, and if they plan on using it in the future, the series' producers need to take a hard stance about why this language is important to painting a realistic picture of the commercial rap industry or else they may suffer the slings and arrows of those opposed to its use.
Though tossed about in colloquial language by far too many, the use of the n-word is still a delicate and controversial topic at best, and debate is often contentious about who can use the word, when and why. Hard-line conservatives believe the racial history of the word leaves no room for today's youth culture adaptation -- so in the world of television, where the censor is king, its presence has been marginalized and gone mostly unattended to. But as a series like "Platinum" begins to assume the role of infusing network t.v. with hip-hop culture, media executives will surely make compromises to realistically portray today's urban idioms unless the political and racial connotations of the word prove too much for the show's viewers.
Recently on prime-time television, the n-word has made appearances, though often followed by controversy in episodes of programs like "NYPD Blue" and "Boston Public." Its appearances, however, have come primarily as racial slurs to characterize the reality -- historical and contemporary -- of the characters on screen and almost always are followed by educational moments describing the historical context of the word and how and when it should be used. In contrast, the present-day use of the n-word as a term of endearment on network television is an entirely new door being opened up -- and producers of the show may have to own up to issues that arise out of that decision.
In mass media, the most transferrable use of the n-word has been through rap music, which has caught much heat for the near-positive derivation rap artists have placed on the word as a term of brotherhood and endearment. Even white rapper Eminem has used the word, and by doing so, he believes he has stripped the word of its racial meaning -- an idea many historically-minded individuals are appalled at. With some visible ownership over their own terminology in the hip-hop world, rappers feel that they have inverted the meaning of n-word to conjure up an emotion of fellowship despite what critics have had to say, and now that this language is moving further into the mainstream, it may result in a series of problems.
Soon we may be shocked to find young white kids at the mall calling each other the n-word as a term of friendship or even white girls shouting the word as a song lyric along with Ludacris at a college concert. Meanwhile, someone else uses the word as a racial slur against another student, and the word carries nothing but the negative connotations of its historic past. If these are the situations that will arise out of the trivialization and constant use of the n-word, then we're all in need of a seriousness wake-up call -- especially those of us with the power to broadcast its use across the national media.
With the advent of a program like "Platinum," which puts the word on the mass media block without the historical context and transfers it as an idiom of affection, a whole new audience may be tuning in to catch wind of the word and adopt it for themselves. However, we must understand that the n-word is still historically and racially-charged enough that it remains mostly absent out of the mouths of white Americans in public arenas for the time being -- and that there is a reason for that.
Although debate, some of which has even been scholarly, has surrounded the word in recent years, the use of the n-word as a near-positive epithet between black characters on televisions marks a new boundary in media culture that cannot go unnoticed. With television stepping more and more into the fray of this particular dialogue, programs like "Platinum" may cause a world of detriment to those who would argue that the n-word, as a term of endearment, has no place in the American language, but those opposed to its use surely will have something to say about it if the term isn't explained, understood or used in the proper light.
(Kazz Pinkard's column appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at kpinkard@cavalierdaily.com.)
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