Current Release: April 28th, 2009 | Vol. XXX Iss. 10

Photo courtesy of www.boondocks.net

"Boondocks" cartoon comes to life on the big screen

By Rachel Jones Albert

This ain’t your parents cartoon. For some of the students, it won’t even be a cartoon that appeals to them. But anyone familiar with the daily comic strip “Boondocks” featuring Huey, Riley and Robert (Granddad) Freeman will not be surprised.

However, if the parental advisory doesn’t give you an indication, the Cartoon Network placed a few creators Aaron McGruder’s quotes before the show started.

“We should all have a healthy fear of Oprah,” he said.

The cartoon “Boondocks” premiered on the Cartoon Network Sunday night as part of their Adult Swim programming. The first episode proved just as controversial as the comic strip. One of the two main characters, Huey (voiced by Regina King), tells the audience in voiceover, “I’m not a prophet, but sometimes I have prophetic dreams.” Then in his dream he proceeds to tell a large gathering of white people at a garden party, “Excuse me, everyone. I have a brief announcement to make. Jesus was black, Ronald Reagan was the devil, and the government is lying about 9/11.”

It’s just a dream. Granddad (voiced by John Witherspoon), who takes care of Huey and his brother Riley, wakes him up and tells him to stop dreaming of white people rioting. Granddad doesn’t mind giving Huey and Riley a slap as punishment. He’s an old school personality who gives this advice to his young grandsons: “You give the meanest white man cheese and he becomes Mr. Rogers.”

It’s not a politically correct cartoon, but it will make you think (in between laugh fits). The first episode featured several lines with the “N” word. Of course, the writer acknowledged this dilemma for society when he had a random white character say, “I think the “N” word is okay as long as they say it.” Some moments in the first episode felt like A Raisin in the Sun meets Do the Right Thing.

The show begins at 11:00 Sunday night and the Cartoon Network repeats them Saturdays at midnight.