![]() Nelson George, the cultural critic and author of “Hip Hop America,” said one reason the show has struck such a nerve has less to do with stereotypes and more to do with the fact that Flavor Flav is not exactly a sex symbol. Calhoun) did, Drayton has to assume such a shallow black role to find stardom in Hollywood.” But more often than not, it makes my skin crawl to know that as Lincoln Perry (who played Stepin Fetchit) and Johnny Lee (who was TV’s Algonquin J. In an editorial last month, DeWayne Wickham of USA Today wrote: “On one level, his buffoonery is laughable. In an interview on a sports blog,, Jason Whitlock, a sports columnist for The Kansas City Star, said, “It’s about time we as black people quit letting Flavor Flav and the rest of these clowns bojangle for dollars.” “In a day and age when it’s still really hard for people of color to find reasonable representations on television,” she said, “that show is a huge smack in the face and a step backwards.” ![]() Late last week, during a heated dinner argument with friends about the series, she pronounced it “absolutely hideous,” and proceeded to denounce Flav and his paramours. Nicole Young, a fashion designer in Manhattan who is black, said the defecation scene in this season’s premiere turned her off the show for good. “I would also say I’m not in the position to make that judgment.” But, he pointed out, “the show is disproportionately popular among black viewers, and the comedy is very inclusive.” Hirschorn, who is white, said he didn’t think so. “Instead of covering that part of the show up, we decided to make it integral.”Īsked whether the show was exploiting racial stereotypes, Mr. “The accidental appeal of the show was the play between ‘Are these women for real or not? Are these women there for him or are they there because any fame is completely intoxicating?’ ” he said. To Michael Hirschorn, the executive vice president for original programming at VH1, the reasons millions of viewers tune in every Sunday night are clear. This season’s premiere began with two women brawling over a bed and ended with one contestant defecating on the floor as she raced to the bathroom after a meal that didn’t agree with her. Occasionally, the women even trade blows. The women, who tend to look like castoffs from a bad rap video, dress provocatively (the shorter the skirt, the lower the neckline, the better their chances), engage in raunchy make-out sessions with Flav and, when given the opportunity, profess their undying devotion. Instead of roses, they are given oversize clocks when they’re invited to stay at the end of each show, and the winner is awarded a personalized gold dental grille, a jeweled ornament for the teeth. On “Flavor of Love,” 20 contestants vie for the rap star’s affection while living with him in a mansion in Encino. You’ve got beauties and you’ve got the beast, and it’s become one of those shows you must watch every week.” “Good or bad, our listeners love talking about Flav. “Anytime we mention ‘Flavor of Love’ on our show, the phone lines start blowing up,” said Donnell Rawlings, a New York morning radio personality on the popular hip-hop radio station Power 105.1. Critics have accused the show of trafficking in racial stereotypes and have called Flav everything from a sellout to a modern-day Stepin Fetchit. On blogs and at the office, on message boards and in op-ed columns, viewers are both riveted and repelled by “Flavor of Love.”įans of the show call it a harmless guilty pleasure, and its star a lovable and unlikely Romeo. That thing has made the show as polarizing as it is popular. “Your man Flavor Flav is doing his thiiiiing.” “I’m the king of VH1,” he crowed over a surf-and-turf dinner at a soul food restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. No one seems to be enjoying the success more than Flav, as he is known to one and all. ![]() ![]() More than three million people tuned in to watch the second-season premiere early August. The show’s first-season finale in March drew nearly six million viewers, making it the highest-rated show in the cable channel’s history. His reality series, “Flavor of Love,” a ghetto-fabulous spoof of the dating series “The Bachelor,” has been a colossal hit for VH1. These days life is looking a lot brighter. He was scalping baseball tickets for extra cash, battling a long addiction to drugs and racking up arrests for driving without a license. THIS time six years ago, Flavor Flav, the flamboyant clock-wearing member of the groundbreaking rap group Public Enemy, was living in a low-rent apartment near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. ![]()
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