
Young Minds
Today I witnessed my little brother’s racism/sexism/ general bias in effect for the first time ever. I was disappointed, the least to say, buy also inspired. Why? Because rather than see him as another victim of society’s evil, I saw an opportunity to make a difference in the life of a person whom I care a lot about.
We saw ‘Girl Trip’ tonight. I HAVE NEVER LAUGHED SO MUCH AT A MOVIE, EVER. The whole theater was in an uproar, even my mother. (This is a big deal because this movie is VULGAR, and she does not do vulgar). But every time I looked at my brother to share a moment of hysterical laughter, he looked, well… bothered. Unamused. Bored.
Movie ends, my mom and I are reminiscing our favorite parts while my brother is walking 3 steps ahead of us with his hands in his pockets and that same bored look on his face.
“You didn’t like it?” I asked.
“It was okay. I didn’t really think it was that funny. I think it was just funnier for you guys cause the main characters were all girls.”
At this point, I knew this was how he felt, but the fact that he admitted it so easily comforted me because I realized that he didn’t even realize why he didn’t like it.
Then my mom chimed in, sensing my the tension and suggesting, “I think it was just too X-rated for you, that’s why you didn’t like it.”
Keep in mind, he is a 16 year old boy. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen worse of before.
“No, it wasn’t that…” He answered, trailing off in a genuine effort to figure out the reason why. “I don’t know, just something about it.”
Also to keep in mind, not only are the main characters all women, they’re black women. The movie is about black women celebrating being black, in an a shamelessly erotic and hilariously exuberant way. And what do people not like to see? Loud, angry, vivacious, black women. Which you get a whole lot of.
But the fact that this movie was obviously hilarious and wonderful, and he had no idea why he was blind to that, did more than just get under my skin. It opened my eyes even more to how early racial and gender bias is subconsciously ingrained into our brains. The poor kid had no idea why he didn’t like it, he only knew that there was SOMETHING about it that he didn’t like. Something that he just couldn’t quite figure out.
I understand it could, of course, just be personal preference for this type of humor… but I know my brother. We are the same person. And if the movie starred four angry, loud, vivacious, hilarious, powerful white men, he would’ve been crying from laughter right alongside me.
But he is still young, and unfortunately, poisoned by society’s bias like all of us are at some point. I know he is smart enough to realize it on his own someday, and when that day comes, I plan to remind him of that time we went to see ‘Girl Trip’ and he hated it, for some unknown reason.
So, what did I learn from this? Rather than accept that little feeling giving you negative thoughts against a group of people for no good reason, dig a little deeper, check your bias, and be better next time.
Spread the word.
See you all next time!
AlexnotAli