‘Black-ish’ Tackles the Hard Stuff

Black-ish recently kicked off its fourth season. The second episode, appropriately titled Mother Nature dealt with an issue that many tv-shows would avoid with a ten-foot pole.

Season 4, episode 2, takes place after the recent birth of baby Devante. At a time that mothers are expected to be reveling, Rainbow is truly struggling. Rainbow (played by the impeccable Tracee Ellis Ross) is suffering from Postpartum Depression (PPD). Though not discussed in full, Rainbow is just not connecting with her son. No one knows what she is going through or how to help her; she suffers alone. Mainstream media streams away from storylines about real life issues for a variety of reasons. Perhaps it's because they feel as if they don't have the proper means to talk about it? Or is it because they feel as if it's too heavy of a subject matter? Or maybe, they're just scared. Black-ish was not afraid. They handled it, #IMO, perfectly. Over the course of the episode, you can see the PPD taking its toll on Rainbow and she just does not know what to do. She reaches her breaking point when her mother-in-law, Ruby, gives Devante formula milk when Rainbow explicitly stated that she was only breastfeeding. When Rainbow confronts Ruby, she immediately accuses Rainbow of overreacting. However, if Ruby had been paying attention she would've noticed that the milk situation was the least of Rainbow's problems. Rainbow gives an impactful monologue (see link below) that I am almost positive resonated with many mothers everywhere. The show's resolution sees Rainbow going to her doctor to get checked out and does something unexpected; it calls the problem by its actual name (PPD). Many of the shows I've seen talk about a problem, and rarely ever call it by its real name. I suspect they do this out of fear of killing the mood. (Black-ish, I applaud you. I encourage all of my readers to watch the episode if you haven't already.)

#IMO, Black-ish should have gotten way more praise and attention for handling Postpartum Depression in the way that it did. Perhaps it's because people expect a comedy like Black-ish to always bring the funny. To agree but disagree with Menkedick's theory, Black-ish will rarely ever be taken as a serious show in mainstream media, but it will give women (young and old) characters that they can relate to and even find solace in.

http://abc.go.com/shows/blackish/video/the-best-of-bow/VDKA4105641