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Description

If I were to make a list of shows that I never appreciated growing up The Boondocks would be pretty high on that list. I was four or five when The Boondocks first came out and it’s a show that I never really cared for. My sisters loved it but I didn’t, and whenever I would watch it I’d find the show too harsh for my liking. It wasn’t until recent years I decided to watch it again and I fell in love with it. I grew to love the animation, the humor, and its social commentary, a lot of which I still find relevant today. I’m going to review the episode that kept me away from Boondocks the most, A date with the booty warrior. I really didn’t like this episode when I was a kid, now I understand why this is such a beloved episode.

So the episode’s cold opening says all we need to know about the episode's main antagonist Fleece Johnson(Yes this is a spoof of the real-life person) All I will say is that his a warrior and he came for Chris Hansen’s booty. So after the theme, we get into Tom Dubious's backstory for the episode. Up to this point of the series, Tom’s biggest fear is being raped in prison. This leads to Tom finding a support group, that helps people cope with that fear. Meanwhile, the Freeman brothers get in trouble in school again so the brothers get sent to a scared straight program. So back to Tom, believing that he had overcome his fear, Tom volunteered to chaperone a prison trip that the Freeman brothers are going on. However, everyone is putting doubts in Toms's mind, and it’s gotten up to the point where Tom held on to a shank that he confiscated from Riley.

When we get to the prison we get treated to the highlight of the episode and that’s the prisoners. Even though Fleece Johnson is the one that stood out the most, I believe the other prisoners don’t get enough love. This episode is definitely parodying shows like Beyond Scared Straight specifically with how the prisoners act. The convicts in this are portrayed so over the top with their yelling and aggression, going far and beyond to look tough and intimidating and if anything they’re making themselves look like idiots and the episode kindly shows that.

Prisoner: Y’all wouldn’t know nothing about that. What about you little N----? You know about that?

Huey: The prison-industrial complex is a system situated at the intersection of government and private interests. It uses prisons as a solution to social, political, and economic problems. It includes human rights violations, the death penalty, slave labor, policing, courts, the media, political prisoners, and the elimination of dissent.

(Silence)

Prisoner: N----, did you just say what I was trying to say but smarter?!!

Afterwards, we get a montage of the prisoners talking about raping each other and targeting Tom much to his dismay. Now rape within itself is obviously not funny and it’s hard to make it funny. It works perfectly here because all goes back to the prisoners’ over-the-topness. With their aggressiveness and how they're describing their outlandish ways of doing it(especially the toss-the-salad guy), it’s nearly impossible not to laugh at this. Anyway, Tom strips to his underwear because one of the prisoners demands it. While doing it, the shiv Tom confiscated earlier fell out of his pocket and Fleece grabbed it. So now Fleece gives his famous speech while eyeballing Tom…

Fleece: Getting some booty is more important than eating food. It's more important than drinking water. If I see a man I like, I tell him like this here: I like ya, and I want ya. Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. The choice is yours.

I think this is a perfect time to talk about why Fleece is so memorable. Honestly, I think all credit goes to his voice. The VA's voice and his direction are perfect along with his dialogue. The shrillness of his voice isn’t at the point where it’s annoying but it’s enough to easily distinguish himself from the other prisoners. Depending on the scene it’ll come off as funny, intimidating, or both. Tell me if his lines wouldn’t have been as memorable and/or funny if they used a voice that was closer to his real-life counterpart. If it wasn’t for the VA the character wouldn’t have stood out so much.

Fleece essentially started a riot and Tom escapes the room and leaves the kids behind. Tom tries to call for help, but the dispatcher doesn’t take him seriously, leaving him to call Sarah. Back to the prisoners, after an argument among themselves, Fleece runs off looking for Tom, leaving everyone else. Dumbfounded, Huey suggests that the prisoners make a list of demands since they essentially have hostages. Back to Tom, he perfectly displays what bravery is. He’s terrified, can barely speak, and is ugly crying. But he has to put his fear aside because as he puts it the kids are his responsibility and he couldn’t leave them with dangerous people. So he had to go rescue them. I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times but bravery is being afraid to do something but still doing it regardless. Also, it’s worth mentioning that Tom is still in his underwear while reaching this revelation.

Back to the prisoners, they go on making their list of demands and I don’t want to spoil this part if you haven’t seen this episode. But the amount of stupidity that the prisoners display while making the list is just pure BRILLIANCE. I literally cannot watch this without bursting into laughter. Tom sneaks back to the room to rescue the hostages and they escape. But unknowingly leaving the Freeman brothers behind Tom bravely goes back. While trying to hide Tom incidentally finds himself in the shower room and guess who’s also there?

Fleece: (Singing) Tom, come out to play!

So we get into a fight scene with Tom and Fleece. My one complaint is that I wished that it lasted longer. But in great irony, fleece slipped on a bar of soap hitting his head in the process and that’s what did him in. Realizing the hostages were gone and they have no leverage the Prisoners decided to end the riot. Then one of the prisoners gives this short but mature message.

Prisoner: You know, I spend a lot of time, you know, thinking about all the shit I could've done. I mean, I wake up in the morning and I think, I could've been the motherfucking president. Shit. N----, I wish things had've been different. I mean, I'd do anything in the motherfucking world just for things to be different. I guess I'm just gonna be raping n----s' asses for the rest of my motherfucking life.

You can act as tough as you want, if you know that they’re things you could’ve done to prevent having a life like that, would you do it? So Tom bursts in to see that the Brother’s were completely fine and they all leave the prison unraped.

So that was A Date with the Booty Warrior and it’s time to give this episode a grade for its overall quality.

The good: This episode in almost every aspect is hilarious. The topics of bravery, prison life, and rape were perfectly executed. As funny as it was, it didn’t take away from the overall message. Especially that speech from the prisoner.

So I'm going to give this episode....

Final grade A+

I really wish that the revival wasn’t canceled, at least now I know that the Boondocks was a great show and now I can join the club that wishes it was still on.

Description

If I were to make a list of shows that I never appreciated growing up The Boondocks would be pretty high on that list. I was four or five when The Boondocks first came out and it’s a show that I never really cared for. My sisters loved it but I didn’t, and whenever I would watch it I’d find the show too harsh for my liking. It wasn’t until recent years I decided to watch it again and I fell in love with it. I grew to love the animation, the humor, and its social commentary, a lot of which I still find relevant today. I’m going to review the episode that kept me away from Boondocks the most, A date with the booty warrior. I really didn’t like this episode when I was a kid, now I understand why this is such a beloved episode.

So the episode’s cold opening says all we need to know about the episode's main antagonist Fleece Johnson(Yes this is a spoof of the real-life person) All I will say is that his a warrior and he came for Chris Hansen’s booty. So after the theme, we get into Tom Dubious's backstory for the episode. Up to this point of the series, Tom’s biggest fear is being raped in prison. This leads to Tom finding a support group, that helps people cope with that fear. Meanwhile, the Freeman brothers get in trouble in school again so the brothers get sent to a scared straight program. So back to Tom, believing that he had overcome his fear, Tom volunteered to chaperone a prison trip that the Freeman brothers are going on. However, everyone is putting doubts in Toms's mind, and it’s gotten up to the point where Tom held on to a shank that he confiscated from Riley.

When we get to the prison we get treated to the highlight of the episode and that’s the prisoners. Even though Fleece Johnson is the one that stood out the most, I believe the other prisoners don’t get enough love. This episode is definitely parodying shows like Beyond Scared Straight specifically with how the prisoners act. The convicts in this are portrayed so over the top with their yelling and aggression, going far and beyond to look tough and intimidating and if anything they’re making themselves look like idiots and the episode kindly shows that.

Prisoner: Y’all wouldn’t know nothing about that. What about you little N----? You know about that?

Huey: The prison-industrial complex is a system situated at the intersection of government and private interests. It uses prisons as a solution to social, political, and economic problems. It includes human rights violations, the death penalty, slave labor, policing, courts, the media, political prisoners, and the elimination of dissent.

(Silence)

Prisoner: N----, did you just say what I was trying to say but smarter?!!

Afterwards, we get a montage of the prisoners talking about raping each other and targeting Tom much to his dismay. Now rape within itself is obviously not funny and it’s hard to make it funny. It works perfectly here because all goes back to the prisoners’ over-the-topness. With their aggressiveness and how they're describing their outlandish ways of doing it(especially the toss-the-salad guy), it’s nearly impossible not to laugh at this. Anyway, Tom strips to his underwear because one of the prisoners demands it. While doing it, the shiv Tom confiscated earlier fell out of his pocket and Fleece grabbed it. So now Fleece gives his famous speech while eyeballing Tom…

Fleece: Getting some booty is more important than eating food. It's more important than drinking water. If I see a man I like, I tell him like this here: I like ya, and I want ya. Now, we can do this the easy way, or we can do it the hard way. The choice is yours.

I think this is a perfect time to talk about why Fleece is so memorable. Honestly, I think all credit goes to his voice. The VA's voice and his direction are perfect along with his dialogue. The shrillness of his voice isn’t at the point where it’s annoying but it’s enough to easily distinguish himself from the other prisoners. Depending on the scene it’ll come off as funny, intimidating, or both. Tell me if his lines wouldn’t have been as memorable and/or funny if they used a voice that was closer to his real-life counterpart. If it wasn’t for the VA the character wouldn’t have stood out so much.

Fleece essentially started a riot and Tom escapes the room and leaves the kids behind. Tom tries to call for help, but the dispatcher doesn’t take him seriously, leaving him to call Sarah. Back to the prisoners, after an argument among themselves, Fleece runs off looking for Tom, leaving everyone else. Dumbfounded, Huey suggests that the prisoners make a list of demands since they essentially have hostages. Back to Tom, he perfectly displays what bravery is. He’s terrified, can barely speak, and is ugly crying. But he has to put his fear aside because as he puts it the kids are his responsibility and he couldn’t leave them with dangerous people. So he had to go rescue them. I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times but bravery is being afraid to do something but still doing it regardless. Also, it’s worth mentioning that Tom is still in his underwear while reaching this revelation.

Back to the prisoners, they go on making their list of demands and I don’t want to spoil this part if you haven’t seen this episode. But the amount of stupidity that the prisoners display while making the list is just pure BRILLIANCE. I literally cannot watch this without bursting into laughter. Tom sneaks back to the room to rescue the hostages and they escape. But unknowingly leaving the Freeman brothers behind Tom bravely goes back. While trying to hide Tom incidentally finds himself in the shower room and guess who’s also there?

Fleece: (Singing) Tom, come out to play!

So we get into a fight scene with Tom and Fleece. My one complaint is that I wished that it lasted longer. But in great irony, fleece slipped on a bar of soap hitting his head in the process and that’s what did him in. Realizing the hostages were gone and they have no leverage the Prisoners decided to end the riot. Then one of the prisoners gives this short but mature message.

Prisoner: You know, I spend a lot of time, you know, thinking about all the shit I could've done. I mean, I wake up in the morning and I think, I could've been the motherfucking president. Shit. N----, I wish things had've been different. I mean, I'd do anything in the motherfucking world just for things to be different. I guess I'm just gonna be raping n----s' asses for the rest of my motherfucking life.

You can act as tough as you want, if you know that they’re things you could’ve done to prevent having a life like that, would you do it? So Tom bursts in to see that the Brother’s were completely fine and they all leave the prison unraped.

So that was A Date with the Booty Warrior and it’s time to give this episode a grade for its overall quality.

The good: This episode in almost every aspect is hilarious. The topics of bravery, prison life, and rape were perfectly executed. As funny as it was, it didn’t take away from the overall message. Especially that speech from the prisoner.

So I'm going to give this episode....

Final grade A+

I really wish that the revival wasn’t canceled, at least now I know that the Boondocks was a great show and now I can join the club that wishes it was still on.