Season Review: Woke Season One

Inspired by the real-life experiences from political cartoonist Keith Knight, the new Hulu original series “Woke” follows a San Francisco African American cartoonist based largely on Knight, and a slight name change after him, too (“Keef Knight” is played by Lamorne Morris). Here, the fictionalized version of Knight is the creator of a comic strip series called “Toast & Butter”, and is on the verge of mainstream success. Keef even prides himself on always playing it safe by distancing himself from making any sort of political or controversial stances. That is until he falls victim to being racially profiled by overly-aggressive cops who blindly mistake him for a Mugger in public. Traumatized from the whole ordeal, Keef now suffers from random PTSD-like episodes in which everyday objects talk to him at random, along with a newfound sensitivity to racism, and every day “microaggressions” he tried so hard to avoid or acknowledging in every situation, Keef must figure out how to maintain a balance between his relationships and career as a now ‘woke’ black man.

As to be expected, “Woke” carries all sorts of negative connotations, And this show and unflinchingly doesn’t sugarcoat any of that. The show itself is a live-action dramedy that attempts to blend reality and perception with animated elements along the lines of something like “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” or “Happy” with the bizarre surrealism of films like “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” in combination with an urban atmosphere and animated cartoon character faces on random objects interacting with Keef. When the animated stuff happens, the voice cast is excellent with the likes of celebrities bringing their A-game like J.B Smooth, Eddie Griffin, and voice actress veteran Cree Summer at the helm. Half of the jokes heavily rely on the talking objects airing out their racial or social grievances, while the other half gave me flashbacks of the infamous “Chappelle’s Show: Lost Episodes “Stereotype Pixie” sketches which are pretty damn cringe-inducing even by today’s standards, that ruthlessly follow him like an unrelenting wacky slapstick monster with multiple faces especially when you become aware that even Chappelle himself went on record to say he was personally ashamed of…

Of course, while the first episode establishes the characters, setting, and atmosphere of reminding the audience how unjust and unsafe it is to be any ethnicity but white, It tries to properly balance itself out with much-needed levity thanks to the supporting cast such as his roommates who go by the names of Clovis (T. Murph), a pathological liar who picks up women who come across as being too stupid to see through his deception, and Gunther, drugged up goofball (Blake Anderson of “Workaholics” fame) who expresses the desire to market/sell “energy powder” that’s heavily implied to be cocaine, and Sasheer Zamata also rounds out the cast as a lesbian journalist.

While some of Keef’s other interactions challenge the preconceptions of what defines controversy it’s further exemplified by a scene where Keef is told by the head of a publishing company who believes Keef’s Race makes him “controversial just by existing”. We’re given a clear idea that up until this point, Keef possibly had a decent life where he didn’t have to experience such injustices and worked hard getting to where he was in life, and as the title implies, this unpleasant experience attempts to be a rude awakening by the harsh realities of ignorance & racism, but I think it was to get the point across the show’s examination of how traumatic racism is to someone who arguably hasn’t experienced it before.

Much like BoJack Horseman, many of the choices Keef makes could potentially lead to self-sabotage, but unlike Bojack, Keef isn’t a terrible person and many of the animated objects who interact with him, could be subconscious parts of his brain wanting him to vent out things that actually bother him. It also raises awareness of a particular issue that artists who take political stances or point out injustices in the world are often the most unemployed or can’t find work due to the negative feedback or the fear of easily offending others which on a personal level, struck a chord with me. At least we can say that the real Keith and Aaron McGruder of Boondocks fame could be considered the lucky ones who don’t have to feel silenced in their particular fields of work.

At first, I was also apprehensive to see if this pushed some crazy BLM agenda as I don’t think I have a say in the matter due to being white, but thankfully that isn’t the case here since the heart of the story is about Keef attempting to cope with his psychological problems that challenge the way we see art. If I have any major complaints about the show itself, some parts feel way too contrived and heavy-handed and don’t completely appeal to my tv taste or my sense of humor. While I do see what they’re going for, it’s hard to make topical issues like this funny because with the oversensitivity of those SJW Douche-monkey’s out there. Also, the show is so focused on putting cops in a negative light. I know this is a complicated issue, and inspired by real events in Keith’s life, but if the police would actually do their jobs and just ask questions instead of just blindly pinning him down in front of a bunch of strangers This show arguably wouldn’t exist. But instead, they’re depicted as Smug Stereotypical Spike Lee villains.

The issue even comes face to face at the Season finale that leaves things uncertain after Keef is faced with a Court settlement and is forced to confront the very cop who tackled him and makes a choice that will forever define the integrity of his job and himself. As a whole, it’s not a bad series but it’s not perfect either. The show will of course have it’s detractors while still delivering in a few laughs, but the show got topical when the story demanded it. As of right now, there’s no word on if a Season 2 will be made, but I do think this will be a product of it’s the times when this current controversy and racial tension we have someday dies down which I doubt will be anytime soon…