Many of us find some guilty pleasure in WE‘s hit show “Bridezillas.” It is quite amusing seeing the overly zealous brides work themselves up and break everyone else down for the sake of their impending nuptials. The show can easily be regarded as an innocent how-not-to guide for brides to be, but it seems that the shenanigans are starting to push the limit, more so than before. The show was always riddled with negative stereotypes. Though now it seems that its producers have mastered the art of selling racially offensive images of black women neatly packaged under the guise of humor. The ghetto, low-budget, finger waving, neck popping black woman stereotype is a central recurring theme on Bridezillas; as are the equally tacky white-trash, and spoiled-brat motifs. But in last night’s episode, a new beast reared its ugly head in the form of an unabashedly racist Bridezilla, who took it upon herself to berate an African-American male on the street, as well as a few others. Karen, the obnoxious star (and I use that term loosely) of Bridezillas episode 20, has taken the show to a new level of audaciously offensive content. According to the narrator:
“On top of her over the top budget and out of control ego, Karen has a little trouble dealing with anyone that she deems beneath her, which is pretty much everyone.”
This light introduction, however, very much downplays Karen’s nasty attitude. When the charming bride’s friends are momentarily distracted by two (black) men on the street, Karen is enraged. When one of the men congratulates her on her engagement, she is apparently threatened by his big black scariness, and launches a slew of insults in his direction. She begins by flashing her impressive “hundred-thousand-dollar-ring” which she states that he can never afford, because (she assumes) he makes only nine dollars an hour. Then she is kind enough to remind him that its time for him to go back and “mop the floor at McDonalds.” She finishes her tirade by yelling that he can also go back to his home “in the projects.” She even says to her friend afterward,
“It makes no type of sense why you would even want to talk to a human being like that.”
A human being like what Karen? Black? WTF? Is it now OK to attack black men on the street and hurl insulting stereotypes at them? Are we to assume, like the narrator suggests that the black guy on the corner is beneath Karen, simply because she “deems” him as such? Why is Bridezillas encouraging this type of behavior, and plastering it across our TV screens as slapstick comedy? It seems ridiculous that WE expects us to have a few cheap laughs at the expense of black men.
Overall, the episode was a disappointing show of ignorance and misguided bravado. The glorification of Karen’s racist rant was in fact painful to watch. Bridezillas is normally questionable in terms of its content, but this particular episode showcased a level of racial insensitivity that should have been abolished a long time ago.
WE has not yet released viral clips of Karen going in on the African American male on the street, but for now, check out these video previews to see “Karen” acting like an ignorant fool in a separate incident with the doorman of a NYC club:
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