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``Hot
Ghetto Mess,'' also called ``HGM,'' combines viewer-submitted
home videos and BET-produced man-on-the-street interviews
that the channel said in a release are intended to challenge
and inspire ``viewers to improve themselves and their
communities.''
``Is
my goal to discuss these issues in a format and context
that makes people who don't watch the channel comfortable
or do it in a way that engages the 18- to 34-year-old
viewer and makes them really think about these things?''
Reginald Hudlin, BET entertainment president, told the
Hollywood Reporter.
The
six-episode series is hosted by comedian Charlie Murphy
(``Chappelle's Show''). It's based on a Web site that
features photos of men and women, mostly black, with
extreme hairstyles and clothing typically linked to
hip-hop fashion.
Hotghettomess.com
was created by Jam Donaldson, 34, a black lawyer who's
also an executive producer on the BET show, the Hollywood
Reporter said. On the site, Donaldson calls for a ``new
era of self-examination.''
On
TV, ``Hot Ghetto Mess'' includes people of all ethnicities,
a network spokeswoman said.
But
the show and the web site have drawn accusations of
being demeaning to blacks from critics including What
About Our Daughters, a blog and audio podcast that focuses
on how black women are depicted in popular culture.
The
blog called for advertisers featured on a BET Web page
promoting ``Hot Ghetto Mess'' to withdraw support of
BET and its properties, and said it would complain to
companies that sponsor the series.
``This
is just a latest in a prolonged and consistent pattern
of BET profiting off of promoting images that malign
and degrade African Americans,'' a posting on What About
Our Daughters said of ``Hot Ghetto Mess.''
___
On
the Net:
http://www.bet.com
http://www.hotghettomess.com
http://whataboutourdaughters.blogspot.com
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