Ever since Issa Rae hinted that the upcoming season of her hit HBO show, Insecure, would tackle toxic Black masculinity and its effect on Black women, it was clear the social media debates that would ensue would be epic.
The series’ showrunner, Prentice Penny, tweeted, “I can’t wait for August 12th!!!” while others wondered just how the show would approach the issue.
Still, some men were upset at the mere idea that Insecure would explore the issue of toxic masculinity this season. One particular Twitter user, Curtis Scoon, went on an extended rant about Black women in Hollywood like Ava DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey, and apparently now Issa Rae, using their platforms to bash Black men.
“Issa Rae teases Season 3 ‘Insecure’ will be about black masculinity. A topic I bet she thinks she’s an expert on,” Scoon wrote. “My guess is she’ll follow the trend of other prominent black women producers/directors/writers in filmmaking and promote some sort of f–kery about black men.”
After Scoon’s posts were shared widely, actor Reagan Gomez attempted to inject some facts into his paranoid diatribe.
“Her show runner is a black man & the writing staff has black men writers,” Gomez noted. “If ya’ll put HALF the effort into googling as you do into being loud & wrong the world would be a [better] place.”
Once Gomez was done schooling Scoon, Insecure star Jay Ellis got in on the action.
“As a black man who was a part of the first two seasons of @IssaRae and the very diverse writing staff of “‘Insecure’s’ work, I’d have to say STFU,” Ellis wrote. “Btw pick your pants up, your toxicity is showing.”
While we still don’t know for certain how (or even if) Rae and her compadres will tackle toxic Black masculinity in the upcoming season, one thing is clear: the conversations (and perhaps arguments) around the show will be amazing.
