So, whose economic anxiety matters? When think pieces and hand wringing op-eds list the ways said anxiety erodes the mental, emotional and physical well-being of American citizens, when the anxiety manifests as material struggle, what bodies are granted sympathy and empathy, and which bodies are castigated instead? You know the answer.
Writer/director James Bland, working with executive producers Jussie Smollett (“Empire”) and Issa Rae (“Awkward Black Girl,” HBO’s “Insecure”) looks like he’s pulling 2016’s massive bounty of creative Blackness into 2017 in a big way by broadening the scope of the afore mentioned questions and setting them in the context of 21st century Black life and culture. His forthcoming digital series “Giants,” set in Los Angeles, explores issues of race, class, sexuality, and mental health as they all play out in the struggle to eke out a living – and a career. If the trailer is any indication, the writing and acting will be as sharp as what we got in “Atlanta” and “Insecure,” even as the show carves out its own groove, rhythm and tone. It premieres January 25.
Top photo courtesy Youtube
