I don’t watch a lot of TV.
In fact, because I know watching TV is a great time waster, I try to be
cognizant of the amount of time that I sit in front of it. I only have 2 must watch tv shows and everyone close to me, knows not to even
think about calling me during those shows.
However, when BET started promoting Reed Between the Lines,I thought, let’s see what it’s about. It
appeared to be a family show (check), that showed a successful black family
(check), dealing with real life issues (check).
So far so good. I just hoped that
the writing and acting was good too.
On last night’s episode “Let’s Talk About Hair”, the story
line focused on Kaci, the teenage daughter and her internal conflict over
whether to wear her hair naturally curly when a boy she has a crush on
compliments her when she straightens it for a school play.
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| Source: BET.com |
As the story began to play out, I was intrigued to see how
this topic would be addressed. Let’s be
honest, many grown women have
expressed concerns over how attractive they would be to men if they let their
hair grow in its naturally curly state. Though the part of the show where Kaci
is seen trying to put relaxer in her hair (in a totally naturally curly
household no less) was a little extreme some of the emotions that she expressed
were very realistic for a lot of women (whether the change is hair or other
things).
“You should avoid being with
anyone who wants you to change. Once you
start loving yourself it all gets easier.”
-Carla Reed
I felt that Carla Reed (played by Tracee Ellis-Ross) did a
great job in talking to her daughter and showing her how loving herself was key
to drawing people in her circle who would have an interest in her because of who she was, not someone that she had
changed herself for to gain their approval.
Many young women need this message and its key to building a woman’s
self worth. Changing your appearance,
interests, and style may get people to have an interest in the fabricated you,
but will YOU like the person you had to become to get their “friendship”? To
thine ownself be true is a powerful quote and it rings loudly in a situation
like this. Constantly altering your
physicality, likes, and personality can wreak havoc on your self esteem. It eventually creates a state where you feel
like you’re never enough. Honestly, you
won’t even know if you are, because you’ve never let your authentic self shine
through. It’s an issue that
unfortunately we see with many young women today. By loving yourself and being
true to yourself you may not be Ms. Popularity, but you will be at peace with
the woman who looks back at you in the mirror every morning. You might also
find, as Kaci did in this episode, that being who you are is all you need to
be. (Spoiler
alert: The guy liked her
just the same with curly hair. He’d
liked her all the time. He was just too
nervous to approach her before and when they both got cast in the school play
it was an easy approach. Awwww!)
So did you see last night's episode? What were your thoughts?
