“I think you a nosy ass nigga.”
Jamar Neighbors, Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show
In the last 30 years of reality television, we’ve been presented with something as heartbreaking as watching an HIV-positive person struggle with and succumb to the virus during the AIDS epidemic, to the lowbrow of D-List celebrities bickering over God knows whatever harebrained storyline cooked up in some thankless pitch room. Public consumption demands we’re given content that entertains, titillates, and moves the needle. Jerrod Carmichael has presented us with a new show that checks all those boxes but, also, digs deeper than the average reality show.
Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show is a test. A test for Jerrod, his family, friends, lovers, and the viewing audience. His self-deprecating humor, slick style of dress, sexual desires, and an array of deeply personal topics are all fodder. But is it possible to look beyond the spectacle and see the show for what it’s worth? The first episode was a shock to the senses purposefully meant to capture the audience’s attention. Out of the gate, we are presented with Jerrod, in one breath, professing love to Tyler the Creator, and, in the next, sucking the toes of a complete stranger. We see him scroll through countless options on Grindr as he picks and chooses his latest sexual conquest, typically reserved for fit, slender, and young white men. And with his recent comments on The Breakfast Club circulating the interwebs, Carmichael has made quite the splash in 2024.
“What the fuck is this show?”
Anonymous, Jerrod carmichael reality show
What’s to make of all of the noise and how do we, the audience, wade beyond it? Well, we have to accept that we are looking at a mirror and understanding the value of its reflection. Salvation lies within the mirror.
By its existence, the show has you judge Jerrod and the people of his universe for who they are. Jerrod is the protagonist but he’s not the good guy. He’s deeply flawed; he continually cheats on his partner, as Best Man stood up his best friend at his wedding, and has an ego the size of his New York loft apartment. But what makes the show exceptional is that we are allowed to make the choice for ourselves. The mirror reflects the truth and the camera is God. While the editing is polished and each episode is masterfully structured, the subjects are as imperfect and the feelings raw. In a reality show world of housewives of suburbia and phony arranged marriage game shows, what reality shows are actually offering reality?
Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show is about a Black man exploring his queer sexuality in the face of his parents being blatantly homophobic. In the trailer for the season, Jerrod’s mother, whom he deeply loves, lays the gauntlet that he has the choice to accept her conditional love as she deeply hopes (and prays) her son’s gayness to evaporate. Also, the show is about Jerrod linking his father’s past infidelity to his own continual cheating on his partner Michael. Joe Carmichael was married to Cynthia but also maintained a side family for nearly 40 years. Through the show, Jerrod finds the strength to confront his mother and father on these issues that have been haunting him his entire life.
The biggest argument against Jerrod’s show is that he’s confronting his family and friends for the public to consume. But that’s the risk of the mirror; if we don’t look good, the mirror will not lie. To Jerrod’s credit, these conversations weren’t being had in private for four decades. When Jerrod says to Joe, “Your way is silence, your way is death” it should haunt a generation of people who have parents who may lack the capacity for change. Even if he doesn’t receive the responses he wants in the way he wants it, there’s bravery within Jerrod for allowing us to see his mirror. Many in Jerrod’s place may have given up but he chose not to give up on his family even if it came at a cost. We see room for improvement in his parents and him as well.
Ultimately, Jerrod understands what’s at stake in creating his show. Dirty laundry aired is just that. But by putting a big, bright spotlight on his life, maybe he can find the clarity that he desperately seeks. Maybe we can see ourselves through his struggle. If you don’t give up on those who you love, you have to build a bridge. There will be battles, progress and regression, milestones and heartbreak. But Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show could be the catalyst to saving his family.
Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show is now streaming on Max.
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