Monsters of Television

“We’re American. We don’t quit just because we’re wrong. We keep doing the wrong thing until it turns out right.”

An exiled hero must return to glory and face his greatest challenge yet to aid his helpless community. Doesn’t exactly strike you as the plot of an episode of The Boondocks does it? Where’s the social commentary? Where’s the abundance of cussing? Oh it’s all there wrapped up in a neat ass kicking, wall crushing, ball kicking bow.

It’s no secret that Aaron McGruder is a huge fan of and inspired by anime and Asian cinema. Tonight’s episode was a perfect homage. It was a hero’s journey in the same vein as a Stephen Chow film, especially Shaolin Soccer. Huey must return to kickball after a self-imposed exile (he gave a poor girl a “permanent severe limp”) to save the Woodcrest community after tycoon Ed Wuncler (Ed Asner) bets it on a kickball game against a rival Chinese businessman’s team. All of the necessary components for a good hero tale are there: Out of practice protagonist. No hope misfit team. Insurmountable odds. An epic showdown with the rival (Chinese team captain Ming).

With the story elements down this episode is able to amp it up due to the fact that it’s animated. Nothing is held back. From split screen staring contests to wind blown hair during confrontations, “The Red Ball” borrows many anime conventions on top of the  Japanese influenced art style the show already employs. Now as someone who was avid anime fan in his youth (relative youth anyway) I have always been wary of American attempts at anime. A lot of anime fans are and with good reason. See: Teen Titans. But The Boondocks is different. Trying to be anime and being influenced by anime are two entirely separate realms. The Boondocks just does it better. Just look at the preview for the episode! It uses aspects when and where appropriate. Such as during the action scenes in this episode, the most impressive of which being the final showdown with Huey on the mound and Mina at the plate. The power clash between Huey’s fireball pitch and Ming’s energy kick and the resulting explosion is something straight out of Dragon Ball Z. And that’s awesome.

But underneath all the Asian influence and the amazing action, the show remains the same. The show does frequently feature fight scenes but this episode focuses on it, even turns it up to hyper-violent at one point. It comments on the power of big business (the whole episode takes place due to the debts and gambling of businessmen) and the power of money in sports leagues (I’m looking at you, New York Yankees). Wuncler initially hires a group of mercenaries to play for him and buys young boys from the Dominican Republic until INS takes them away. He also buys everyone new shoes as a substitute for training. And of course foul language, another staple of the show, runs rampant. That Ed Asner has quite a mouth on him!

In all, “The Red Ball” tells its story in a bold and exciting way. It is a fantastic episode that accentuates a certain aspect of the show without leaving the rest of its qualities behind.

Final Thoughts:

• Kickball, originally known as “Jap Baseball”, was created by Chinese monks. Go figure.
• Ming is a great character and a great rival for Huey. Hope she shows up again.
• This review is hopefully full of enough sports talk to annoy Noel. It doesn’t take much.