Avid Online Entourage Fans Hate Minorities? Or Avid Online Fans of Racism Love Entourage?

Now, I know Fan Message Boards aren't the first place one should look for cool, rational, objective and insightful comments about a particular television show, but some times they're just too crazy to ignore.

Take for example a recent debate on the HBO.com message boards for August 12th's episode of Entourage "The Young and the Stoned." A poster going by the name of HBBro, after speaking somewhat intelligently about the show, decided to play the race card and said:

However, the presence of a black director really underscored the show's dearth of diversity. When's the last time a black actor's had a line in the show since Turtle's short-lived courtship of the sneaker chick from You Got Served?

At this point, Entourage loyalists joined the fray and responded:

Oh, please. Shut the hell up and stop playing the fucking race card. It's a fucking TV show, if you don't like it because "black guys aren't featured" then don't watch, simple as that.

And:

...here's a show for HBBRO, The Wire plenty of "african-americans" in that show leave ENTOURAGE as is!

And:

There wasn't enough white people on Cosby Show either!!!!!!!!

And:

Wait!! Doesnt Turtle count as a black person??? He acts and dresses more black than most African Americans do.

And:

With Turtles stupid hats and the lame Hipity Hopity music they play on this show it could easily run on BET.

In defense of the show's message boards, one fan came to HBBro's aid. A poster conspicuously using the pseudonym "DouglasEllin" said:

I'm simply amazed that this alleged "message board" is limited to the intelligence of a selected few, i.e., anyone with opposing minds need not apply. If one wants to spark a discussion of race (while admittedly a heavy one concerning such a fluffy show), why must that poster be chased out to the parking lot, so to speak? This kind of oh-shut-the-fuck-up! attitude merely turns prospective posters away, and invariably perpetuates a boys-club/locker-room mentality that, at the end of the day, includes the same 10 dudes high-fiving each other and whipping each others' buttocks with wet towels in their confined bubble while the great big world outside rolls onward.

Granted this high-minded defense of free speech on the HBO message boards loses some of its luster when you seriously take the time to consider that the poster actually uses the name of Entourage creator Doug Ellin to underscore his noble points. Which means, he's probably crazy and sleeps on a mattress fashioned from rejected Spec Scripts.

In any case, the question still remains: Do avid online fans of Entourage really hate minorities? Naw, I'm sure Avid fans of racism just really love their Entourage.

Entourage: The Young, White and Stoned

August 12th's episode of Entourage seems to represent an upswing in the creative energies and motivations at HBO, Leverage and Closest to the Hole, the production teams behind the series. After a dismal run of episodes revolving around cheap, sophomoric gags like "rim jobs," "trannies" and "furries," it seems Doug Elin, et al. are finally back on track and serving up legitimate plot points that follow the bread crumbs out of the narrative quagmire of Medallin.

An entire half season arc dedicated to Perry Reeves' character "Walsh" and the team's production nightmares revolving around the Escobar bio-pic taxed the commitment of even the most loyal fans of the show, who can now finally be satisfied that the show is back on track and near the pitch-perfect levels of seasons 1 and 2.

Together with last weeks' episode, last night's installment "The Young and the Stoned" pushed us into new territory with the launch of Eric's new business and the prospect of another client. The writing was fresh, the plot lines were humorous and the tone was just what you needed to send your arms into the air and scream in the face of a dwindling summer, "VICTORY."

First time Entourage contributor Dusty Kay penned the script and along with TV director Ken Whittingham could claim primary responsibility for the show's return to excellence. Kay's been out of the game since his last contribution to television in 2002 for The Twilight Zone series. Clocking in at nearly 50 years old, Kay doesn't seem like the kind of person whose mind would provide the fertile soil for a plot line centered on "extinct weed." In the end though, he pulled off the pacing and came away with one of the finer episodes of the season.

Even more intriguing than the "cincogenarian" who grimaced through arthritis to pen the script is the presence of an African-American director for a show that, to my knowledge, hasn't had a black guy open his mouth on screen for a little bit now. Ken Whittingham last directed the marginally funny episode "Sorry, Harvey" which contained the memorable "trannicles" at the end. This time around the former director of episodes for more diverse shows like "One on One" and "Everybody Hates Chris" brought back the youthful exuberance that's made Entourage such a summer time hit.

Still, it's surprising to see a show whose title has primarily been associated with hip-hop stars storming the red carpet and brawls opening up in crowded Las Vegas lobbies center around only white characters whose closest encounter with an entourage most closely reminiscent to the nineties hip-hop prototypes ended with Wee-bey from "The Wire" dangling Drama off a hotel balcony in season 3.

Still, as white-bred as Entourage remains, it seems to be back on track. Hopefully the last 3 episodes will bring us out of summer on an exuberant wave that has us looking back on Season 4 with a fond and satisfied sigh of "Victory."