I follow Amanda Seales pretty closely, I like her a lot. I think she's hilarious and intelligent (though often a bit dramatic- but artist you know) and I'd probably call myself a fan but this just wasn't as great as it was hyped up to be.
I think the main problem was that it was just super predictable, like it was just a compilation of stuff she says all the time compiled in a semi new way. It also seemed like she was trying to incorporate some of the "Smart Funny & Black" show aspects that just didn't fit quite right in the special (like singing the black national anthem, it went just a beat long enough to make it awkward).
And on the one hand, I get that it's her first comedy special, she was using some of the classic Seales humor that people have come to love her for. On the other hand, there was no real surprise elements, no truly memorable jokes. It seemed like she was just trying to create a special of like quotes/phrases everybody would walk away repeating all the time with the "how black am i gone have to get" or "i be knowin" which is kind of already repeated among the IG fan base (similar to Kevin Hart's, "pineapples", "you gone learn today" or Bernie Mac's "milk & cookies")...but for the most part it just kind of fell flat.
I also think she isn't an artist who takes criticism very well, even if it's well meaning. In a sense it's good she doesn't like live to please fans, she's just authentically who she is. However, everyone's not hater and if future specials fall flat like this she's not gonna reach her ultimate potential. I think it's especially hard with a semi-political special like this to separate haters from fans who just weren't feeling it. It might be easy for her to say, oh it just got low ratings cause white people were hating or cause I wasn't politically correct.
And don't get me wrong, there are definitely a lot of people (mostly white) who are just mad the special wasn't about them or made to please them...despite the fact that she told yall what it was before the special started. And the fact is, she was sharing legitimate and real aspects of the experience of being a black woman in America. It doesn't mean she thinks all white people are bad, it means black people and black women encounter a lot of white people and micro aggressions throughout our lives that are annoying/hurtful and funny.
However, there are also a lot if people like me (a fellow black woman btw) who legitimately are just criticizing the writing/pacing/delivery aspects of the special and hoping it gets better...who I also think she'll probably write off as hating or not getting it.
