Life in the 'Burbs

A crescendo of laughter and complaints have followed the notorious career of the little three-paneled comic strip "The Boondocks," since its quiet debut in college newspaper in 1997 at the University of Maryland. And creator Aaron McGruder's new animated series will ensure that those who haven't gotten the chance to be shocked or enlightened (depending on who you ask) reading the strip will learn their lesson visually. \nFrom black and white to vivid color, Aaron McGruder has brought his lovably controversial daily comic strip to life on a weekly half-hour animated series on Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim," and wastes no time with subtleties, as in the first episode one character states: "Jesus was black, Ronald Reagan was the devil, and the government was lying about 9/11."\nMcGruder is not known for his willingness to hold his tongue, once being pulled for a week from the Washington Post for his depiction of Condoleeza Rice as Darth Vader, while several other papers refuse to run him at all. McGruder has tackled topics such as race relations, interracial marriage, biracial identity, and has aimed much of his frustration at prominent figures including George W. Bush, Black Entertainment Television founder Robert Johnson and singer R. Kelly. McGruder realizes the risk of his work but is not ready to shut up just yet.\n"I think you make that decision when you decide to become a satirist. You're deciding to be misunderstood by a lot of people. It's almost the price of entry," McGruder said. "I'd hate to not create out of the fear of being misunderstood or misinterpreted. It's not worth it."\nAlthough the Bush administration has been the recent target of many of McGruder's jokes, McGruder, who made a visit to IU in February of 2003, was, and still is an equal opportunity offender, then making jokes about Al Sharpton's perm and calling Al Gore a loser who "won the election and still lost."\nPremiering last Sunday at 11 p.m. the cartoon features the voices of several prominent actors such as Regina King ("Ray," "Miss Congeniality 2"), who plays both Huey and Riley Freeman, and John Witherspoon ("Next Friday"), who plays Granddad and several guest appearances such as Charlie Murphy and Mos Def. "The Boondocks" tells the story of Huey, a 10-year-old leftist revolutionary, and his younger brother Riley, two kids who move from the south side of Chicago to the suburbs with their zany Granddad.\nThe television show will not be able to make much mention of current events because of its production schedule, but will tackle long-standing issues that are constants in the news and popular culture. In one show, Granddad starts dating a younger woman, oblivious to the fact that she's a prostitute, which leads to a discussion between Huey and Riley on whether all women are "hoes."\nMcGruder says he has been waiting for this chance to express himself on television, as this deal has been a long time in the works.\n"It's difficult to tell stories in a daily strip … people don't necessarily read (the comic) every single day. This show allows us to actually tell just stories about the characters for a half hour. That's something I always wanted to do but I struggle with it in strip medium," McGruder said, who suggests that although he is an entertainer, he's not in the businesses for shock value, but rather to spark questions, undo conjecture and force audiences to inquire about, and possibly even fight the powers that be … all while getting a few laughs. And he doesn't care who he offends or who is listening.\n"I try to do what I consider to be responsible entertainment, but clearly other people don't agree. Certainly I have done nothing to earn the title of being a spokesperson for anybody, other than tell some jokes and draw some pictures," McGruder said. He promises that he doesn't, and will not get angry at people who disagree with how the show is presented with its insensitive tone and repetitive use of the N-word, which he sees as "no big deal."\n"Whenever you're doing something tied to real life and the news, even though you try your best, you're being thrown curveballs," McGruder said. "Unpredicted things happen and you've just got to deal with it"