What does it really mean when something or someone is called “evil”? This is what is disputed in Tyler Perry’s latest series on Netflix.

In , Perry takes viewers on a glossy, seedy journey into the fictional world of high-stakes beauty industry corruption. The series is about an elite cosmetics company that is each morally bankrupt and wealthy, and is rumored to sell products that really cause cancer in black women. It attempts to make clear the dangers of unchecked power and wealth through exaggerated characters and shocking stories, but its message is hidden beneath its own excesses.

From the start, it plays out as an over-the-top drama featuring a solid whose predominant flaws are extreme flaws. While Mallory (played by Krystle Stewart) and Kimmie (played by Taylor Polidore Williams), two women caught in the vortex of the dangerous allure of a beauty empire, offering occasional glimpses of empathy and resilience, moments like these are few and far between. Instead, the show leans heavily on the “bad guy” archetype for many of its characters, whose personalities are so absurdly ruthless that they border on melodrama. Perry seems to suggest that wealth and power inevitably result in corruption, but fairly than explore the topic with any real depth, he opts for spectacle.

Kimmie and her friend Rain (played by Amber Reign Smith) are trapped in a life of prostitution under the control of ruthless pimp Jules (played by Charles Malik Whitfield), who can send them back to prison with one phone call. They also dance at a strip club that is part of the same operation. However, Kimmie hopes to flee by applying for a scholarship to beauty school with Mallory, the CEO of Beauty In Black. Rain is skeptical, believing they’re doomed to this life, and warns, “At some point you’re going to have to face the fact that we’re human.”

Drama unfolds when Kimmie is scolded by the club’s managers and insults a VIP client, while Mallory reveals her cruel side after a public event, criticizing her staff and running away from an accident. Meanwhile, Body (played by Tamera “Tee” Kissen), a “downstairs whore”, hosts a back alley BBL for Rain in their motel room, run by Daga (played by Ts Madison).

The series revels in absurd situations and twisted relationships that may seem almost satirical. it has all the hallmarks of a soap opera – a web of secret connections, betrayal and drama at every turn. The show is undoubtedly over the top and it knows it. This over-the-top approach, while sometimes fun, can be exhausting. At 45 minutes per episode, the format sometimes drags as the plot repeats the same conflicts and character weaknesses without much plot progression or character development. This repetition seems like filler fairly than substance, distracting from any attempts to construct suspense and suspense.

What it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in sheer boldness. The series takes viewers into a world full of gratuitous nudity and limitless profanity, intended to shock fairly than contribute to the story. Sexual content in particular often feels unnecessary since it exists mainly to boost the appeal of the show. As an adult woman, I felt the sex scenes were a bit over the top.

While much of the show could seem hole, the predominant solid brings even the most melodramatic scenarios to life. They fully commit to their roles, delighting in embodying each character’s moral ambiguity and indulgence of wealth. However, the supporting solid – probably as a result of their short screen time – don’t all the time match this energy, and their contributions are sometimes lackluster. As such, the show’s dramatic moments turn out to be predictable, with many of the side characters merely acting as plot devices to drive the predominant characters’ stories.

One of the biggest flaws is the lack of any characters which might be truly replaceable. You cannot even remotely discover with anyone in the solid; either they’ve gone too far morally or they’re too determined to self-destruct. This leaves the viewer without a real anchor, a character to root for amidst the chaos. A villain permeates every plot thread, and every character seems to follow a pattern of making the worst possible decisions. As viewers, we remain detached, watching almost as in the event that they were caricatures fairly than real, complex individuals.

And yet, for all its faults, it has moments of merit. It doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not, accepting its role as “good, memorable entertainment” with joyful humility. This is a series for viewers who like campy dramas in which logic takes a backseat. When viewed with the expectation of pure escapism, it provides a decent dose of indulgent, outrageous fun. The sheer audacity of soap opera plot twists and relationships can have a strange appeal, especially should you enjoy chaos.

After all, this is a series best appreciated as a guilty pleasure, not deep television. It presents a distorted mirror of society’s obsession with wealth and power, but does so in a way that makes viewers wonder about the story itself. There is no nuance here – just a merciless grind of betrayal, money and sex. For anyone on the lookout for thought-upsetting television, this show might not be enough, but as an exercise in mindless indulgence, Perry actually delivered.

Final Verdict: This is soap opera in the biggest, most over-the-top sense – a guilty pleasure at best, a forgettable spectacle at worst. While Perry’s studio has brought significant advantages to the industry and community, the stories told on this platform can sometimes overshadow the issues they’re intended to deal with. Instead of inviting viewers to have interaction deeply, the show can turn out to be immersed in spectacle, raising the query: Is the goal to encourage thought?

In this fashion, Perry’s ambitious content strategy reflects the tension inherent in his work. On the one hand, his work increases the visibility of Black history and cements his position as a powerful force in Hollywood. On the other hand, the sensational elements of his storytelling may threaten to simplify and even trivialize his stories, which leads us to query whether these stories function authentic social criticism or as high drama escapism. For those willing to take the show for what it is, there’s dirty, over-the-top entertainment to be found in Perry’s campy universe.

Young love is a beautiful thing!

Bronny James learns this in his relationship with Parker Whitfield, the daughter of acting couple Dondre Whitfield and Salla Richardson Whitfield. He posted a photo of himself and his beauty at Disneyland Paris in August while they were each within the City of Lights for the Olympics.

“I miss my baby,” he wrote alongside a melting smiley face emoji. “I love you, sm.”

Recently, she shared a photo of the flowers she received from him on her Instagram. Next to the flowers was a card that read, “Your boyfriend loves you very much.”

It was through the Paris Games that James and Whitfield appeared in public together for the primary time. They attended several of his father, LeBron and Team USA’s games, watching an all-star group win gold. They also spent a while together in Paris before he began preparing for his NBA debut and she or he returned to varsity at Spelman. James also frolicked with the Whitfield family as he was near the family, including their son Dré, while his lady celebrated her birthday on the restaurant.

Despite the eye, they remained silent, but along with this sweet message, they shared the words “I love you” on their Instagram stories, including during National Boy’s Day celebrations in early October.

The Los Angeles Laker has been knee-deep in the brand new NBA season, playing alongside his dad and preparing for his reportedly upcoming G League play to develop his talents. He recently told a story of their November/December 2024 cover story that despite all of the speak about how he ended up on the Lakers team, he is not specializing in the negatives.

“Everything I’ve been through over the years has prepared me for this,” he told the publication. “I actually think it just has to do with me experiencing a lot negativity and pushing through all of it. I feel like this has led me to the purpose that in any situation that’s attempting to hold me back or that I’m not fighting within the moment, I can maintain the comfort and confidence in myself to maintain going. I mean, there could also be times after I have a look at something and it pisses me off after which I’m going on the market and play higher, but more often than not it’s one hit, two out.

Despite specializing in the sport, James clearly still thinks about his woman and realizes how vital it’s to inform her about it! How sweet!

In his debut book titled co-authors Jannah Handy and Kiyanna Stewart invite readers to a world where history, memory, and identity intersect through the ability of material culture. This visually stunning work, which premiered on October 15, is greater than a set – it’s a testament to the stories embedded in on a regular basis objects which have long shaped the Black experience.

Through over 300 photographs, the book evokes the intimacy of a scrapbook or family album. Readers will discover nuanced stories embedded in objects comparable to Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 campaign pins, HBCU yearbooks from the Twenties, and hand-drawn maps of Africa from the nineteenth century. These objects change into carriers of broader conversations about heritage and memory. Spike Lee’s foreword strongly emphasizes this concept, stating that “what you have is precious,” reminding readers that relics of the past are key to understanding the current and reimagining the long run.

Two founders from Brooklyn BLK MKT Vintagebring a combined 20 years of experience in collecting, acquiring and curating black ephemera. Their work began in 2014 with a mission to rejoice the narratives inherent within the production of Black culture. As Handy says, “We strive to expose people to the power of history through non-traditional means and unconventional pedagogies.” This approach runs throughout the book, where historical objects change into conduits for storytelling and social connection.

The authors’ backgrounds – Handy in business and education, Stewart in journalism and Africana studies – shape their storytelling with academic rigor and personal insight. Stewart reflects, “I see our work in designing and curating the space for BLK MKT Vintage in a similar vein – using objects to decorate a space to tell a larger story about the person inhabiting it.” Their narrative is interwoven with personal anecdotes and scholarly perspectives, offering readers not only an archive, but in addition a guide to discovering one’s identity and appreciating one’s history.

In addition to featuring rare objects and interviews with other Black collectors and archivists, the book highlights the importance of preserving memory within the face of grief and loss. When readers turn the last page, they may feel the necessity to reclaim, preserve, and rejoice their very own stories.

ESSENCE: Jannah, your background in business and education has shaped your approach to vintage collections. How has this data influenced the way in which you construct and maintain your BLK MKT Vintage collection?

Jannah Handy: The basis of this activity is my personal and collective knowledge in the sphere of education. We strive to reveal people to the ability of history using non-traditional means and unconventional pedagogical methods. Our curatorial practice focuses on learning outcomes from primary historical sources. While we do not have lesson plans for each item we sell – although we could, imagine me – learning is all the time at the center of what we do, we just attempt to make it more engaging and accessible. My business experience has less influence on the BLK MKT Vintage collection and more influence on our marketing and location. While Econ 101 didn’t fully cover the obstacles of entrepreneurship, the teachings on consumer habits and marketing best practices proved relevant.

Kiyanna, your background in journalism and African studies clearly informs your approach to storytelling. How did you weave your passion for these topics into the narrative of this book?

Kiyanna Stewart: I actually like this query and was grateful to seek out the tutorial and life foundations for my approach to storytelling throughout the book. I feel I turned to journalism/media studies, African studies, and women’s studies in my academic journey because I used to be searching not just for myself, but in addition for methods, tools, and language to specific/form myself as a Black, Caribbean American, queer creative person. These disciplines taught me to query the voice of who speaks and about whom, who rules and who’s excluded/invisible – which is why I imagine that the above questions often lie on the core of my curatorial work for BLK MKT Vintage.

This book lays the inspiration for our work by introducing readers to common/useful and shared vocabulary – while also difficult that very same vocabulary to see who/what’s invisible. The book also introduces my wife and I in an intimate way – specializing in our personal stories to support the broad, meta-thematic work. I actually have also argued for the work of various Black intellectuals to serve because the theoretical foundation for this book – to situate us in conversation with existing works, to pay homage to the intellectual-cultural work that has already been put into the study of Black and marginalized people, and to proceed the tradition of lending and adding – riffing, remixing and interpolating black mental thought in an accessible way. People like Audre Lorde, Bell Hooks, Toni Morrison, Arturo Schomburg, Stuart Hall, Marion Stokes etc.

How you hope evokes a deeper connection between readers and the Black material culture you curate?

JH: For us, the essence of this work is to discuss value and the values ​​of people. We implore readers to reconsider the kinds of values ​​we place on things and transcend just monetary value. At the start of the book, Spike Lee perfectly demonstrates the ability of material culture in personal and creative development and declares to the reader that “…what you have is valuable.” We hope that individuals who read this book will gain a brand new understanding of appreciating historic objects, history, and macro values ​​in other facets of their lives. By working on this book, we encourage others to seek out value in their very own and family stories.

The book accommodates over 300 photos. What piece or item out of your collection stands out to you and why?

JH: This is such a difficult query. We’ve been exposed to 1000’s of Black ephemera over time, and those that never get old for me are the magazines. We offer magazines from the primary issue from the Fifties to the last issue in 2014. What I like most about these magazines is the large amount of information and hot gossip between the pages. From the historical to the raunchy to the mundane, Johnson Publishing’s reporting and storytelling provide invaluable snapshots of Black life throughout the many years. When our brick-and-mortar location was open, people spent hours flipping through issues, praising the stories they found. Imagine your favorite social media app’s timeline in a black and white, pocket-sized form – that is it!

The book focuses the eye of black archivists and collectors. Can you share your experiences of working with those individuals who have had an enduring impact on you?

KS: There were many amazing moments on this book that we shared with collectors and archivists, some of which weren’t published in the ultimate version. Each conversation was unique and exceeded our allotted time, but people were incredibly generous in sharing their time, knowledge and stories. What has stuck with me since these conversations is the way in which grief, loss, and memory hook up with their work with archives, collecting, and material culture. So many individuals shared stories, either about themselves or by finding objects that focused on sadness, which was really encouraging for each of us. While working on this book, I struggled with my mother’s dementia diagnosis; in any case, she was the rationale I turned to this work as a teen, and while I’m extremely grateful that she remains to be with us physically, I actually have mourned her for a very long time. Several of the people we spoke to were grieving a private loss of their immediate family, and there have been often personal items that contained memories and direct connections to those people. We felt deeply honored to have the opportunity to share our memories with them and trust them. Personally, I reflect on this work’s connection to sadness daily, so the confirmation of these interviews left an indelible mark on me. I’m a proud steward of stories beyond my very own.

How can this book function a bridge between the past and the long run in telling Black stories through objects?

JH: Consciously documenting our contemporary history and our work in history, with this book we now have preserved our history for future generations. We hope to create bridges with every person who engages with our work; a bridge back to their personal lineage, a bridge to a conscious future, and a bridge to the people around them. We created this book with the express purpose of finding ourselves in the long run. We hope this book will fill the gaps that all the time exist in our historical documentation, the antiquities industry, and the restoration of historical preservation.

What role does fashion and design play in how you choose and present vintage items at BLK MKT Vintage, each in your store and within the book?

KS: Fashion and design are really useful tools in my curatorial process for BLK MKT Vintage because they’ve given me access to a wealthy archive of inspiration from which I can draw and draw. I used to work in the style department with the style editors at Women’s Wear Daily and saw a whole lot, if not 1000’s, of samples there. I understood their work as being on the intersection of the materiality of clothing and the chances of marketing/storytelling. They didn’t design; combed through clothes to discover trends and find/create/tell stories – each written and visual – to assist readers and customers imagine the chances with clothing/clothing. I see our work in designing and curating spaces for BLK MKT Vintage in the same vein – using objects to embellish an area to inform a broader story in regards to the person inhabiting it. Both fashion and design have helped me sharpen my eye and sartorial sensitivity – I actually have unapologetically defined who I’m as a curator/collector, what matches and how I can best serve a given project/task.

How do you envision readers using BLK MKT Vintage as a tool to start their very own journey toward collecting works that reflect their identity and heritage?

KS: This is definitely the purpose of this work. We hope that this book will encourage people to see themselves as part of an ecosystem, an engine that ensures Black historical memory. We are all needed – at the non-public, family, community and institutional levels. I hope this book serves as proof that collecting/selling/trading black ephemera is a viable, profitable and respectable business/profession path, and that it expands people’s imagination of what is feasible when the main focus is black people and our culture production. We also want people to begin at home and intentionally create lives and spaces for themselves with sankofi in mind. “Go back and get it” is tremendous. We hope that once you come back you’ll take into consideration BLK MKT Vintage.