# I Have Some Thoughts Minisode | VMA's, Migos AI Trend, Kirk Franklin & Glorilla, & A Different World Reboot

An episode of [Therapy for Black Girls](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1223803641), 2 Oct 2026, 23 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/2a22ac04-0eb4-4aad-8dc2-ae270179efb9/e9466f5d-9428-4f2a-8cd2-b4d7002cfb92/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=2d42d89c-4962-4760-a616-ae270179efd5

Welcome back to our minisode series, "I Have Some Thoughts." These short episodes are designed to contextualize the pop culture moments we're currently paying attention to through a mental health lens. Pop culture isn't just fun to chat about, it can reveal important information about how we relate, cope, and understand ourselves. Join us each Friday to hear Dr. Joy share her thoughts about the happenings of the week. This week, we're chatting about the exclusion of Black winners in this year's VMA's, the Migos AI trend going too far, Kirk Franklin & Glorilla's new song, and the reboot of A Different World. Stay Connected Wanna chat more about the pop culture hot topics of the week? Join us inside our Patreon community. Is there a topic you'd like covered on the podcast? Submit it at therapyforblackgirls.com/mailbox. If you're looking for a therapist in your area, check out the directory at https://www.therapyforblackgirls.com/directory. Make sure to follow us on social media: Instagram: @therapyforblackgirls Threads: @therapyforblackgirls Our Production Team Executive Producers: Dennison Bradford & Gabrielle Collins Director of Podcast & Digital Content: Ellice Ellis Producer: Ndeye Thioubou Production Assistant: Bria Mosley See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:06] Speaker 1: Hey, y'all. Welcome back to another episode of I Have
[0:08] Speaker 1: Some Thoughts on Therapy for Black Girls minisode series, where
[0:11] Speaker 1: we are talking about all things pop culture, but of course,
[0:14] Speaker 1: from a mental health lens. And Bria is back with
[0:17] Speaker 1: me today. Hey, Bria.
[0:18] Speaker 2: Hey, Dr. Joy. I'm excited to get into the topics
[0:21] Speaker 2: for the week. Lots on the docket today. So we'll
[0:24] Speaker 2: start with the VMAs. The MTV Video Music Awards took
[0:28] Speaker 2: place this past weekend and have sparked a lot of
[0:31] Speaker 2: conversation about Black artists and cultural recognitions. Notably, in the
[0:36] Speaker 2: Song of Summer category, Young Miami's Spindad was excluded, despite
[0:41] Speaker 2: how popular and how it's really been carrying.
[0:43] Speaker 3: The summer along.
[0:45] Speaker 2: More broadly, though, much of the recognition for Black artists
[0:48] Speaker 2: at the VMAs continues to be concentrated within the genre-specific
[0:52] Speaker 2: categories of Best Hip Hop Song, Best R & B Song. And,
[0:57] Speaker 2: you know, it's raising questions about who gets considered to
[1:00] Speaker 2: be part of the larger mainstream cultural conversations. And what
[1:05] Speaker 2: happens when the culture recognizes that you're an impactful artist,
[1:08] Speaker 2: but the institutions just will not? So I guess to
[1:13] Speaker 2: start us off, why are Black artists often celebrated for
[1:18] Speaker 2: shaping culture, even within these same institutions and trends and
[1:22] Speaker 2: TikToks and memes? But when it comes to recognizing that
[1:26] Speaker 2: same impact on these larger stages, it just doesn't happen.
[1:31] Speaker 1: Well, one, I think the larger conversation is, does the
[1:35] Speaker 1: VMAs still have any kind of cultural relevance? Actually, I
[1:39] Speaker 1: didn't even know it was happening.
[1:40] Speaker 2: Right.
[1:41] Speaker 1: Like it feels like a long time ago, the VMAs
[1:43] Speaker 1: were a big, big deal. And like people made a
[1:45] Speaker 1: whole event out of it. Right. I didn't even know
[1:47] Speaker 1: that they were happening.
[1:48] Speaker 2: So I know Beyonce used to be a VMAs.
[1:51] Speaker 3: Right. Right.
[1:52] Speaker 1: The queen used to grace y'all with her presence. So
[1:54] Speaker 1: who won Song of the Summer?
[1:56] Speaker 2: Ariana Grande, Hate That I Made You Love Me won.
[2:00] Speaker 2: This year's Song of Summer.
[2:02] Speaker 1: Well, I don't know that song in particular, but I,
[2:05] Speaker 1: of course, know Ariana Grande. So, I mean, I feel
[2:07] Speaker 1: like that's a big name to continue with. But I
[2:09] Speaker 1: definitely feel like Spin That was everywhere like I was, right?
[2:12] Speaker 1: In the circles that, you know, matter to me. But
[2:15] Speaker 1: I think racism is the short answer to why we
[2:18] Speaker 1: continue to be left out of these conversations, right? Like
[2:20] Speaker 1: it is one thing for our culture to shape larger
[2:25] Speaker 1: culture and for people to kind of want to imitate
[2:27] Speaker 1: us and kind of steal from us and adopt. our
[2:30] Speaker 1: culture into their own, but then when it is time
[2:32] Speaker 1: to give these more traditional, more conventional kinds of prim
[2:36] Speaker 1: and proper awards, so to speak, then we are largely
[2:39] Speaker 1: left out of those conversations. And I think it just
[2:41] Speaker 1: is a continuing conversation of us making sure that we
[2:45] Speaker 1: are going where we are celebrated and not just where
[2:47] Speaker 1: we're tolerated, right? So how big can we make the
[2:50] Speaker 1: BET awards? Are we, you know, creating our own ways
[2:53] Speaker 1: to recognize each other and other people and as opposed
[2:56] Speaker 1: to waiting on recognition from these institutions that continue to
[3:01] Speaker 1: disappoint us.
[3:03] Speaker 2: Definitely. And I feel like there's often this push and
[3:06] Speaker 2: pull of the awards shouldn't matter, but they do. And
[3:11] Speaker 2: it's like a kind of a circle of, you know,
[3:12] Speaker 2: you want the accolades, especially when it comes to some
[3:14] Speaker 2: of like the larger awards, like the Grammys and the
[3:16] Speaker 2: Emmys and like all of these different things too. But
[3:20] Speaker 2: I think like the people who have the power to
[3:22] Speaker 2: like validate the success within the industry and like, And
[3:26] Speaker 2: I say validate very loosely with air quotes because it's
[3:29] Speaker 2: not that we need that validation. But as an artist,
[3:33] Speaker 2: why can being overlooked make you start to question your
[3:37] Speaker 2: accomplishments and if they were even as significant as they were?
[3:41] Speaker 2: But also this desire to make them understand, if that
[3:46] Speaker 2: makes sense, or to help them to understand the culture
[3:48] Speaker 2: that's being created.
[3:49] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[3:51] Speaker 1: Yeah. And, you know, I don't know that this is
[3:52] Speaker 1: true for the VMAs, probably not, especially these days. You
[3:56] Speaker 1: mentioned like things like Emmys and Oscars and Grammys, like
[3:59] Speaker 1: those things hold, I think, actual weight. Like, I feel
[4:02] Speaker 1: like I remember us having a similar conversation after Michael B.
[4:05] Speaker 1: Jordan won his Oscar, right? Like how immediately there was
[4:08] Speaker 1: a bump in pay. And so there are very material
[4:12] Speaker 1: consequences to winning these kinds of things. Again, probably not
[4:16] Speaker 1: for the VMAs, but I do understand why artists want
[4:19] Speaker 1: to be recognized. with some of these major awards because
[4:22] Speaker 1: it can lead to additional opportunities. And I don't think
[4:25] Speaker 1: that there's anything wrong with that, right? Like if you
[4:28] Speaker 1: are somebody who is serious about your craft and there
[4:30] Speaker 1: is an award given and you have done really good work,
[4:33] Speaker 1: I don't think that there's anything wrong with wanting to
[4:35] Speaker 1: be considered and wanting to win. I think the thing
[4:39] Speaker 1: to be careful of, though, is that we don't do
[4:41] Speaker 1: too much relying on these external things to validate the
[4:46] Speaker 1: work that has been really important, maybe both to us
[4:49] Speaker 1: and meaningful to our communities, if that is important to us.
[4:52] Speaker 2: Right.
[4:52] Speaker 1: Like those things can't be louder or you can't allow
[4:56] Speaker 1: those awards to be louder than the very real impact
[4:58] Speaker 1: that I think a lot of work that comes from
[5:00] Speaker 1: our community actually has.
[5:02] Speaker 3: Definitely. Thank you for that.
[5:05] Speaker 2: So for our second topic, we're going to. Talk about
[5:08] Speaker 2: how AI has gone a little too far. So this
[5:12] Speaker 2: past week, there's been a trend that started up on
[5:14] Speaker 2: social media. People are calling it the Migos AI trend.
[5:18] Speaker 2: Essentially what it does is it takes Quavo and Takeoff
[5:21] Speaker 2: from the Migos. They did a 2022 Colors performance of
[5:26] Speaker 2: their song Hotel Lobby. It's like an orange background.
[5:29] Speaker 3: There's a mic. They're like rapping and doing ad-libs and things.
[5:33] Speaker 2: But people are essentially taking that setting and replacing it
[5:37] Speaker 2: with two other people, whether it's celebrities or other figures.
[5:41] Speaker 2: There was one with Michelle and Barack Obama circulating. It's
[5:44] Speaker 2: just people are doing whatever. So unfortunately, the trend went
[5:49] Speaker 2: a little too far when a video of the trend
[5:53] Speaker 2: using Nolan Wells and his mother went viral. Obviously, over
[5:59] Speaker 2: the last week, Not great news as far as Nolan Wells'
[6:03] Speaker 2: death being not ruled a homicide, just being accidental with drowning.
[6:07] Speaker 2: So lots of sensitive feelings around that. And then similarly,
[6:11] Speaker 2: there's another picture of Kev on stage. He was doing
[6:15] Speaker 2: a show and he was crying because he's doing on
[6:18] Speaker 2: a comedy tour surrounding the loss of his brother. And
[6:21] Speaker 2: someone AI generated a picture of his brother in the picture,
[6:27] Speaker 2: like consoling.
[6:28] Speaker 3: Him while he was crying.
[6:30] Speaker 2: Now, this conversation has been happening for a while now,
[6:32] Speaker 2: but I feel like these events happening so back to
[6:35] Speaker 2: back has really just reignited this discussion of what actually
[6:39] Speaker 2: happens when technology can manufacture these images of people and
[6:44] Speaker 2: events that feel very emotionally real, even though they never happened,
[6:49] Speaker 2: but also are just insensitive too. So like, it can't
[6:53] Speaker 2: wrap my head around like why people are doing this
[6:56] Speaker 2: at all. Yeah.
[6:58] Speaker 1: It is so odd. So I was also confused as
[7:01] Speaker 1: to just where this trend came from, but I guess
[7:03] Speaker 1: we don't always know where trends came from. I think
[7:07] Speaker 1: the first one I saw was one with Fred Sanford
[7:10] Speaker 1: and Aunt Esther. And I was like, no, who's going
[7:13] Speaker 1: to put Fred Sanford and Aunt Esther on the orange background?
[7:17] Speaker 1: It is just so like bizarre to me and feels like, okay,
[7:21] Speaker 1: this is somebody with too much time on their hands.
[7:23] Speaker 1: But I do think it brings up larger questions around like,
[7:27] Speaker 1: being able to manipulate things so easily with AI, I
[7:31] Speaker 1: think is something that we have to be very conscientious about, right?
[7:35] Speaker 1: Because I think people think it feels very harmless and,
[7:38] Speaker 1: And like, oh, I'm just playing around. But again, to
[7:41] Speaker 1: our earlier conversation on the podcast around like the impact
[7:44] Speaker 1: of AI usage and like the casual usage related to
[7:47] Speaker 1: water streams and noise pollution and all of these things,
[7:50] Speaker 1: like being able to use it for something so frivolous
[7:53] Speaker 1: as putting on Esther and Fred Sanford in it, like why?
[7:57] Speaker 1: Why are we doing these kinds of things? Right. And
[7:59] Speaker 1: so I think that there's the one side of the
[8:01] Speaker 1: conversation that is about like, Do we need to overuse
[8:04] Speaker 1: this as just this tool that feels like meaningless, but
[8:07] Speaker 1: it's not actually meaningless? But then the points that you
[8:10] Speaker 1: introduce around how it's being used in very sensitive kinds
[8:15] Speaker 1: of situations.
[8:15] Speaker 2: Right.
[8:16] Speaker 1: So with Nolan Wells and his mom and with Kim
[8:19] Speaker 1: on stage and his brother, we have to stop and
[8:23] Speaker 1: think about. Is this something that is actually helpful or
[8:28] Speaker 1: is it actually hurting the family that you are hoping to?
[8:31] Speaker 1: And again, and, you know, I saw Kev's response. He
[8:34] Speaker 1: did a video about like, please don't do this. Like,
[8:36] Speaker 1: please don't send me videos with my brother like comforting
[8:40] Speaker 1: me because he wasn't actually there. And he made great
[8:43] Speaker 1: points around, you know, thinking that people maybe have good intentions, right?
[8:47] Speaker 1: Like they are thinking they are offering something that is
[8:49] Speaker 1: of comfort, but it's actually not comforting people. And so
[8:52] Speaker 1: I think we have to take ourselves out of the
[8:54] Speaker 1: vantage point of these situations and like centering our own
[8:57] Speaker 1: experiences And truly think about whether this is something that
[9:01] Speaker 1: would be comforting to us, but even still, it may
[9:04] Speaker 1: not be comforting to this person. And so you have
[9:07] Speaker 1: to ask yourself, like, what is the motivation of me
[9:09] Speaker 1: sharing this? Is it just wanting to be a part
[9:11] Speaker 1: of the conversation? Am I trying to offer some kind
[9:13] Speaker 1: of comfort? Like, what is actually the point of creating
[9:16] Speaker 1: these kinds of things? And being open to listening when
[9:19] Speaker 1: people say, I don't want this and this is not
[9:21] Speaker 1: actually helpful. So maybe it makes you stop and think
[9:24] Speaker 1: twice before you actually produce some kind of image that
[9:28] Speaker 1: is inaccurate and maybe harmful to a family.
[9:32] Speaker 2: Definitely. And I think it's also worth noting that, like,
[9:36] Speaker 2: if someone wanted to do that, there are actual, like,
[9:40] Speaker 2: portrait companies, there are actual, like, services that offer these
[9:45] Speaker 2: mock-ups and videos and things that can put your loved
[9:49] Speaker 2: one back on different scenes with you. So just remembering that, like,
[9:53] Speaker 2: someone hasn't shared that or has not done that on
[9:56] Speaker 2: their own, it's likely safety. assume that they don't want
[10:01] Speaker 2: that to be something that they just are scrolling and
[10:03] Speaker 2: casually come across too.
[10:05] Speaker 3: Right.
[10:05] Speaker 1: From a stranger, right? Like if a loved one has
[10:08] Speaker 1: not offered this to them as a gift or like
[10:10] Speaker 1: a tribute, like why would a stranger on the internet
[10:14] Speaker 1: be the person that they find that meaningful from? Like,
[10:17] Speaker 1: It's just not likely to happen. So again, please stop
[10:20] Speaker 1: and think before you do these things.
[10:23] Speaker 3: Exactly.
[10:23] Speaker 2: And I guess also from the other side of the coin,
[10:27] Speaker 2: like what can happen as we're processing grief or trauma
[10:33] Speaker 2: or uncertainty? Maybe we're looking for some type of closure.
[10:36] Speaker 2: That person is not there to give us that anymore,
[10:40] Speaker 2: but AI can almost manufacture it for us. Like what
[10:43] Speaker 2: can happen psychologically in that process?
[10:47] Speaker 1: Yeah. And, you know, that's a part of why I
[10:49] Speaker 1: have also been concerned. And I can't think of what
[10:51] Speaker 1: the service was, but there are like all these services
[10:54] Speaker 1: popping up, kind of like keeping people's memories alive. And
[10:59] Speaker 1: of course, I understand like wanting to save voicemails from,
[11:02] Speaker 1: you know, people have passed away and those kinds of
[11:04] Speaker 1: things like that. Those kinds of things I think are
[11:07] Speaker 1: actually meaningful and can actually be a part of what
[11:10] Speaker 1: helps you in the grieving process. But I think when
[11:12] Speaker 1: we are manipulating reality and, you know, like creating these
[11:17] Speaker 1: images and things, we are disrupting the process of grief. Right.
[11:22] Speaker 1: And I think when you are just like traumatized and
[11:25] Speaker 1: devastated by the loss of a loved one, you're looking
[11:28] Speaker 1: for answers. Like you said, we're looking for certainty. We're
[11:30] Speaker 1: looking for something to help us make sense of. of
[11:33] Speaker 1: this devastating thing that has happened. But the truth is
[11:36] Speaker 1: that grief is something that we're all going to have
[11:38] Speaker 1: to experience and no amount of artificial manipulation is going
[11:43] Speaker 1: to make that hurt any less. And again, I think
[11:46] Speaker 1: the companies and things are maybe well-intentioned, but also wanting
[11:51] Speaker 1: to profit off of something that is devastating for our family.
[11:55] Speaker 1: And when you're just looking for answers, sometimes you make
[11:57] Speaker 1: decisions because you're vulnerable. And so I think we have
[12:00] Speaker 1: to consider that nothing is really going to make that
[12:04] Speaker 1: process easier for us. It is just sadly a part
[12:07] Speaker 1: of life. Like it is something that we have to process.
[12:10] Speaker 1: And none of these companies and things that are saying like, oh,
[12:13] Speaker 1: you can keep their memory alive and keep talking to them.
[12:15] Speaker 1: And like that is not actually what happens in death.
[12:18] Speaker 1: And so I think we are. maybe navigating some very
[12:21] Speaker 1: tumultuous waters and delaying our healing and maybe making it
[12:26] Speaker 1: difficult for us to actually have some closure around death
[12:29] Speaker 1: when we are playing with all these tools that I
[12:32] Speaker 1: think maybe momentarily help you to feel better, but actually
[12:35] Speaker 1: long-term are not going to be helpful as you process
[12:38] Speaker 1: a loss.
[12:39] Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a really good point. Thank you for sharing that.
[12:42] Speaker 2: So for our next topic, let's talk about Kirk Franklin
[12:47] Speaker 2: and Gloverla. So over the weekend, Kirk Franklin and Glorilla
[12:51] Speaker 2: released another collaboration. It's a gospel song called This Time.
[12:56] Speaker 2: The song centers around holding onto faith and getting through
[13:00] Speaker 2: hard moments, and it ends with a verse from Glorilla.
[13:03] Speaker 2: This is actually their second project together. The first was
[13:06] Speaker 2: a song called Rain Down on Me from Glow's debut album, Glorious. Now,
[13:11] Speaker 2: Kirk Franklin and Glorilla's collaborations often spark conversation, mostly among
[13:16] Speaker 2: the Christian community. about whether gospel artists should be working
[13:21] Speaker 2: with secular artists whose music or public image may not
[13:25] Speaker 2: align with traditional Christian values. So I guess from your perspective,
[13:32] Speaker 2: why can religious communities sometimes make people feel that engaging
[13:35] Speaker 2: with people outside of the faith in the way that
[13:41] Speaker 2: they interpret it, not to say that Globela is outside
[13:44] Speaker 2: of the faith per se, but Engaging people outside of
[13:47] Speaker 2: the faith means like compromising their own beliefs.
[13:51] Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that this really speaks to having a
[13:54] Speaker 1: very narrow and rigid idea about like what Christianity and
[13:58] Speaker 1: what faith is supposed to be, right? Like it feels
[14:02] Speaker 1: like there is just so much more room for us
[14:04] Speaker 1: to be expansive about how faith and religion can look
[14:07] Speaker 1: different for all of us, right? And I thought that
[14:10] Speaker 1: a huge part of Christianity was bringing new believers into
[14:14] Speaker 1: the fold, right? And so if something that may not
[14:17] Speaker 1: be quite your cup of tea, but it is for
[14:20] Speaker 1: somebody else, brings people closer to the message and to,
[14:24] Speaker 1: you know, the word of God, then why is that
[14:27] Speaker 1: not okay, right? Like, I think it is okay to
[14:29] Speaker 1: say this is not something for me and this is
[14:31] Speaker 1: not what I would play in my house. But if
[14:33] Speaker 1: it is something that I love or that you love
[14:36] Speaker 1: and it is consistent with your idea of spirituality and religion, like,
[14:40] Speaker 1: I think we just have to let people have that.
[14:42] Speaker 1: But I think people get so... rigid about like Christianity
[14:46] Speaker 1: and religion. And it has to only look one way
[14:49] Speaker 1: that we don't make room for all of the different
[14:51] Speaker 1: ways that people can kind of proclaim and like show
[14:54] Speaker 1: their own relationship with whoever their faith allows them to
[14:58] Speaker 1: believe in. And we just have to be okay with like,
[15:00] Speaker 1: it may be looking different for other people.
[15:03] Speaker 3: Absolutely.
[15:03] Speaker 2: And especially when you think about someone like Kirk Franklin,
[15:06] Speaker 2: who already kind of shook up the church.
[15:09] Speaker 1: Music, like the gospel scene anyway.
[15:11] Speaker 2: Right.
[15:12] Speaker 3: Exactly. And I mean, to your point, it's like.
[15:14] Speaker 2: If the point of Christianity is to, you know, bring
[15:17] Speaker 2: more people into Christianity, it's like you think of it
[15:21] Speaker 2: like a Venn diagram, like Glorilla's over here and Kirk
[15:23] Speaker 2: Franklin's over there. That overlap might not be expansive, but
[15:27] Speaker 2: the Glorilla fans might hear this like inspirational gospel song
[15:31] Speaker 2: and be like, oh, let me go see what that's about.
[15:32] Speaker 3: So I think it does open doors in the way that,
[15:36] Speaker 3: you know, it is intended.
[15:38] Speaker 2: But like, how can we make room for complexity in
[15:41] Speaker 2: When our faith, our career, relationships, personal values, they might
[15:46] Speaker 2: not always fit neatly together in the way that Kirk
[15:49] Speaker 2: Franklin gospel. But, you know, we're introducing Glorilla into the fold.
[15:53] Speaker 2: That's not neat Christianity as it might be described. But
[15:57] Speaker 2: how can we start to allow for that expansion of
[16:00] Speaker 2: our mindsets and our values there?
[16:02] Speaker 1: I would ask when it ever fits perfectly or neatly.
[16:05] Speaker 3: Right.
[16:05] Speaker 1: Like I think most of us can be honest and
[16:09] Speaker 1: say like even our own ideas about Christianity don't always
[16:13] Speaker 1: match up with our lived experiences. Right. Like we all
[16:16] Speaker 1: make decisions. We all sin. We all make mistakes.
[16:19] Speaker 3: Right.
[16:19] Speaker 1: Like none of us are perfect because we're human. And
[16:22] Speaker 1: that is what it means to be human is that
[16:23] Speaker 1: there will be mistakes and mess ups and twists and
[16:26] Speaker 1: turns and, you know, all kinds of things that are
[16:28] Speaker 1: not perfect. And so I think if we are honest
[16:31] Speaker 1: with ourselves, then we can be honest with other people
[16:33] Speaker 1: and show more grace and understand that, again, it may
[16:36] Speaker 1: not look like what I would put out or the
[16:39] Speaker 1: music that I want to listen to, but it could
[16:41] Speaker 1: be perfectly fine with other people. And really, it is
[16:44] Speaker 1: about like meeting people where they are. You know, like
[16:46] Speaker 1: this song may be something that finds somebody just when
[16:50] Speaker 1: they need it and opens them up to believing all
[16:52] Speaker 1: kinds of different things or a different kind of walk
[16:54] Speaker 1: with faith. You just never know. And so I think
[16:57] Speaker 1: we have to be open to messaging and messages looking
[16:59] Speaker 1: very different and meeting people where they are and exactly
[17:03] Speaker 1: maybe what they need to hear in the moment.
[17:05] Speaker 3: Absolutely. Thank you.
[17:07] Speaker 1: More from our conversation after the break.
[17:12] Speaker 2: And then our last topic, we're going to talk about
[17:15] Speaker 2: a different world.
[17:16] Speaker 3: I watched this recently. I'm absolutely loving it.
[17:19] Speaker 2: But for a little context, for those who may not
[17:22] Speaker 2: have seen it already, This weekend, a different world reboot
[17:26] Speaker 2: aired on Netflix. This show follows Whitley and Dwayne's daughter, Deborah,
[17:30] Speaker 2: as she navigates Hillman for herself. It's been getting a
[17:33] Speaker 2: ton of praise all over social media and even reached
[17:37] Speaker 2: number one in the U.S. for its debut weekend. So first,
[17:41] Speaker 2: I want to get your general thoughts. Did you watch
[17:43] Speaker 2: it and how are you feeling about it?
[17:44] Speaker 1: I loved it. I loved it. We were very fortunate
[17:48] Speaker 1: to receive screeners of the episodes, you know, ahead of debuting.
[17:52] Speaker 1: And I have loved it. I am now on my
[17:54] Speaker 1: third watch of the series because it fits into the
[17:58] Speaker 1: insecure bucket for me.
[18:00] Speaker 3: Right.
[18:00] Speaker 1: Like one of those shows that you put on, especially
[18:02] Speaker 1: after you watched it the first time, just because like
[18:04] Speaker 1: it is joyful and like fun and beautiful black people
[18:08] Speaker 1: and fashions and fun dialogue. Like I have really, really
[18:12] Speaker 1: loved it. Something that has been interesting about it for
[18:16] Speaker 1: me is watching it with my kids. So I have
[18:19] Speaker 1: an almost 13 year old who I guess saw clips
[18:22] Speaker 1: and was like, oh, I want to watch this. And
[18:24] Speaker 1: I was like, you know what, this would be good
[18:26] Speaker 1: to watch together. So I started a rewatch with him.
[18:29] Speaker 1: And then my 10 year old has recently started playing
[18:32] Speaker 1: the trumpet. and is like all in love with bands.
[18:35] Speaker 1: And so he has been really drawn into like the
[18:37] Speaker 1: band culture and like the football games. So I love
[18:41] Speaker 1: that it is doing what I think it was intended
[18:43] Speaker 1: to do, right? Like for my generation, watching the original
[18:46] Speaker 1: A Different World, introduced us maybe to like conversations around
[18:51] Speaker 1: HBCUs and college life and like really excited many of
[18:54] Speaker 1: us about wanting to go to HBCUs and you know,
[18:57] Speaker 1: what college life was all about. And I feel like
[18:59] Speaker 1: this reboot was designed to give a new generation those
[19:02] Speaker 1: conversations and to really look at what does HBCU life
[19:06] Speaker 1: look like now in 2026. And so it is already
[19:09] Speaker 1: doing that. And I already knew that it was going
[19:12] Speaker 1: to be done well once I knew that Felicia Pride
[19:14] Speaker 1: was was in charge of it because she does not
[19:17] Speaker 1: do anything without care and consideration and immeasurable love for
[19:21] Speaker 1: community and culture. And so it was everything that I
[19:25] Speaker 1: expected it to be in a Felicia Pride production. And
[19:29] Speaker 1: I have just really enjoyed it and have been very
[19:31] Speaker 1: pleased to see the online reaction that people are also really,
[19:34] Speaker 1: really loving it.
[19:36] Speaker 3: No, same.
[19:36] Speaker 2: I remember when I watched it for the first time,
[19:39] Speaker 2: because I also am on my second rewatch now. But
[19:42] Speaker 2: when I watched it for the first time, I remember
[19:43] Speaker 2: thinking like, oh my gosh, people are going to love this.
[19:46] Speaker 2: And it's been so good to see like all the
[19:48] Speaker 2: positive reactions. And of course, there are a couple that
[19:52] Speaker 2: are like, well, that doesn't make sense. And just very
[19:54] Speaker 2: protective over a different world. Because I mean, A Different World,
[19:59] Speaker 2: the original was like one of my favorite shows ever.
[20:02] Speaker 2: And so I was even like, okay, like, let's see
[20:05] Speaker 2: what this is going to be. Right. But I'm so,
[20:09] Speaker 2: so glad that it is doing well. You touched on
[20:13] Speaker 2: it a little bit, but what do you hope as
[20:16] Speaker 2: a whole, this new generation that's being introduced to a
[20:19] Speaker 2: different world continues to get from this show? I mean,
[20:23] Speaker 2: we've talked about it in other conversations of how there
[20:27] Speaker 2: almost doesn't really seem to be media that like helps
[20:30] Speaker 2: with this transition from like, media for kids to like
[20:34] Speaker 2: media for adults. And so I think that was really
[20:38] Speaker 2: cool for me to see as far as like, this
[20:40] Speaker 2: is like the perfect coming of age, like kids going
[20:43] Speaker 2: to college type of content too. But is there anything
[20:46] Speaker 2: from your perspective you're hoping that kids continue to get
[20:49] Speaker 2: from this too?
[20:51] Speaker 3: Or the new generation?
[20:51] Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I agree with you that it does
[20:55] Speaker 1: feel like it meets the needs of that YA audience
[20:58] Speaker 1: that was really, really missing. And of course, this cannot
[21:01] Speaker 1: be everything for everybody, right? Like this is just one
[21:03] Speaker 1: contribution and I hope opens doors to more shows being
[21:07] Speaker 1: able to be made for the young adult population. But
[21:11] Speaker 1: I think it introduces some themes that are very relevant
[21:14] Speaker 1: and resonant. with young people, right? Like traditionally college age
[21:18] Speaker 1: people around relationships and dating and career, mental health, learning disabilities.
[21:23] Speaker 1: Like there are so much there that I think I've
[21:26] Speaker 1: been excited to hear young people say like, oh, this
[21:28] Speaker 1: feels very real. And in hearing Felicia talk about like
[21:32] Speaker 1: the pre-production that HBCU students were actively involved in both
[21:37] Speaker 1: on set and preset kinds of activities. So it is
[21:41] Speaker 1: relevant because the students were involved. And so I'm really
[21:44] Speaker 1: just excited for the conversations and the resources and the
[21:46] Speaker 1: things that it will be able to open up for
[21:48] Speaker 1: people to have, to have some of these, maybe struggle
[21:51] Speaker 1: with some of these difficult conversations that maybe you didn't
[21:53] Speaker 1: have a way to identify before. Now you can see
[21:56] Speaker 1: it play out in screen and it opens up a
[21:59] Speaker 1: larger conversation. So I'm most excited about that.
[22:01] Speaker 3: Definitely. And one other thing that I was just thinking.
[22:04] Speaker 2: About, I loved that outside of the original cast that
[22:08] Speaker 2: came back, most of the new cast were like breakouts
[22:13] Speaker 2: and people that we had never really seen before or
[22:15] Speaker 2: met before. So I'm very excited to see where their
[22:19] Speaker 2: careers continue to go. Like I know Deborah, the main character,
[22:23] Speaker 2: was on Broadway for Alicia Keys' Hell's Kitchen. But just
[22:27] Speaker 2: to like continue to see where their careers will go.
[22:30] Speaker 3: I'm very excited that this was.
[22:31] Speaker 1: Yes.
[22:32] Speaker 3: Their kind of like debut project too.
[22:34] Speaker 2: Agreed.
[22:35] Speaker 1: I think we will see lots more incredible projects from
[22:38] Speaker 1: all of them.
[22:39] Speaker 3: Definitely.
[22:40] Speaker 2: Well, that wraps up our topics for the week.
[22:42] Speaker 3: Thank you, Dr.
[22:42] Speaker 2: Joy.
[22:42] Speaker 3: This was great.
[22:44] Speaker 1: Thank you, Rhea. Another great list as well. So if
[22:47] Speaker 1: there are things that you would like us to weigh
[22:49] Speaker 1: in on, please send those to us at therapyforblackgirls.com slash mailbox.
[22:53] Speaker 1: But until next time, take good care of yourself.

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