I understand that's what they were aiming for with the change in Ruth's attitude, but I guess it failed for me because of the way it was revealed. It seemed like Ruth had been sitting on this lice information for a while without saying anything to anyone, including Nate who has a baby, or Rico who has two little kids.…

I understand that the lice reveal was written in a way to make Rico feel like a dick, but it never rang true to me that Ruth would say something like, "I'll have to boil everything, but I don't care." Maybe lice are in a different realm from mice, who have germs and deserve to die?

Diana Ross was my first thought as well!

R.L. Stine.

Tremors is one of those movies where I have to stop whatever I'm doing and watch it whenever it comes on TV. I mean shit, I've watched Tremors on Telemundo and enjoyed the hell out of it.

I dig what you're saying and I know what you mean since I have relatives who love Perry's work. But I think Joshua touches on your point too: knowing that Perry's work is popular in black circles is why white critics are/were afraid to speak against it. The lack of mainstream black criticism can certainly send the…

I LOVE Roll Bounce.

Urban fiction is another example of this. It's terrible, but people keep eating it up. I don't know if it's the same in Hollywood, but I've heard about publishers forcing black authors who aren't writing urban fiction to market themselves as such, just because that's what makes the most cash.

The weekend this movie came out, my mom and I were listening to the radio, and the actor who played Devil Dude was on. The DJ interviewing him kept going on and on about how amazing his body was in the movie, and mentioned maybe once that he was playing a bad dude. But his body was on point. I couldn't tell if she was…

This is a great piece, Joshua!

Good luck! Fingers crossed!

"Dad, PLEASE! Jimmy is with me and Derek!"

You could also buy them on cassette. The local Walgreens used to be a hub for cassette singles for a buck.

I own that Jordan Knight solo album and still love it. It's one of the few albums that 15-year old me and present day me can agree on.

Vince: Get in the car.
Femdom: My favorite band is Simply Red! SIMPLY RED!

I laughed so hard at Vince not noticing how Femdom was dropping the word "red" into everything she said. She's all, "Okay, things just went from green to red!". and "Vince! You're seeing red!" …and none of this gave him any kind of pause. Classic Poe.

It sounds like her family was pretty fucked up, but the kind of deadbeat you describe her brother as is pretty typical across generational lines. Education is a HUGE deal in Barbados, especially secondary school, so it's unusual that this family had a bright child and didn't allow her to flourish. They sound like…

I find them both awful, but I can sympathize with Rihanna. I was born in Barbados, my whole family is from Barbados, and I've spent significant time in Barbados. I don't know any details about her personal life, but if that's where she grew up, she was almost socially conditioned to be attracted to living pieces of…

She will inevitably have to choose between a Good Strong Christian Man (usually working class, always with a perfect body) and an over-the-top philandering, abusive white collar asshole. 

Does this mean the Robbie Jones character is gay? Tyler Perry doesn't have the subtlety to present a black man with AIDS who isn't gay.