Abstract

Premiering on Saturday nights in summer of 2018, the barely-promoted Random Acts of Flyness (RAOF) was buried in HBO’s schedule. The highly experimental series combines many forms, including late night talk show, documentary, claymation, and sketch show, amongst many others. With stylistic techniques such as Afrosurrealism and self-reflexivity alongside discursive tools that heighten the series’ claim to “quality,” I argue that RAOF utilizes its surreal and distinctly black creative production to critically examine representations of blackness and whiteness in the media and American culture. I further contend that, for HBO, independent filmmaker and series creator Terence Nance’s pedigree fits the channel’s long-standing association with “higher” art forms, even as the series does not fit into historically white and affluent notions of “quality.” As the television landscape becomes broader and markers of “quality” become harder to pin down, the series’ incisive look at blackness proves to be an exceptional case study.

中文翻译：

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“我们应该减少对白度的关注，而更多地确认黑度”：飞行的随机行为，非现实主义和质量编程

摘要

HBO的日程安排于2018年夏季的周六晚上首映，勉强推广的《飞行随机行动》（ RAOF ）被埋没了。高度实验性的系列节目结合了许多形式，包括深夜脱口秀，纪录片，陶土和素描表演等。我认为，借助Afrosurrealism和自我反身等风格技巧，以及使用话语工具，可以提高该系列对“质量”的要求，我认为RAOF利用其超现实的，截然不同的黑人创意作品来批判性地考察媒体和美国文化中黑与白的表现形式。我进一步认为，对于HBO而言，独立电影制片人和系列创作者特伦斯·南斯（Terence Nance）的血统书与该频道长期以来的“高级”艺术形式相呼应，尽管该系列并不符合历史上白人和富裕的“品质”概念。随着电视领域的发展和“质量”标记的确定越来越难，该系列对黑度的敏锐观察被证明是一个例外的案例研究。