If you haven’t heard of Issa Rae, it’s about time you get acquainted with the creator of one of the most innovative web series, ‘The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.’ (ABG). While her series ABG has made Rae somewhat of a sensation, prompting super-producer Shonda Rhimes to offer her a television production deal, the independent web series producer has stayed true to her roots. In her latest creation, Issa Rae details how men become dogs after being played in relationships in a new series entitled ‘How Men Become Dogs.’
This is the first time that Rae will be telling men’s stories of love, betrayal and ultimately what happens when a good boy goes bad. While some have classified it sexist and tragic, choosing only to focus on how the series highlights women in a potentially negative way, others (myself included) look at it from another perspective. Usually women are portrayed as the victims in a love affair gone wrong. Men are portrayed as dogs, no-good, low-down (or on the down-low). Usually, men take the bad press in stride. There is an issue now that someone is focusing on how there can be a cause (a women who treated them badly) and effect syndrome for why some men go through a ‘bad-boy’ phase in dating?
Women are allowed to be portrayed as ‘victims’ in relationships. However, any time a man deals with a particularly bad break up in any emotional way, he’s seen as weak; often being encouraged to ‘man up.’ This helps reinforce the notion that men don’t have feelings and if they do, showing them is a sign of weakness. This series can help break that notion that men don’t love as hard as women and it can help correct the sentiment that a woman can treat a man in any manner because he either doesn’t have feelings or his feelings don’t matter.
In the new ‘How Men Become Dogs,’ three men who have experienced heartbreak hire a “Hitch” style dating coach; only this coach isn’t trying to help them build a romance. Presumably, the coach is there to help them navigate the dating waters in a way that leaves there emotions intact while getting the most they can from the women they date. That sounds like a terrible premise but if you have any confidence in Issa Rae, then you know the series will be handled with a dose of humor and loads of objectivity.
‘How Men Become Dogs’ is being produced by Rae and Benoni Tagoe. However, the series was created and will be directed by Marc Cunningham, who happens to star in the series as well. The other actors include Bechir Sylvain, Wayne Boswer and Corey Gaddis.
