I Love New York 2: Trashy TV or a Modern Day Minstrel Show?

Unless you've been hiding under a rock or haven't turned to VH1 in the last year or so, you know a girl Flava Flav nicknamed "New York" on season 1 of "Flava of Love". Love her, or love to hate her, millions of Americans tuned in each week to see New York, AKA Tiffany Pollard cry, scream, and fight for the love of Flava Flav. Alas, this fairytale was not meant to be, as Flav dumper her not once, but twice on national TV. VH1 then gave New York her own show "I Love New York", complete with a throng of guys eager to win her love. Season 1 ended with New York picking "Tango" and him proposing to her. It seemed that this modern day princess had finally found her prince charming. That was, until the reunion special.

After the show finished taping, Tango watched it as it aired and was able to see all of the things that New York had said to the cameras about him and even his mother that he never knew. Their reunion ended with a screaming match complete with lots of beeps from the VH1 sensors and Tango calling off the engagement. Thus New York was dumped...again...on national TV. Now in Season 2 of "I Love New York", she is looking for love again from a whole new batch of men. They range from attractive and successful, to ugly and broke, but in one of these men, New York hopes to find the man of her dreams.

Season one was wildly popular and season 2 proves to be even more so, but one may ask why? Why do millions tune in every week to watch this train wreck? This show plays on many stereotypes that have been around for years. New York is loud, opinionated, bossy, complains a lot, rude, and says whatever comes to her mind. This "type" of character is not new to television. One could call to mind a comparison between New York's character and Thelma from "Good Times". Both are "feisty" and opinionated, though New York is a more extreme example of this. What else do they have in common? Both of these women are what you call a "Sapphire" in minstrel shows. In these shows, this woman's character was in short a "ball buster".