Dre in denial
Andre is forced to re-evaluate himself when his aggression gets the better of him at work
Black-ish
Season 3 Sundays e.tv (*194) 19:30
“No matter how much Dre protests, he knows that he’s not always right,” says Anthony Anderson. His character is the main man in family comedy Black-ish (2014- current) but when his wife Bow (Trace Ellis Ross) speaks, “He hands over the pants to her,” adds the actor. And for good reason, as he finds out in episode 13 on Sunday 2 December. “Dre has an anger management problem – he’s angry about a lot of things in life as we’ve seen over the past five years and he doesn’t always know how to control that,” says Tracee. “So Bow steps in to help the only way she knows: telling him what to do.”
TALK ISN’T CHEAP
The last thing that Dre is going to do is see a shrink, at least not on his own accord. “Bow tells Dre that he should take a leaf from her book and go to therapy,” explains Tracee. “Instead, he puts up a wall and does what he does best: offer a sarcastic remark about paying $200 (R2 800) to talk about something that isn’t even a problem.
As soon as Bow tells him that it’s only $180, Dre snaps at her and that’s the lightbulb moment.” Anthony reveals the reason for this topic, explaining that talking to a professional about issues isn’t something that many men are comfortable with. “It’s something that we don’t do. We drink a beer, chill with our brothers from the ’hood and crack jokes and think things are okay. But they’re not. You need an outlet.”
MORE THAN SOCIAL ANGER
While the show’s theme is how the average black family sees itself in the United States, the stars are quick to point out that what Dre is experiencing isn’t just a black-white matter. “It goes a lot deeper than that,” explains Anthony. “Dre is angry. He’s angry at how black people have been treated, how his parents were treated, how he has been treated – and there is a lot of justifiable anger in him. But at the same time, in the flashback at some of his outbursts, he’s losing his cool at the postman for being five minutes late or the sky being blue. He’s an angry man.” After reluctantly going to a session, Dre realises that he was wrong – and he’s not even angry about it.