Lena Waithe and When Black Artists Make Mediocre Art
The writer’s new series, <em>Twenties</em>, makes fun of entertainment that is diverse but middling—a criticism her own work has faced.
A lot has changed for Lena Waithe——since 2013. That was when the writer first shared her semiautobiographical comedy, , as . At the time, Waithe was an industry outsider hoping to attract network attention. Now, the 35-year-old has an Emmy Award, which she won for writing a 2017 episode of based on her own coming-out story. Waithe has also gotten the chance to make again, this time as a half-hour comedy for BET. The show, which premiered Wednesday, arrives in a very different landscape than its earliest iteration. “This is our world post–my character on ; it’s a world post–; it’s a world post-,” Waithe said in , referring to Hollywood’s shift toward more inclusive storytelling, and noting what her new series brings
