Everyone Needs To Watch Hulu's "Woke" ASAP!

Whatever you're doing right now, stop and fire up your Hulu. The streamer recently released a new comedy series, “Woke”, and it is exactly how it sounds. “Woke” is all about becoming awakened to the racial injustices that exist in our country through the eyes of a Black artist. Though this show is considered a comedy, it is more of a realistic and brutally honest representation of what is going on, with a few animations and funny scenes sprinkled in to add some levity. The show starts off seeming more like a comedy but becomes darker in tone as the show proceeds and the main character becomes more “woke”.

Keef Knight (played by "New Girl" star Lamorne Morris) is an up-and-coming Black cartoonist in San Francisco about to get his big break with his comic strip “Toast and Butter”. Even though some fans choose to see a political and racial message in his works, Keef insists that he has no interest in politics and is just having fun with his art.

He is hanging up posters for his Golden Con panel when he is tackled by police officers, mistaking him for a 6-foot tall Black mugger and the stapler he is holding as a weapon. His white roommate, Gunther, is nearby and talks to police before the situation can escalate, and they release Keef realizing they have the wrong man.

Keef is shaken up, as he says he had always heard about police brutality in his community but he never thought it would happen to him. Being tackled to the ground and having guns pointed at his face for something he didn’t do opened his eyes to the reality that he can be targeted at any moment just because he “fits a description”. When his other roommate, Clovis, who is also Black, tells him he needs to calm down and accept that this is their reality, Keef becomes further isolated, trapped inside his head with his trauma.

After the attack, Keef begins to see objects “come to life” -- A trash can tells him to throw it at a once Black-owned barbershop that is now white-owned, his marker tells him to start speaking out about racial injustice, while his cartoons tell him to keep quiet and not risk his job.

As the series progresses, Keef begins to notice all of the little microaggressions, from his headshot being lightened to losing his comic strip deal because he had a breakdown on stage and spoke out against his company for their racism. With all of this happening, he is also being driven mad from the talking objects around him.

This is definitely a series worth watching and rewatching again. There are so many important points that are made on the topic of racial injustice and police brutality, and the show helps people who might be like Keef and believe it will never happen to them, or those who don’t have to worry about these issues because of their skin tone, an insight into what the recent protests around our country are really about.

While this show most definitely does have its funny moments, it feels like more of a drama than a comedy. Some scenes that are most likely meant to be funny, like Keef’s breakdown on stage, can also be heartbreaking to watch, knowing that this is the struggle so many people may be internalizing.

If you’re looking for the next show to watch, or want to better educate yourself and your family and friends on the struggles Black Americans face, watch “Woke” on Hulu now!