*“Black-ish” and “Grown-ish” creator Kenya Barris has responded to accusations that he is obsessed with storylines that center on biracial and interracial relationships.
The criticism has intensified in the weeks leading up to his latest release, the interracial rom-com “You People,” which stars Lauren London and Jonah Hill as Ezra Cohen and Amira Mohammed — a couple who met over a rideshare mix-up in LA and find themselves connecting over a shared love of streetwear and music. As the two grow closer and begin to take steps towards a more permanent status, their respective families test their relationship: Ezra’s progressive and semi-woke parents (Julia Louis-Dreyfus and David Duchovny) and Amira’s unyielding yet concerned parents (Eddie Murphy and Nia Long).
“You People” marks Kenya’s feature film directorial debut and it debuts Jan. 27 on Netflix.
Regarding his approach to interracial love themes, Barris explained to ESSENCE, “I feel like it’s insane to be honest with you. I laugh at it. I usually don’t even talk about it. It came from black-ish because I was doing a story about my family and my wife happens to be bi-racial and then the spinoff was grown-ish which was about one of the kids.”
READ MORE: Kenya Barris and Lauren London Share Why ‘You People’ is a Love Letter to L.A. | EUR Video Exclusive
He continued, “I will battle anybody. Show me my Black repertoire of what I’ve done and put it against anybody and I’ll go up against everybody. I’m by us for us. I feel like it just happens to sort of be a part of the conversation that people will find anything.”
Barris went on to note that his creative viewpoint represents one side of the Black experience.
“We are so monolithic that people want to just have something to say because there’s not enough of us. So hopefully the more we do this, the more stories we can tell. They want all of our stories to be for everyone and that’s impossible. One story can’t speak to all of the Black experiences because there’s so many Black experiences,” the writer/producer/director said.
Meanwhile, EURs Jill Munroe caught up with Barris and “You People” star Lauren London to dish on the new film. Check out the conversation via the clip below.
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