This presentation will examine the construction of Blackness through Middle Class Black Men as depicted in Lethal Weapon (2016) and Black-ish (2014). By taking a case study approach this presentation will explore social codes and visual culture used to show the dynamics of legible and illegible masculinity. The episodes “There Goes the Neighborhood” of Lethal Weapon and “'Don't You Be My Neighbor” of Black-ish examines the role of middle-class Black men living in Sherman Oaks. The goal of this presentation is to illustrate how Black masculinity is constructed through the presence and absence of lower-class Black men. By using Mark Anthony Neal’s concept of Il/legible masculinities, this presentation will indicate how Roger Murtaugh (Lethal Weapon) and Andre Johnson (Black-ish) are examples of illegible Black masculinity. These characters’ relationship with the “Blacklife world” as coined by Ed Guerrero creates a division between these characters and Black men of a different social class. By highlighting the physical and socio-economic borders of Sherman Oaks, these characters employ values that are distinctively different for the people outside of their neighborhood.
