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Kenya Barris slammed for being ‘obsessed’ with biracial couples after ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ cast announcement

After news surfaced that Disney+ is moving ahead with ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ with Barris, many slammed the writer for writing stories that are not focused on all Black families

Disney announced an official reboot of ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ that will center around a multiracial family, starring Zach Braff and Gabrielle Union in the leads. The movie’s script is co-written by ‘Black-ish’ TV show creator Kenya Barris, who is slammed by the online community for often writing stories centered around multiracial families instead of all Black families.

‘We must stop Kenya Barris’

Barris is known for creating some acclaimed TV shows and movies, but Disney’s recent announcement did not go too well for him. After the news surfaced that Disney+ is officially moving ahead with ‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ with Barris, several Twitter users slammed the writer for writing stories that are not focused on all Black families.

One user wrote, “We must stop Kenya Barris!” Another wrote, “Someone tell Kenya Barris that interracial relationships aren’t an act of liberation.” Another user wrote, “I’ve never seen a man more obsessed with swirling than Kenya Barris. Like he made it his whole ass career and we just like...let him.” Another user wrote, “Black Twitter: We need avenues to tell Black stories authentically../Kenya Barris: [Tells his truth]/ Black Twitter: No, not like that.” Another user tweeted, “Abolish the Kenya Barris industrial complex.”

‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ reboot

‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ was first released in 1950 and was based on the autobiographical novel of the same name by Frank Bunker Gilbreth Jr and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey. The movie was remade in 2003, where Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt played the parents of 12 children. The film was a commercial success as it went on to make $190.2M against a production budget of $40M. The movie’s success led to a 2005 sequel ‘Cheaper by the Dozen 2’ where most of the actors from the first movie reprised their respective roles. The critics slammed the movie, but it managed to earn over $129M from the worldwide box-office collection.

Meanwhile, Braff took to Twitter to share his excitement about starring in the Disney+ remake of ‘Cheaper by the Dozen'. He tweeted, “I dreamt I married Gabrielle Union and had 12 kids. It came true!!! Written by Kenya Barris. I’m sooooo excited.”

Kenya Barris’ notable projects

Barris, 46, has created several shows and movies but is recognized for his critically acclaimed ‘Black-ish'. The sitcom follows an upper-middle-class African-American family led by Andre Johnson (played by Anthony Anderson) and Rainbow Johnson (played by Tracee Ellis Ross). The acclaimed show revolves around their lives as they go through several sociopolitical issues.

Barris has also created a Netflix mockumentary drama titled ‘#blackAF’ starring Rashida Jones, Iman Benson, Genneya Walton, Scarlet Spencer and Barris in the lead roles. While talking about the show, Barris told Time in August 2020 that White culture does allow free thought while adding: “With my show, because the demographic was a little older, I don’t think minds were as open. It was like, ‘That’s not a real Black family.’ I’m like, ‘That’s my family!’ It’s a problem that we cannot expand beyond what people are used to seeing us in. That’s the whole purpose of my career — to push the conversation and the culture forward.”

Barris has co-written the screenplay of Eddie Murphy’s much-awaited comedy movie, ‘Coming 2 America’. The movie will serve as a direct sequel to the original 1988 cult classic movie and will follow Prince Akeem Joffer’s adventure as he comes back to the United States. ‘Coming 2 America’ is slated to be released by Prime Video on March 5, 2021.

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