Can you spot the RCBC Plaza in the background of ‘The Boondocks?’
One eagle-eyed Reddit user was, presumably, binge-watching old episodes of the American animated series The Boondocks when they noticed something familiar. In the third season episode “The Fried Chicken Flu,” which originally aired on Aug. 1, 2010, a newscaster is shown reporting breaking news of a mysterious virus (which is all too real right now) in front of what looks like the Makati skyline. From the RCBC Plaza to the G.T. International Tower, there is no mistaking it for anything else.
The Boondocks is an adult animated series based on the comic of the same name by Aaron McGruder. Originally premiering on Adult Swim in 2005, the show depicts the lives of the Freemans, a Black family living in a predominantly white suburb. Over four seasons and 55 episodes, the series garnered critical acclaim for balancing satire and comedy with social commentary. The Adult Swim series ended in 2014, but an HBO reboot is in the works.
While the setting is never explicitly mentioned, the landmarks in the show suggest that it is set in Chicago. The Windy City is home to some of the most well known buildings, including the Willis Tower, formerly the tallest building in the world when it was built in 1975. Nonetheless, it is our own skyscrapers that get some (fictional) airtime.
Some Reddit users suggested that some animation might have been outsourced to the Philippines.
Interestingly, that isn’t the only Filipino allusion in the show.
The title word “boondocks” is an American expression that usually refers to the middle of nowhere. As in, “I have to visit my cousins in the boondocks.” But just how middle of nowhere are the “boondocks?”
The word “boondocks” actually comes from the Tagalog word bundok, or mountain. Filipinos introduced the word to Americans during the Philippine-American War, referring to the guerilla combatants in the jungles and mountains led by Emilio Aguinaldo. They would have to fight in the bundok, or “boondocks.”
After the war, the term was brought back to America and used within, or to describe, the military. Sometime in the mid-20th century, however, there was a shift in the use of the term. Regular Americans started using “boondocks” to refer to remote, rural areas, often with connotations of being backward and unsophisticated.
The use of the term in the comic book and series subverts its traditional meaning. While the suburb is by no means remote, the Freemans feel socially isolated in their new surroundings. The show was met with some controversy when it originally aired, however, today it is realized to have simply been ahead of its time.