At the beginning of quarantine, I began looking for new movies and tv shows to watch while I was bored at home. I felt like I had already watched hours of Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus and I was longing for something new to watch. I began looking up new tv shows that were coming out soon. I stumbled across this female-centered skateboarding series called Betty premiering on HBO. I looked a little closer at my screen and realized it was the same cast as my favorite movie, Skate Kitchen. Skate Kitchen is centered around a young girl, named Camille, trying to fit into an all-girl skating group. This skate group, known as Skate Kitchen, which is based on the real all-female skate group, is also trying to change the way people see women who skate throughout the skate-parks of New York City.
This new series Betty has a different but similar story with the same characters. Betty’s story follows Janay, Indigo, Kirt, Honeybear, and Camille’s stories as they skate and find their way through the male-dominated skate parks of NYC. The plot focuses on all of the characters rather than just one at a time.
The name of the series, movie, and group name was reclaimed by the real skate group, Skate Kitchen because the phrase “go back to the kitchen” and the word “betty” was often thrown at them by male skaters.
I fell in love with this show instantly, partially because it was a spin-off of my favorite movie. The diversity in Betty is what I love the most about it. The cast of Betty is very racially and culturally diverse. As a Black woman, I really admire the three Black main characters being centered in the show. Seeing characters that resemble my skin color on television is so important to me when I am watching a new series. I feel so empowered when I see this because it gives me so much hope for the future of television. TV series tend to not cast dark skin women in their shows, so I feel like this is a big step in the right direction.
The show also covers hard-hitting topics like racism, sexism, and sexual assault. Betty shows how skateboarding is a form of escapism for these characters to get away from all the hard moments in their life seen throughout the show. This show made me want to go out and buy a skateboard and pretend I was the main character in my own HBO original series.
If you are looking for a show that is all about women empowerment and skateboarding, Betty is the show for you! If you are interested in watching the six-episode series I strongly encourage you to go stream it on HBO and HBO Max. If you would like another perspective of this skate group you can also stream Skate Kitchen on Hulu right now.