Abstract
ABSTRACT: This article examines Rodney King's 2008 appearance on Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew to illuminate the cartographies of Black trauma and state-sanctioned violence outside of its aestheticized spectacle. Focusing on King's account of his 1991 beating, I demonstrate how his testimony aligns with the affective labor of reality television's theater of suffering but also how it ruptures the genre's neoliberal, colorblind ideologies, through the recursive temporalities of Black trauma and reclamation. This article reveals how King reclaimed a publicly commodified identity, constructing a "televisual archive of self" to approximate a legal recognition and subjecthood previously denied to him.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
