Most people critique because it makes them feel better about themselves. I critique to understand the world — and myself. When something makes me uncomfortable, I ask what that discomfort is really about. #EricaPleasePodcast #EricaVainTV

I love an underdog story — I tuned in hoping it was the beginning of growth. The moment I felt like things were never going to get better because she didn't actually want them to, I checked out. #EricaPleasePodcast #Blaxploitation #ChriseanRock

What has to be going on internally for filming your lowest moments to be the decision? And what's driving the audience? I think a lot of people tune in to feel better about their own lives. #EricaPleasePodcast #Blaxploitation #ChriseanRock

I watched Weapons because people said it would beat Sinners. I left that theater saying it's white mediocrity in film. Plot holes, no rewatchability — just vibes and brilliant performances. But they get to do that. #EricaPleasePodcast #Weapons #Sinners #MovieReview

Black women MUST do this, MUST be that — but when we speak on what allyship should look like, everybody's got an excuse. It doesn't get worded as policing, so we never get to engage it that way. That's going to be part of my job now. #EricaPleasePodcast #BlackWomen

'A24 Black' divides us and narrows Blackness down to what's acceptable to white people. My criticism of Tyler Perry has never been 'it shouldn't exist' — it's 'it could be better.' We keep advocating for Black people to be less. #EricaPleasePodcast #A24Blacks #TylerPerry #BlackFilm

I drove to Torrance to see Dreams and Nightmares because no theater in LA was playing it. Did I enjoy it? No. But I stayed, and now I can actually speak on it. If you love cinema, that's what it requires. #EricaPleasePodcast #A24Blacks #BlackFilm #Cinephile

You know Tyler Perry's latest project but you never watched Harlem? You're an A24 Black but didn't show up for the Black films that needed you? She hit the nail on the head. #EricaPleasePodcast #A24Blacks #BlackFilm

My critique of Tyler Perry is craft — show the interiority, show the change, because that's what a story IS. And Karen from Sistas? My 20s were Karen's 30s. I'm not bothered seeing her, because I've already forgiven that version of me. #EricaPleasePodcast #TylerPerry #Sistas #BlackTV

Ryan Coogler Black? I get it. Barry Jenkins Black, Ava DuVernay Black, Spike Lee Black — I get it. But calling yourself an A24 Black just to say you don't watch Tyler Perry or 'trauma porn'? We are losing the plot. #EricaPleasePodcast #A24Blacks #BlackFilm #TylerPerry

I can watch The Notebook and feel every beat — because we've always had to see ourselves in faces that don't look like us. The moment a Black lead is attached, half the interest disappears before anyone's even watched the trailer. #EricaPleasePodcast #BlackFilm #Representation #Hollywood

Issa Rae and Tracy Oliver teaming up on an open marriage drama has me EXCITED — not because of the open marriage, but because of these two creators. And Harlem deserved SO much more studio support than it got. #EricaPleasePodcast #IssaRae #Harlem #Insecure #BlackTV

Most studio executives making the green-light decisions are white — and they've never had to see universal truths in someone else's story. Put Black faces on a romance script and they disconnect. We don't get that luxury. #EricaPleasePodcast #Hollywood #BlackTV #BlackFilm #Representation

A white author got 20K likes for protecting the Blackness of her characters — and this author was mad about it. You want Black eyeballs and Black dollars, but you don't actually value us as your audience. #EricaPleasePodcast #BookTok #BlackBookTok

I don't want to deal with potentially racist in-laws. I don't want to have to unpack years of anti-Blackness with my partner. That is not a journey I want to go on. Never say never… but he'd have to be something SPECIAL. #EricaPleasePodcast #DatingPreferences #BlackWomen #InterracialDating

Back in 2020 a Clubhouse room told me I was transphobic because, as a straight Black woman, I don't date trans men. I support trans people's autonomy, protection and full lives. Six years later I stand in the same place. #EricaPleasePodcast #EricaVainTV #Podcast #Commentary

Black women are at the top of the heap when it comes to being consumed. Strong, boisterous, of service to everybody — and now expected to be in service of everybody else's acceptance and identity too. That's where I draw the line. #EricaPleasePodcast #BlackWomen #BlackTwitter

I care more about telling authentic stories well than feeling soft and fuzzy at the end. I understand needing control over what you consume during hard seasons — but don't call that prestige. #EricaPleasePodcast #A24Blacks #BlackFilm

We have PERFECTED the art of consumption — and not just products. We consume PEOPLE, or the idea of them, so much that we don't see each other's humanity anymore. That's the thesis of this whole show. #EricaPleasePodcast #EricaVainTV