The tyranny of respectability told Black characters they had to be perfect to deserve a story. Today, characters like Issa Dee, Molly (Insecure), and Dre (Black-ish, though more sanitized) are allowed to be selfish, lazy, lustful, and wrong. This is not degradation; this is humanity. Giving Black characters the same moral complexity as Tony Soprano or Don Draper is the highest form of equality.
This genre of popular media blurred the lines between entertainment and exploitation. It taught a new generation that "family" could be a brand, and that interpersonal conflict was a currency to be traded. While The Cosby Show taught us how to be a good family, reality TV taught us how to monetize being a bad one. This marks a pivotal moment in entertainment content history: the shift from watching characters we want to be, to watching characters we are terrified of becoming. Not The Cosbys XXX 1-2