Unscripted programming illuminates and perpetuates the controlling image of the wealthy Black woman, specifically, as someone whose “ghetto” core lurks just under a veneer of civility. Shows such as The Real Housewives of Atlanta, Married to Medicine, and many others featuring relatively well-off Black women have a “ratchet” undercurrent despite their opulent scenery. Married to Medicine (Bravo, 2013–present), for instance, follows a group of mainly African American women—some wives of doctors, some doctors themselves—in Atlanta. At first glance, the show is about Black people who have made
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