Last month, I started watching two web series produced and written by Black actors that are restoring my faith in love at first sight (of a TV show). I don’t rely on television for entertainment for this primary reason:
In a television climate where we have witnessed both Mary Jane Paul (Being Mary Jane) and Olivia Pope (Scandal) do unflattering things seeking the attention of unavailable men, frankly, I’m tired. I don’t want to see another crestfallen brown-skinned face. I don’t want another heartbroken Black girl on my flat screen with a flat-lined romance.
And I no longer want to be that Black girl fed up with poorly written roles that fail to center their lived experiences.
Falling in love can be a dizzying carousel of emotions. Every novel sensation blurs like passing lights, leaving you with nly a lasting impression, an imprint that tattoos itself upon your memory. We hoard mementos from the early days of courtship to remind ourselves–love was not a spiraling fall but a climb from affinity to affection.
Good art makes me feel like this, too. Enamored and intrigued. Appetite whet and senses heightened because the next curve is unexpected. Newness teases out your full attention because its game is so flirtatious.
So I tuned into First, a web series executive produced by rising star Issa Rae. The series is written by and starring actress Jahmela Biggs as Robin, and Will Catlett as Charles, two childhood friends who run into each other and spark a new flame. I also stumbled upon An African City, a web series featuring five beautiful African women returning to the continent to live.
For several different reasons, these two web series make me believe in quality film entertainment again.
dara t. mathis 