“I
love to attack sterotypes. I love to draw the viewer in with images that they
believe they know already. And I like to sort of dismantle them because I don’t
want to perpetuate one. I certainly want to dismantle it and try to get to the
humanity of things.” Mara Bock-Akil said this in October of 2014 during Chicago
Ideas Week. This small phrase that speaks volumes when discussing the work that
Brock-Akil has created. Noted for a series of television series, Girlfriends, The Game and most recently Being
Mary Jane, Brock-Akil has pushed viewers to see a body of people that has
frequently been marginalized especially within the realms of television. Her choices
of having the majority of the actors and actresses on her show as African
American and the focus to shadow women are challenges to the premeditated
system of television.
It
is important to recognize that Brock-Akil has created a platform, especially
within Being Mary Jane that discusses
issues that define society such as black identity, child trafficking, the black
church, abortion and education from the eyes of a black woman. Being Mary Jane is the ultimate
humanization of a body that we rarely see on television, a young single black
woman who is successful in her career but still has flaws like everyone else.
She is beautifully flawed.
In
interviews, Brock-Akil has said that she does not like positive images or
negative images of her characters. She wants to counter the images of the extreme
and display a humanistic complexity that exists in reality. And that is
displayed with Mary Jane, the protagonist of the show.
Mara
Brock-Akil is defined as very successful within her field. She has broken
viewing records with the return of one her shows to television, The Game, making it the most successful
series on BET. Girlfriends was one of
the highest scripted shows among African American adults. Being Mary Jane series premiered season one with more than 4
million viewers. The numbers prove that Brock is creating shows that people
want to watch.
An interview with Mara Brock- Akil that summarizes
her views, successes, inspiration and possible future.
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