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I allowed myself to internalize episodes from BET’s recent hit “Being Mary Jane” which stars an impressive cast led by Gabrielle Union. I am a fan of creator and producer Mara Brock Akil because she kept me happily engaged with the now defunt “Girlfriends.” Ironically enough, the reason why I am not a fan of her current offering is the reason why I loved her previous show.

“Being Mary Jane” centers around Mary Jane Paul, a successful TV anchor, who has everything she wants and lives an amazingly fulfilled life but when it comes to securing Mr. Right, she fails miserably. Of course this concept  resonates with all women regardless of race and creed; but we all know that when it comes to black women, we are the ones who bear the burden of shame for not being able to find a decent man within our race to settle down with. Seems like every couple of weeks, another article makes it debut, trying once again to convince us that compared to our counterparts, black women are the least likely to marry. Then there is the other argument that depicts highly ambitious black women as being so desperate that they would settle for men that are obviously not up to their standards.

When I heard the premise for “Being Mary Jane,” I was hoping for something that would deviate from the norm, a refreshingly complex character that I could relate to.  After the first episode it became clear that Mary Jane Paul was basically going to fall into that generic category of women who have it all but end up in toxic relationships. In her case, it wasn’t a shock to find her in the arms of a handsome and irresistible lover who also happens to be very married. I was disappointed and quite bored after that discovery but I decided not to give up yet. That was until the episode that showcased the wife and the woman sleeping with her husband confronting each other in an attempt to outbid each other. As I watched this scene, I couldn’t help but wonder, how much better the show would be if this particular plot line had been omitted.

I would love to watch a show that presents a black woman who isn’t plagued by any of the expected stereotypes but rather has a more whimsical approach to life. The strong career woman who is doomed to sleeping with married men while trying to navigate the world is played out.

Mary Jane Paul doesn’t have to be perfect because nobody in real life is, but imperfections can be demonstrated in varied ways, and I wish writers of color could come up with more captivating methods when it comes to character development. We don’t always want to correctly guess that a drug addict brother most likely will be thrown into the mix because that’s a “standard” in most African-American households. I think it would have been more interesting if all the siblings were high-achievers, instead of Mary Jane being the only one holding things down. The single black woman, who is everything to everybody but doesn’t really have a dependable shoulder to lean on.

I know that we naturally gravitate to familiar tendencies, but it would be nice to once a while step outside the box and actually come up with a formula that hasn’t been tested yet or frequently enough. The results rarely disappoint.

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