In the series, Mary Jane (played
by Union) is a successful, career-oriented African American woman
living the American dream. On the
outside all looks perfect for her. As an African-American “blue blood”, her upbringing
was stellar, and she has worked hard for her dream career, beautiful home and luxury
car. Her girlfriends and confidants are just
as successful as she is. But when taking
a deeper look inside her life you find that she is a lonely, desperate,
insecure woman who has been and continues to be used and abused by the men she
allows in her life and her family members.
Sadly enough, she doesn’t even
know what love is.
What I find interesting about Mary Jane is that in business, her ethics
are impeccable. There are no gray lines
only truth, but, there are no boundaries she will not cross in her personal
life (the story line is built on her having
an illicit affair with a married man), to get what she feels as
unconditional love. On one episode of
the show, in an attempt to perhaps get impregnated by a potential suitor, un-
be knownst to the man, after having sex, she takes the used condom into her
bathroom and uses a turkey baster to abstract semen from it, and placed the
specimen in her freezer. YUCK!
The writers of this series continue to build on her faults, weaknesses
and insecurities and women are eager to identify with that. The writers of this series however have not
yet begun to show the viewing audience how Mary Jane will eventually come up
out of this mess that she has made of her personal life, and sadly the viewing
audience is not calling for it either. I
get the writers viewpoint; they want the series to last, the more dirt and chaos,
the more viewers and a longer running of the show.
What I don’t understand is why women, who
identify with the show, don’t call for some solutions to the problems they are
facing through Union’s portrayal of this character. Which leads me to believe that some, like
Mary Jane, have become complacent in their situations meaning, staying in
loveless relationships, continuing to seek love in all the wrong places, continuing
to cross boundaries they know that they should not and continue to let
family members drain them mentally, physically and financially. Am I to assume that women who identify with
this character will get their “ah-ha” moments when the writers write one for
Mary Jane? What are we doing to improve the quality of our relationships without a
TV script…starting with our own self love?
Interestingly enough, I have spoken to several women who no longer
watch the show. They say it’s just too
much negativity. Negativity in the way a
woman strength or lack thereof is portrayed, negative in the continuation of an
affair with a married man, negative stereotypes of family life (rich or poor),
and negativity in portraying woman in
general. Besides, have you noticed that
all the women in this show are woman of color? I’m just saying.
No one is perfect, especially me, and as long as you are living and
breathing you have experienced and done some things in which you may not be
proud of. That is a fact of life. Hopefully you have learned from your mistakes
and moved on better equipped to handle life’s situations and never return to
that state. And perhaps in time, the
creators and writers of Being Mary Jane will come full circle and show that for
this character and the viewing audience who identify with her.
Peace and blessings…
Phaedra
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