Some shows take time to improve,???? ????? ? ??? ??????? ????? ???? but the best of the best are born into this world flexing their brilliance. As viewers, we can take that for granted. What new is there to say about more of the same, even when the same was an artistic gift?
But thankfully, more of the same also means more opportunities to give a show its due, which is why I get to now tell you what I've been saying for years: Watch Insecure on HBO.
Insecureis the story of Issa Dee (Issa Rae) and her incremental if laborious journey into adulthood. It exists in arguably TV's favorite genre, of 20somethings who are technically adults but still striving to be grown-up. Issa starts the show with a boyfriend (Jay Ellis), a best friend (Yvonne Orji), and a job that doesn't quite utilize her skills. Over the course of the series, she challenges or sheds all of these, and the personal growth is wondrous to behold.
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As writer and creator, Rae is an auteur whose voice permeates Insecure in its entirety. It came through strong and clear even in its earlier iteration as "The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl" and in Rae's memoir of the same title. Insecuremay be about a young woman who's unsure of herself, but the woman behind it is anything but.
Insecure Credit: HBO Before we go further, you should be aware that Insecurehas one of the most strikingly, upsettingly attractive casts on TV. And because it's HBO, many of those attractive people are going to explore each other's attractiveness, often to consistently banging music (pun intended, and not apologized for). If you're currently abstaining from such activity due to coronavirus lockdowns, remember as you watch: You chose this.
If you've slept on Insecure, it's time to wake up.
Credit also goes to the production team, including cinematographer Ava Berkofsky (who directed Season 4's gorgeous "Low-Key Happy," cinematography by Kira Kelly). If you google "Hollywood lighting black actors," half the results are about how Insecureexcels at it. Photography, and cinema by extension, have historically struggled to light and flatter black actors like white actors, in no small part because predominantly white crews and cinematographers don't know how. On Insecure, the actors glow.
As part of the aforementioned class of millennial bildungsroman, Insecurehas certain staples we expect from the genre, and delivers on each front. Issa has a core group of girlfriends in Molly (Orji), Kelli (Natasha Rothwell), and Tiffany (Amanda Seales), all at various points in their own journey.
There is dating, there are hookups, there are nights wild nights out and wildly incongruous nights and days in. There is a drug-fueled day at Coachella that is more fun than any real-life day there would be, and a therapeutic montage of Issa unpacking and decorating her apartment. It is one of the few shows that understands how its characters' specific demographic uses social media -- something like tapping an emoji in response to an Instagram story can be as scandalous a plot point as arguments or sex.
Christina Elmore, Yvonne Orji, and Issa Rae in "Insecure" Season 4. Credit: Merie W. Wallace / HBO Ahead of the May 31 episode written by Rothwell, she tweeted that it felt tone-deaf to promote the show in light of current events. Rae and others echoed the sentiment, but they agreed that Insecureis and always has been about the humanity of black people. As we strive to support black art, artists, and stories, the conversation cannot be limited to narratives of pain, as essential as they are to understanding the black experience; this risks conflating black people with their lived or inherited trauma. Black characters must have every right to work, travel, and party as Issa and her friends do — and without the looming threat of senseless violence.
Insecurehas been one of my favorite shows since its 2016 debut, after which I devoured as much of Rae's work as I could get my hands on — and by the way, she never stops working. Like the best shows about growing up and hanging out, it feels like coming home to "wine down" with your friends once a week, a chance to laugh, gasp, and squeal at every detail of our lives.
Season 4 arrived in the age of social distancing, when friends and life no longer looked the way they used to (though wine is still very present). Yet Insecurecontinued and continues to provide comfort.
If you've slept on Insecure, it's time to wake up. You don't have to thank us. Just tell a friend.
Insecure is available to stream on HBO.