BET’s Being Mary Jane, starring Gabrielle Union, returns with a drama-filled two-hour premiere. The beautiful and “seemed to have it all together” Mary Jane returns with her life in chaos. Jumping in from last season, Mary Jane overhears a call (dialed by mistake) where her ex and still love of her life is confronted by her best friend who in turn reveals that she loves him and brings up their sexual past. Mary Jane hears the news, is caught off guard, and has an accident. Betrayal, work, family, trust, is just the beginning of her problems as she learns the accident is her fault.
Here are some key messages to learn from Being Mary Jane:
Love is still out there
Mary Jane’s mother, MJ (Margaret Avery), comes over to help out her daughter once she is released from the hospital. She goes outside to collect the mail. Upon returning she walks into the glass thinking it was the door. MJ’s husband, Paul (Richard Roundtree), Mary Jane’s father, quickly rushes to pick up his wife and make sure she’s okay. Instead of checking on his daughter who almost died, he grabs his wife and leaves. “That is the kind of love I want,” says Mary Jane.
Ladies, we have to believe that guy is still out there, who is willing to care about us above anything and anyone else in the room.
Women can never support each other
Mary Jane’s best friend, Lisa (Latarsha Rose), had sex with her love, David (Stephen Bishop), while he and Mary Jane was a couple. Then CeCe (Loretta Devine), the woman Mary Jane hit in the accident, extorts her for $25,000, suggesting it was her fault and if she doesn’t pay she’ll release her test results to the media. Oh, this is after CeCe gets SNC (similar to CNN) Mary Jane’s employer, to write a check for $100,000.
“Instead of figuring out how to make your own money it’s just easier to take mine. Why? Because you’re lazy.” #beingmaryjane
Even in a fictional show we women still can’t support each other. How are we supposed to be able to empower and support if we can’t even do it on our shows?
Black Women have a voice
After being betrayed by her best friend and the one man who may have been by her side during the accident, is the cause of the accident, then extorted by the lady she hit, Mary Jane is still left with drama. Now, her job is in jeopardy. Last season she was already skating on thin ice because she wanted to turn her show Talk Back into Talk Black. Thankfully, her ratings increased when she went on an Ugly Black Woman rant. But after the accident, SNC finds this reason enough to try and finally get Mary Jane out of its hair. SNC’s lawyers quickly suggest to Mary Jane’s male-Caucasian lawyer that you don’t want to be on the side of the middle-aged “black” woman with a drinking problem.
SNC quickly hires a young, fresh Latina to fill in for Mary Jane while she is on leave. Now ladies, we all know how this will turn out and so does Mary Jane. With her face still not completely healed, she heads back into the office confident and bossed up and rightfully takes her seat at the head of the debriefing table. Leaving us with the message no matter your age or race, you have a voice and should not be pushed aside.
Being Mary Jane airs every Tuesday on BET at 10/9C. Stay tuned for updates by following @beingmaryjane on Twitter.