I watched every episode of Being Mary Jane and I am ready to talk about it. I started writing this long thing on my iPad but thought I would start over. I posted on Facebook that I observed that many women tend to believe that professional success excuses them from making smart relationship choices. There was a myriad of responses, but one one, in particular, stood out. A good friend of mine posted “Just remember it’s TV.”

It reminded me of all of the times I have gotten so caught up in a movie or show that I had to remind myself that what I was watching wasn’t real. But, the statement made me thinking deeply about how real Mary Jane Paul is when I look across the small circle of female friends I have. First and foremost, contrary to popular belief, it’s hard to find lasting love and some people will go to extremes to ensure they aren’t missing the opportunity to be in love.

Anyway, I just wanted to point out the things I thought were topics, whether just TV or not, are important topics the show is bringing to our conscious:

1. Extramarital affairs and the way people who participate in them attempt to legitimize their behavior….
2. The difficulty of being a person of color in diverse and non-diverse professions and environments.
3. The struggle to juggle the things that matter in life like family, friends, love, career and other stuff that comes as a result of having material wealth.
4. The politics of building and maintaining work relationships.
5. The realities about suicide confirmed via statistics and studies where people of color, professionals and successful people are concerned.

So, considering the time African Americans spend watching television, the perspective that TV is an art form and the genius of Mara Brock Akil, it may be safe to say that the intent of this show is to be more than just TV… but another vehicle that keeps important discussions in our consciousness.