ISSA RAE: BEAUTY + BRAINS
Insecure Season 4, The Lovebirds + Producing
Issa Rae was well on her way to becoming a huge sensation when she was named one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 for Hollywood and Entertainment in 2014. At that point, she was running her web series, The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl, which later became the title of her 2016 memoir. At the time, Rae was also writing an HBO series called Insecure. Little did she know it would become a critically acclaimed hit.
The road to success was bumpy, though, with production halted several times and HBO trying to simplify the dynamic character so that it appealed to a broader audience. Issa Rae didn’t want anything to do with that. Multi-dimensional black leads are few in a white-washed industry.
‘‘How hard is it to portray a three-dimensional woman of color on television or in film?’’ she wrote in her memoir. ‘‘I’m surrounded by them. They’re my friends. I talk to them every day. How come Hollywood won’t acknowledge us? Are we a joke to them?’’
And that’s what we get with Insecure, which Issa Rae produces and writes. The female-focused sitcom follows Issa Dee as she navigates life as — you guessed it — an awkward black woman in LA. The comedy series is full of depth and relatable humor. It’s in the Issa Rae voice and it is expanding year-by-year.
2020 is proving to be Issa Rae’s biggest yet. Earlier this year, before movie theaters closed because of coronavirus, Issa Rae starred alongside Lakeith Stanfield in The Photograph. It’s rare to see black people as the lead in a romantic drama, so The Photograph was historic and pushed Issa into a more significant position.
But Issa Rae is returning to her comedic roots with The Lovebirds. The rom-com starring Kumail Nanjiani puts their characters into a murder mystery. Netflix picked it up for distribution after its theatrical release landed in limbo.
On top of her multiple film projects, Issa Rae continues as a force in television. She produced the hilarious A Black Lady Sketch Show for HBO last year and she continues to amplify the voices of the black community through her production work. She truly is changing Hollywood and PROVOKR is thankful.
