![]() ![]() When I said, “Dad, I don’t want to be a doctor,” he said, “Oh, that’s okay, there’s law school, there’s business school. I’m glad I experienced that, because I could have wasted so much time on it in college. I went to a high school for medicine, where we worked in hospitals and delivered babies. IR: My dad is a doctor, and self-made in so many ways. Were your parents supportive, or did they push you to become a lawyer or a doctor? JI: I’m an immigrant myself, my parents are immigrants, and when I decided to go into writing, I got a lot of grief from them. And you’re hearing property buyers saying, “People need to work harder so that they can afford to live in these spaces.” There’s such fervor to buy property, and you’re hearing from residents who are like, “I don’t know where I’m going to go”-who are disheartened and devastated. I live in Inglewood now, and I don’t see the same care being taken. ![]() IR: In Leimert Park and the Crenshaw area, I’ve seen city officials prioritizing black-owned businesses and black industries. JI: How do you feel about gentrification right now? The fact that the show will serve as a time capsule is crazy we definitely value and cherish that. I had to leave twice to find out how much it means to me, and how much the people here mean to me. JI: Visually, Insecure is kind of a love letter to L.A. All those movies-especially those L.A.-set movies-really influenced me. And film: Menace II Society, Boyz n the Hood. And ’90s television: Family Matters, Fresh Prince. It felt so close to home and was such good storytelling. It was shot in my neighborhood and was written and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, a black woman. ![]() IR: I used to be obsessed with Love & Basketball. This political climate has made people realize, “Oh shit, racism is a thing, and I have the power to empower voices of color.” But every meeting that I’ve been in, the energy is about empowering storytellers of color. I have seen certain networks say, “We need to represent middle America more,” as a result of the current administration being elected. IR: If we were in a more conservative industry, I might. JI: Do you fear a white backlash in Hollywood similar to the one that brought Trump to power? If anything, it’s because we need an escape. Why aren’t we represented in television as equally as we were in running the free world? I give no credit to this current administration. JI: Do you think the current political moment has something to do with that? We’re so aware of what it’s like to not have those images we’re clinging onto them. And so to have this renaissance-to be alongside so many amazing content creators and actors of color-feels very optimistic. In high school and college, the only representation of black women I saw was on reality television. Now black people are starting to have that experience, too. JI: White people have always seen white characters on-screen and related to them. I remember being very aware of that in ninth grade or 10th grade, when I wrote my first movie script, about a girl who was aspiring to be an actress in an industry that cared so much about looks and didn’t cast black leads all the time. I was chubby I wasn’t conventionally attractive. I started acting more in church and in middle school and in high school, but there weren’t many people like me on-screen. from Maryland-onward I wanted to be a writer, behind the scenes. Issa Rae: From sixth grade-when I moved to L.A. Julia Ioffe: You’ve always aspired to being in television. ![]() This interview has been shortened and edited for clarity. “There haven’t been many flattering images of black males on television,” she says, “because there haven’t been a lot of flattering images of black people on television.” Rae was dismayed by the reaction, but not entirely surprised. Word of the show triggered an angry response on social media from some in the black community, who complained that a queer black lead would reflect unfavorably on black men. Now Rae is at work on Him or Her, a television series about a bisexual black man’s life and loves. With a subtle comic touch, Insecure has tackled such thorny issues as workplace discrimination, the clumsiness of well-meaning whites, gentrification, and gender and class identity. Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read. ![]()
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