Fifty years after legendary author Judy Blume released her progressive, coming-of-age novel “Forever,” writer, producer, and showrunner Mara Brock Akil is at the helm of a reimagining in the form of an 8-episode series that debuts May 8th on Netflix.
While Blume’s novel set in Westfield, New Jersey circa 1975 follows the story of teens “Katherine” and “Michael,” Akil’s version of “Forever” takes place in Los Angeles in 2018. When former classmates Keisha Clark (actress Lovie Simone) and Justin Edwards (Michael Cooper Jr.) reconnect at a New Year’s party, the pair are immediately smitten with each other.
However, amid their junior year of high school with college admissions on the line they soon realize that falling in love is quite complex.
As their lives become intertwined, Keisha and Justin must learn how to be considerate of each other’s feelings while navigating peer and parental pressures.
Related Stories
Serra, UCLA Alum Devin Kirkwood Prepares for the NFL Draft
Smallwood-Cuevas Leads Summit to Create Equitable Access to Good Jobs in Emerging Industries
In adapting and reimagining the book into a series, Akil pulled from her personal experiences as a parent to create the foundation for Keisha and Justin’s relationship.
“My son was the only Black boy in his elementary class, and there were two other Black girls in his class. I took myself back to that idea of Black families believing they’re doing the best thing for their children by giving them this sort of elite education. Then I also looked back at the invisibility of Black girls in these white spaces, what’s the toll of that choice [on them]?”
Akil is renowned for creating iconic, self-assured characters that she’s referred to as “portraits” including Joan Clayton (actress Tracee Ellis Ross in “Girlfriends”) and Mary Jane Paul (Gabrielle Union in “Being Mary Jane”).
When asked what portrait she wanted to create with Lovie Simone as Keisha Clark, Akil shared, “I wanted to give a portrait to [invisible] Black girls who in order to be seen, become overachievers. But what happens when you’re so ahead of the class that nobody likes you? There’s a loneliness to that. So where does she fit?
“I also wanted to show that as smart, driven, and clear about her future as she is, Keisha is still a young girl trying to figure out attention and how to navigate her newfound beauty. What do you do when you’ve never been seen?”
Justin validates Keisha’s beauty and becomes her safe space. However, before they can enjoy their new relationship, a secret from Keisha’s past overshadows their budding love. The track star soon learns an invaluable lesson, that she can’t outrun her past, nor should she force herself to suffer in silence to maintain a perfect image.
“One minute Keisha’s family is saying, ‘You’re so smart, you’re gonna take us places.’ And the next minute it’s, ‘You need to use your beauty to lock in a ball player.’ We send these mixed messages to Black girls and Keisha is trying to navigate it all. She’s like, ‘Where do I fit in all of this?’ And she makes some mistakes. But with Justin, I wanted to give her the space to make those mistakes while not having to hide, lie, or carry that burden alone.”
An integral aspect of “Forever” is the juxtaposition between Keisha and Justin’s family dynamics. The show not only depicts Black love but Black affluence. “I was excited to show two different portraits of wealth. The Edwards have literal wealth whereas Keisha comes from a household with a single mom but she has a village and they’re collectively investing in her.”
Akil went on to say, “There’s also different types of fears [in regards to] raising our children, from a Black male and a Black female perspective.” Akil chose to set the series in 2018 as a historical marker in between the deaths of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd, a time that Akil says, “Black families were under attack. [As parents] we were screaming into a vacuum around the protection of our children.”
“Unlike Katherine’s parents [the main character from Judy Blume’s novel], who gave her a lot of independence, Black families were scared for our children, so we were near. While society had its foot on their necks, we started to parent not only out of love but out of the catastrophic fears that we had. And so, it narrowed the gap in which our children got to explore and have some freedom during the rites of passage stage when they’re falling in love for the first time.”
“Forever” the series also addresses parenting children with learning disabilities as Justin struggles to stay focused in class due to ADHD. Even though his parents Dawn and Eric (actors Karen Pittman and Wood Harris), are well-intentioned, Dawn’s insistence that Justin attend her alma mater and follow her ready-made career trajectory has an adverse effect.
When asked what she wants parents to glean from watching the series Akil shared, “We’re now using the word “neurodivergent” and this is revolutionary because in 2018 we were only saying “ADHD”. We’re starting to learn the uniqueness of our children and curating what’s best for them, as opposed to the idea that what society says is the only way to be successful. The portrait of this family in “Forever” in this modern time is asking us, ‘Are we setting our children up for success that’s unique to them in the context of these times?’”
With an inspiring career spanning three decades, Akil inked an overall deal with Netflix in 2020 with “Forever” being her debut project. She beams with pride sharing how her career aligned with the opportunity to bring one of her favorite novels from childhood to life. “I got my deal at the same time, I learned that Judy Blume was open to having her work reimagined. Until that point, my career had only been original programming but I raised my hand knowing I wanted to be one of the caretakers of her work. To reimagine Judy Blume is playing big but to say I’m going to talk about first loves through the lens of blackness, that’s playing even bigger and I know that the global community is open and accepting of seeing Black love stories.”
She adds, “My head was down and focused on making the best project possible not realizing that the 50th anniversary of the book is aligned to the release of this Black love story on the biggest stage possible–Netflix. That’s God’s plan. The number five represents freedom, joy, and pleasure. Five is about celebration. And so I also find that apropos to the numerology of things.”
Watch “Forever” on Netflix beginning May 8th.
