The Making of Insecure: The End

Issa Rae’s Insecure is an essential viewing! Not only have Black people and Black culture been more seen, more heard, more actualized into the mainstream in such a powerful way, but the show is also a stellar example of how to uplift one’s community on screen and in real-life practice. Rae runs her set as a collaborative experience rooted in authenticity! She’s spent a considerable amount of effort into searching for and finetuning the cinematic elixir that would eventually launch the series into massive success! 

Since the conclusion of the series in December 2021, HBO has released an exclusive hour long behind-the-scenes reveal of the cinematic world of the show’s conceptualization, the jitters around the show’s recognition as the quickest pick up for the pilot in HBO’s history, and a plethora of other cinema-magic goodies! 

Importance of celebrating varying facets of Black identity, especially when popular media has been saturated with primarily White fantasies, narratives, genres, and culture. To have such an experience reflect with such realness speaks to the validity of so many unsung Black voices and encounters; in that vein the series has done true justice for the culture! Everything from showcasing diversity in Black skin tones, elevated and casual Black fashion, stereotypes and challenges to those stereotypes that plague Black masculinity and identity, and Black womanhood and feminity in relationships and the work space. Cinematically, Black people on screen have never looks more alluring! Elegant and appropriate color palettes compliment Black skin tone making the characters visually seen in more engaging images as opposed to being erased or not highlighted on other series and films. 

Historically, some of the earliest versions of cameras were not crafted with black and brown skintones in mind. And unfortunately, this technical exclusion has been a hundred plus year old disservice to most BIPOC and with the technical flaw, there’s been a lack of inclusive storytelling for far too long. 

In this Millennial, tech savvy age, Issa Rae is spearheading a revolution in Black entertainment and cinematic narrative forms! Doing so with the utmost respect for genuinity, validating issues like Black women’s pay and minimal recognition for their contributions in corporate/ White spaces or addressing the unspoken discomfort when it comes to toxic masculinity amongst Black men. The special is littered with a mix of some iconic figures and newcomers taking on roles as directors, characters, producers and showrunners: Prentice Penny, Yvonne Orji, Jay Ellis, Natasha Rothwell, Amanda Seales, Kendrick Sampson, Melina Matsoukas, Regina King, Debbie Allen, Maurice Marble and many more who have brought Issa’ vision and story to fruition. 

The exclusive draws on Issa Rae’s vision for building on a sense of community and uplifting Black communites and culture across class, shades, sexualities, and backgrounds! The evolution of central protagonists Issa(Issa Rae) and Molly(Yvonne Orji) are at the forefront of the series’ upheavals. As Issa flows in and out of her relationship with here ultimate soulmate, Lawerence(Jay Ellis) and many other options from her ‘hoe-tation’ through the years. 

Celebrating Black sensuality, sexuality, and distinctive physiques, Insecure traverses provocative inquires into how Black people continue to live life louder and bolder with their bodies and the communal bonds they build around them. Black people have been oppressed for al long as colonialization and capitalism have been in place and with that has come immense molding of Black identities through a White gaze. Questions like who are Black people allowed to be have caused much dissociation with Black identities and Rae’s series challenges these notions with moments of raw human flaws, comedy, and differing types of love. 

The format of the show only adds more interest to up-and-coming screenwriters as Insecure serves as a revolutionary blueprint for how to approach tackling prominent cultural issues, and how to encapsulate an entire culture’s rich and extensive history/identity through comedic outlets.  

Although the series feels speedy in the final season, it offers loyal fans the ending they deserve. From Issa and Lawerence’s reconciliation in their partnership, to Kelli’s(Natasha Rothwell) new role as a mother, to Molly locking down the happiness she finally freaken deserves, Insecure’s end if fitting!

With so much intensive introspection, growth, tons of laughter and tears in between, each character has rounded out at a point in their lives with some level of contentness and it serves audiences well to have been apart of the Insecure experience!