Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl aka: Awkward Black Girl
Well, this is awkward.
"My name is J, and I'm awkward — and black. Someone once told me those were the two worst things anyone could be. That someone was right."
—J
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl follows the titular character, "J," a diet-pill salesperson who doesn't hate her job but thinks her co-workers are "pretty much the worst people in life." As a coping mechanism, she writes rap lyrics that she considers "too Nicki Minaj" and obsesses over the awkward issues in her life. The show addresses concerns such as "What do you do when you constantly run into the same person at stop signs?" "How do you cover up waving to the wrong person?" and much more.The brainchild of writer/director Issa Rae, who was unable to identify with sexy vixens and sassy black women on TV, the show revolves around awkwardness, "which is a unifying and universal thing that we all have experienced in some capacity."Check out the official site of the series at AwkwardBlackGirl.com. The show sprung into popularity after only a couple of months, due to the relatable Black and Nerdy main character not often shown in television.The show was accepting donations via Kickstarter to extend its first season. In August 2011, they received 56,000 dollars, nearly doubly their goal of 30,000.
The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl contains examples of:
A Degree In Useless: When J has an Imagine Spot about what would happen if she took the "sales associate" job opening, she bumps into an old college friend, who whispers to her child, "This is where people who major in African-American Studies end up, sweetie."
All Love Is Unrequited: J has a huge crush on Fred, which he hardly notices. Also, White Jay has a crush on J beginning in "The Dance," but it is rather one-sided.
J: Am I dating the founder of the KKK? Why all the attention?
In "The Friends", J is talking to someone at White Jay's Class Reunion and introduces herself as his girlfriend.
Random Guest: I should've known by the look of that dress that you was a murderer. I'm tired of bitches killing Black love.
Brick Joke: CeCe randomly mentions that she had to go to Racial Insensitivity Training. Amir, who had disappeared sometime during the series due to Real Life Writes the Plot, returns in the season finale, reformed by Racial Insensitivity Training. (He needed it.)
In "The Job," her boss lady (jokingly?) says to J, "girlfriend, how are we gonna get cornrows now?" When she shows up in "The Icebreaker," she's wearing cornrows.
Space-invading co-worker with AIDS, or Patty, fired sometime before season 1 episode 4, keeps re-appearing.
"I get you."
J steals water from her anger management class. "Shit, I thought he said the water was free."
"Dear sushi restaurant, thank you for not being Red Lobster."
The Cameo: Kevin McCall plays the rapper/freestyler who J had a crush on in the 11th grade.
Dominatrix: The cashier in the sex store J visits is an elderly woman dressed as one of these.
Did Not Get the Girl/Guy: Seesaws throughout the entire first season. A didn't get J. J didn't get Fred. White Jay didn't get J. And in the end, Fred doesn't get J.
Early Installment Weirdness: The first few episodes were more obviously low budget and were a lot shorter, compare the 5 minute first episode to the 25-minute season 1 finale.
Gilligan Cut: As a Running Gag. J would say something calmly (e.g. "I wasn't bothered by it"), then the show would cut to her rapping furiously about just the opposite.
Gratuitous Greek: The Gamma Ray sorority sisters wear matching T-shirts with the Greek letters of their sorority on the front. On another note, which letter of the Greek alphabet is "ray?"
White Jay: I love you, J. J: Um ... Thank you. (awkward pause) That's what's up.
Imagine Spot: The series is told from J's point of view so we get a lot of these.
Important Haircut: J cuts off all her hair after her boyfriend dumps her in the first episode. Only for her boyfriend D to take her back, then dump her again because he can't deal with her being bald.
CeCe always "diagnoses" J with some kind of disorder, e.g. Rejection Displacement Syndrome or Intimacy Reasoning Disorder, in order to "make use" of her psychology degree.
J's narration usually starts out with "It's not X, if you don't Y." Examples, "It's not violence, if you don't act on it." Or "It's not stalking, if you don't mean any harm."
Just Friends: J and Fred, much to her dismay at first. Once she gets a chance to actually date him in the Season 1 finale, she realizes they are Better as Friends and chooses White J.
J: He's a walking rainbow of racism and the main reason he gets away with it is because nobody knows what he is.
Happens to CeCe all the time. She's frequently mistaken for latina, middle-eastern and "Pocahontas."
My Name Is Not Durwood: In "The Decision," J's boss lady keeps calling a new coworker (named Jesus) "jee-zus" when the name is actually pronounced "hay-soos." This leads to confusion when other people say the word "Jesus."
Nina: Jee-zus! That is not a good idea. Jesus: Hay-soos! All of my ideas are good. And I am your boss.
Naked First Impression: At the end of "The Group", J decides to surprise White Jay by going to his apartment and showing him her boobs. Unfortunately, some of his college friends were also there.
Naughty by Night: J sees Dolores, aka Sister Mary Clarence at the sex toy store.
Operation Jealousy: J tried this at Fred's birthday party by dancing with White Jay in order to incite a Green-Eyed Epiphany. Ends up backfiring on her as he kisses Nina right in her face.
White Jay: "My fellow Americans." J: Who is that? Bill Clinton? White Jay: (points to his name tag which reads "Michelle's Baby Daddy") Barack Obama! J: How could I possibly not get that?
Everyone pronouncing Jesus' name "jee-zus" instead of "hay-soos."
Sassy Black Woman: Passive-aggressive J is a deliberate aversion of this trope.
Sensitivity Training: Amir is sent to sensitivity training for his frequent racist remarks, J goes to anger management after snapping over a stapler (which is where she meets White Jay) and the office has a mandatory sexual harassment seminar.
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in "The Date." The man's spoken word performance was almost verbatim Will's monologue from the episode his father came back.
Special Guest: Donald Glover appears in Episode 12, as a Continuity Nod to J and White Jay's first date when she thinks the spoken word poetry they are going to see has Donald Glover in it.
Spicy Latina: Cece lays this on thick when talking to black guys because she thinks it entices them. Shown to just creep guys out.
The Unintelligible: Darius, affectionately nicknamed "Baby Voice"/"DJ Whispers" by J. Neither J nor the audience can understand what he is saying, due to his incredibly soft voice.
Unreliable Narrator: The series is narrated by J, who tends to overemphasize certain characteristics of the people she meets.
Unrequited Love Switcheroo: After J spent 6 episodes pining after him, Fred looks deeply confused and hurt when he sees J and White Jay Almost Kiss in front of a theatre.
Up to Eleven: "Shut the front door! And the back door. And the side door."
Well Done Daughter Gal: J can never live up to her mother's expectations to "be somebody."
Western Zodiac: J thinks that every question someone else's friends ask her would be so judgmental. When she Imagine Spots meeting White Jay's friends, one of them constantly asks her what's her zodiac sign.
. The show sprung into popularity after only a couple of months, due to the relatable Black and Nerdy main character not often shown in television.The show was accepting donations via Kickstarter
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