Being Mary Jane is a 2014 BET television drama created by Mara Brock Akil. The series stars Gabrielle Union as Mary Jane Paul, a successful (and single) cable television news anchor as she navigates the challenges of balancing her career aspirations with her personal life, including her relationships with family and friends, romantic partners, and colleagues.
Other characters include Mary Jane's best friend and executive producer Kara (Lisa Vidal), her childhood best friend Lisa (Latarsha Rose), closeted newsman Mark (Aaron D Spears), Mary Jane's parents Helen (Margaret Avery) and Paul Sr. (Richard Roundtree), her siblings Paul Jr. (Richard Brooks) and Patrick (B.J. Britt), and her niece Niecy (Raven Goodwin).
The series ran for four seasons and concluded with a telefilm in 2019.
The series contains the following tropes:
- Alliterative Family: Mary Jane's real name is Pauletta Patterson, her father's name is Paul Sr., her brothers are Paul Jr. and Patrick.
- Big, Screwed-Up Family:
- Despite her ambition, Mary Jane's family members don't share the same level of motivation. Her mother's illness has made her overprotective and dependent on Mary Jane for support, which strains on their relationship. Meanwhile, her siblings take advantage of their mother's kindness, and mooch off Mary Jane's money.
- Lisa was able to make something of herself as a successful doctor, but her own family was a mess; she had been regularly molested by her stepfather as a teenager and her mother not only knew it, but remained married to him, causing her to go no contact with them. She subsequently ended up with mental illness and after having an affair with Mary Jane's boyfriend and she and her family practically disowning her over it, she kills herself via a prescription drug and champagne overdose.
- Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. After Mary Jane's car accident, she was left with some nasty facial injuries that required surgery to fix and even while recovering was left with some creepy scars.
- Do Not Call Me "Paul": Mary Jane prefers not to be referred to by her real name Pauletta, and prefers her professional name.
- Endangering News Broadcast: In the second episode, Mary Jane finds herself conducting a remote interview with an elderly couple who have made the decision to weather a hurricane that is rapidly approaching their Florida home. Meanwhile, Kara attempts to persuade a field journalist to stay in the path of the storm, despite the obvious dangers. As Mary Jane conducts her interview with the couple later on in the episode, the weather begins to intensify, and the feed is suddenly lost, leaving viewers on the edge of their seats wondering what has happened to the couple and whether they will be able to survive the devastating storm.
- Immoral Journalist: Kara, the executive producer has questionable ethical standards. In the second episode, she risks the life of a journalist covering a hurricane by trying to keep her on the scene, and then later directs Mary Jane to keep interviewing an elderly couple trying to weather the storm live on air despite Mary Jane's objections.
- Mommy Issues: Mary Jane's mother has lupus and puts a lot of pressure on her.
- Lazy Bum: Mary Jane's brother Patrick is currently unemployed and residing in their mother's home with his girlfriend, enjoying free accommodation without contributing towards the household expenses. Despite his mother's dependence on medication, Patrick appears to be indifferent towards her health and fails to administer her medicine on time in the pilot episode.
- Stalker with a Test Tube: The ending of the pilot episode seems Mary Jane taking Andre's semen from a leftover condom and freezing it.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Mary Jane starts off the series single while looking for Mr. Right in the wrong places.
- Stepford Smiler: Mary Jane struggles to balance her high-pressure job and her familial responsibilities, which often leave her feeling overwhelmed and neurotic. In the pilot episode, Mary Jane breaks down in tears following a contentious phone call with her mother. Desperately trying to regain her composure, she resorts to pinching herself and reminding herself to pull it together.
- Teen Pregnancy: Niecy, Mary Jane's niece, is a teenager and already has two children.
