Unpacking Being Mary Jane

 

 

THE RECAP

Let me start by saying that this entire article is a spoiler alert. You’ve been warned! 

I was already disappointed in the fact that the TV show “Being Mary Jane” is being cancelled, but I got all excited anyway about this 2 hour finale that BET put together so us fans could stop crying! We all know MJ (Mary Jane) has a type A personality and is impulsive. That’s the reason why she went to get her eggs implanted after being broken up with her boyfriend Justin for only two days. You know what?  I can kind of accept Mary Jane’s rash decision, simply because if a man walks out on your relationship, you’re free to navigate this world as you please. Mary Jane has wanted a baby since the first episode, she should very well make choices about her life based on what she wants.

Justin later comes back to Mary Jane, apologizes and proposes to her. Justin is her dream man and she is ready for marriage, so of course she accepts because she loves Justin. However, MJ doesn’t tell Justin that she could potentially be pregnant. In fact, she hides it from him and refuses to have sex with him so that the fertilization of the eggs will take. Sex is off-limits for this process, so she rewards Justin with unlimited fellatio. After she takes a pregnancy test while Justin is at home with her, she calls him in and tells him that she’s pregnant. She informs him that she froze her eggs and when he left, she had them fertilized and implanted. She explains that it’s a strangers sperm. Justin then tells her that he knows she will be a great Mom, but he can’t raise another man’s baby. Justin then leaves her again! 

 

 

Fast forward to MJ being noticeably pregnant and by herself. She runs into an old classmate that she dated who still loves her, and they end up dating. He even wants to be there for the baby. He and MJ even have sex while she’s pregnant. So, basically she has a new man that is willing to give MJ everything she wants and needs. Then, BOOM, MJ is on air and starts having labor pains even though she’s only 7 months pregnant. She delivers the baby and Justin shows up at the hospital. Unbeknownst to MJ, Kara makes him leave. Justin weasels his way back into MJ’s life and apologizes again for leaving. MJ dumps the new boyfriend and marries Justin. THE END!

 

THE UNPACKING

Justin displayed his lack of mental and emotional stability to Mary Jane each time he decided to disappear. He basically punished her for making the decision to have a baby even though they were broken up. His behavior and MJ’s acceptance of his behavior is sending the message that as long as he apologizes, she will take him back. He literally treated MJ and her feelings like they were both disposable. He only thought about himself and how he felt in that moment- Never putting MJ first or considering her feelings. These are classic psychological power moves by Justin! After all the nonsense that MJ has been through, she should have stuck with the man that showed her consistency and proved that he wanted to be with her. Justin constantly making the choice to dip out sends the message that men can’t communicate or articulate their feelings, so they run instead! That, however, is not true. Only men that are immature and egotistical run off when things don’t go their way!

MJ chose dysfunction, because dysfunction is what she is accustomed to! Justin doesn’t even respect MJ’s boundaries, because if he did, he wouldn’t have forced himself back into her life with the assistance of her bestie Kara! I forgot to mention Kara had a bilateral mastectomy and asked Justin to go take her place at work because she wants him to get MJ back. So let’s unpack that while we’re at it! Friends should not be setting up love scenarios because of what they think is right for their friend. That was so wrong. MJ moved on with her life and actually got with someone who was smart, handsome, caring, loving, considerate, and most importantly knew exactly what he wanted! MJ just threw him away because once again Justin decided he wasn’t really done with her. 

The season finale highlighted the toxic traits below, and deemed them as acceptable: 

1. Ghosting

2. Manipulation

3. Selfishness

4. Misusing people that care about you.

5. Apologizing makes everything better

6. Dysfunction

7. Control issues

Her decision to marry Justin shows that there was little to no growth in the character. She chose what was familiar rather than what was best for her and her child. I hate that we had to wait all this time for MJ to continue on the self-destructive cycle she’s been on since the first season. 

What do you all think?

 

2 thoughts on “Unpacking Being Mary Jane

  1. This!! So much truth… this was disappointing indeed. I would have thought as a mother now she would have chosen the man who chose her and the baby from the get go and not made her usual impulsive decisions. Who says Justin won’t bail out again from their marriage when things get tough?!?

    Ladies, please choose a man who chooses you all the time!!

    1. That’s exactly my point! When you have child you have to think of what’s best for them first! No character growth which leads me to believe this episode was rushed! Im disappointed!

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