If it’s one thing we can always appreciate it’s the beauty of Black love. It’s so rare to see strong relationships among Black couples in real life nowadays, let alone depicted on television. Oprah Winfrey’s Network is a channel that has dedicated its programming to shedding a light on topics in the Black community that need more accurate representation. The series Black Love, which aired on OWN last year, was created to pull back the curtain on life-long commitment and give the real rundown on the lives of married Black couples. Similar to the nature of the docu-series, Hollywood power couple Mara Brock Akil (Girlfriends, The Game, Being Mary Jane) and Salim Akil (Black Lightning) decided to bring their love journey to our TV screens with their new drama series called Love Is ___, an intimate show based on the events that led up to their marriage.
OWN’s Love is ___ is a very insightful series that is highlighting the truth about love and how to navigate relationships as young adults. For those who haven’t tuned in, the series is based upon the true events of the Akils and how their relationship came to be. Created by the real life couple, the series takes place in the 90’s and tells the story of characters Nuri (Michele Weaver) and Yasir (William Catlett), two writers who fall deeply and dangerously in love. Nuri is a successful young writer for a popular Black sitcom called “Marvin” (inspired by popular 90’s show “Martin”) who seems to have it all together. Yasir, however, is an aspiring director who’s unemployed, homeless, and behind on child support. Both coming from different walks of life, we get to witness the almost unbelievable origin story as the modern-day versions of themselves (Wendy Davis and Clarke Peters) narrate the events of their love story.
Ever since the buzz-worthy show premiered, Love is ___ has been taking over Black Twitter’s timelines and they’ve been living for every second of it. Swoon by the budding love of Nuri and Yasir since episode one, OWN and the Akils did a great job at hitting some key moments in their relationship that were unique to them but also relatable to their audience. While a lot of viewers were hooked onto the romanticized portion of Nuri and Yasir’s relationship, slowly but surely the show started to peel back the layers on their situation to begin exposing the trials and tribulations they experienced during their first year.
The Honeymoon Phase
Exchanging “I love you’s” prematurely and claiming each as their soulmates before they even could establish anything official was the first of many things that made Nuri and Yasir’s relationship unique. Only six episodes into the series and they’ve only known each other for a month. Seeing the two of them fall for each other so fast made it seem almost fairy-tale like. They knew they were meant for each other so they saw no sense in slowing down. However, their willingness to be blindly in love will cause future issues to arise for them. While they quickly entered the honeymoon phase of their relationship, the issues they failed to address before committing to one another seems like their biggest downfall so far, leading them to the current stage in the relationship - the awkward phase.
The Awkward Phase
This is the phase where all their problems come in - exes, baby mothers, control issues, you know the usual. The first red flag about their relationship started off in episode one when we were introduced to the back story of Yasir living with his ex. This becomes a running theme for the beginning of their relationship since he’s unemployed and he has nowhere else to stay but with her. Some would empathize with his situation, but personally I don’t see how him living with his ex while in a relationship with Nuri isn’t alarming to her, especially when she allowed him to spend Valentine’s Day with her on the last episode. Nuri isn’t innocent either, the many suitors she has (had) in her life prior to meeting Yasir caused some of his insecurities to come out, feeling inadequate to the other men willing to be whatever she wanted. Their lack of communication so early on is a huge red flag, but a very common issue for couples in real life.
Another big issue I see in their relationship is Yasir’s manipulation and Nuri being too blind to see it. His personality is naturally controlling, but his manipulative actions didn’t become clear until last week’s Valentine’s Day episode. He has a habit of manipulating situations to make him feel better about himself and avoid looking like a fool in front of Nuri. For instance, some people may say since he doesn’t value Valentine’s Day it makes sense that he doesn’t feed into the holiday, but convincing Nuri that it’s all a big corporate scam when she clearly enjoys cheesy things like celebrating such holidays is just his way of taking the heat off his financial situation. Also, the fact that he has a son but he rarely speaks on him is also very suspicious, but I’m sure the series will explore that soon enough.
Ultimately, I think this was the creator’s way of introducing the tiny red flags in their relationship that could evolve into bigger problems for them in the near future. The show is displaying the beauty of falling in love, but also the dangers of falling too fast and subjecting yourself to entering toxic relationships if you don’t proceed with caution. From the looks of this week’s preview, we might be introduced to the mother of Yasir’s child which is a disaster waiting to happen, but we’ll get to see how they tackle and power through this as a couple.
It’s incredibly brave of the Akils to be so open about relationship and be receptive to the criticisms that are to come. It just makes the TV series even more captivating to watch because you get bits and pieces of true life moments illustrated by the fictionalized couple and the rest of the characters. The subtle hints we tend to ignore in real life that tend to be the reason for a lot of break-ups (i.e. lack of communication, not listening, etc.) are highlighted even more in the series. What could a reflection for some people is a wake up call or warning for others on what not to do. Although the show has its conflicting moments, it’s still a very beautiful love story that shows there’s no guide or rule book on how to love - sometimes you just have to go with the flow and take a risk.
We already know how their story ends, but it’s still interesting to see the flash-forwards of the couple still happily married because it keeps viewers on their toes to figure out how they overcame their obstacles together as a couple. Outside of the couple’s relationship, you have to appreciate the honesty and rawness of the material on the show because it does its best to give context to real-life experiences. For instance, a lot of young women like Nuri in their 20-somethings are trying to juggle their careers, dating, and figuring out what love is while still learning who they are. Then you have guys like Yasir that don’t have everything together, but have their priorities in order - they know what they want, but they have trouble trying to attain it. There’s also other topics the show explores like online dating, body shaming, feeling out of place at work, and so much more.
Love Is ___ is a forward-thinking TV show that’s radical, unapologetic, and brutally honest. It’s shows like this that we need to help us feel like we’re not alone in our situations while we maneuver our young adult lives.
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