‘Love Life’ Co-Show Runner Rachelle Williams Wants Fuller Black Romances

essence.com:

Love Life. Starring William Jackson Harper as Marcus and Jessica Williams as Mia, the 2nd volume of the anthology series intentionally portrays a Black love that goes beyond #relationshipgoals style snapshots.  “We talked a lot about it in the room,” Williams told ESSENCE.  “We wanted Marcus to end up with a Black woman but for all the right reasons, you know?

Not just to like, be this perfect picture, not to be Barack and Michelle or something like that, but because he had really found a connection with this woman.”  That connection between a PG County Birkin pusher and a publishing world divorcee rings true because it is formed between two completely developed characters, something that can be absent from shows jabbing Black characters into storylines for optics-centered diversity. “There’s that version of like, okay, well let’s cast diverse people, but you have to be responsible for your diverse characters too,” she said. “Don’t just make them ornaments.”  The first season of Love Life poured into the backstory of star Darby Carter, and the second season gives that same level of attention to Harper’s character. “Marcus is a fully formed character,” said Williams.

On their romantic journey, Marcus and Mia are surrounded by other couples who set examples of what they do and don’t want from their intimate relationships.

Instead of inserting a typical bad influence, the writers chose to show a best friend who was a proud husband and father. “We wanted to have that contrast.