We all remember that feeling of first love. The butterflies in the stomach. The racing thoughts of where it all might lead. But as Mara Brock Akil pointed out to IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking during her upcoming episode of “What No One Tells You,” those first loves don’t always have to be romantic or even physical. For her, even the books she read growing up garnered their own infatuation from her and maintaining that sensation has been key in shaping her sense of storytelling.
“I am my first audience and I value that and believe that if I get to the heart of that story, it will resonate,” she said. “But then there are also stories where they impacted your life so much that you still think about it to this day.”
Judy Blume’s “Forever” was one of those stories. When Akil found out that her agency also represented Blume, she “flipped out.” She raced to find out if “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret.” was available. James L. Brooks was already in the process of producing a version directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, but Akil noticed “Forever” was not on the list of options up for grabs. As it turns out, no one had any interest in making it out of fear the material might not connect with modern audiences.
“It was very popular because Judy was so honest about that rite of passage. Not only of love, but that idea of wanting to have sex for the first time,” Akil told IndieWire’s Future of Filmmaking. “And I think there was this idea that sex has gone. This is the age of Tumblr at the time. And what is exposed to our children? Everybody is like, ‘We didn’t have that back in the ’70s when she wrote the book. We had no access to how much the kids have.’ And so the thought was maybe the book didn’t have anything new to say in that regard.”
Akil couldn’t disagree more. She totally felt the novel’s message of love relationships allowing us to connect to a forever love for ourselves would deeply resonate with today’s youth. After meeting and speaking with Blume herself, Akil was able to convince the author of this as well.
“We had a really great conversation around when she wrote the book in the ’70s and the opportunity for birth control pills to give women a sense of freedom about their future and security about their future as they traversed the harrowing right of passage of love and sex,” she said. “I posited that I thought black boys in modern day time were the most vulnerable. And we had a lovely conversation around that reality that even before black boys are considered a love interest, most times they’re considered dangerous.”
Akil added, “Raising boys, it’s heartbreaking to think that anyone could think that my son is dangerous before he even gets an opportunity to know himself. And we had a lovely conversation about that. And she really understood my desire to flip [the novel’s central characters], to make the protagonist a young black boy who’s not sure of himself, not knowing what he wants to do in life. And the first thing he’s going to want is a girl named Keisha Clark.”
In stretching the novel out into a series, Akil was also able to bring a visibility to young black girls who she describes as “mostly invisible in the world.” The other huge element that brought this love story together was the backdrop of Los Angeles. Akil didn’t know how impactful this would be in the aftermath of the SoCal wildfires, but also didn’t need that devastation to remind her of how valued this city should be.
“In any sort of moment where you’re thinking, ‘What do I take with me? What do I want with me?’ I want to remember Los Angeles for all of its diverse beauty and for us to see ourselves at the top of the hill and at the bottom of the hill,” said Akil. “It is gorgeous everywhere in the city when we get to know the different neighborhoods and thus the different people. And I’m so proud to be able to also wrap that into this.”
As Akil explains it, her writing and creative force all come from what’s been thrown into the pot over the course of her life, “Forever” being one of those ingredients. She would even go as far as to say that part of her life’s recipe has come from Blume’s writing. Without “Forever,” she might never have gotten married, had kids, and made a family of her own while also maintaining her own ambition and love for herself. To be able to turn that around and pass it down to the next generation felt like a “full circle” moment.
“We deserve love, we deserve the space to love, we deserve the families to allow us to make the mistakes and figure things out. And we deserve our future,” Akil said. “And so to have a project come full circle from a writer who helped me understand who I am is just — I’m really grateful for that.”
Additional reporting by Dana Harris-Bridson.
“Forever” is now streaming globally on Netflix.
