I had a lot of thoughts about this episode and the three part arch when I started watching this series. I wanted to talk about how the relationship between the characters Parker and Elisa but characterization became more important than the relationship. The way in which Brandy’s character Elisa Shayne on Drop Dead Diva struck a deep cord with me but I didn’t fully realize why until I read some comments on the same episode and thought about it more.
Watch the final episode here.
***SPOILERS***
Brandy/Elisa’s arch on Drop Dead Diva in plain terms (or harlequin presents terms) is about a secret baby. She had her ex-boyfriend and current boss, law firm owner Jay Parker’s baby eight years ago even though he cheated on her and they broke up on bad terms.
This really could have turned into a bad episode of Maury with all of the: “YOU ARE THE FATHER!” drama but it didn’t and it completely shifted my emotions.
The secret love plot came down like this:
• After figuring out that the boy was his son he yelled at her in a crowded hospital (where their baby could hear because of course his hospital door was open).
• Yelled at her in his office AND THEN,
• He wrote her a check: “that ought to cover it.”
But this is where is got tricky...in the middle he is remorseful and thinks that he has ruined everything and his previous girlfriend/fling/current complication comes into the room and tells him it isn’t too late to “do the right thing.”
Then after Parker finishes with his emotional roller coaster he mans up and tries to find Brandy/Elisa and Eric his son but then he finds out they have went to Chicago so...he decides to leave everything and go after them “for however long it takes.”
TEARS CANNOT EXPRESS THE EMOTIONS (I have every time I watch that scene)! Everything up to that moment felt really extremely raw because even though her decision was a hard one Brandy/Elisa was never written as a character who would not tell Parker he had a baby and then try and test him to see if he was “good enough” to meet his son. She was presented as a woman who maybe did not know how to say he was a father and certainly could not trust in him to be mature enough for a child in the past but she was maturing as well by seeing him as a man.
But how everything was going down was freaking me out because this is basically a “secret baby” scenario but black women do not get “secret baby” scenario or theme we get the “baby mama drama.” and I was waiting in the edge of my seat to see if there would be an unwanted switch.
The difference is in “secret baby” scenario the woman is always looked up to as being the one who still loved the man and her baby and raised him before returning in need of help without strings to the lover who scarred her.
In “baby mama drama” scenarios the woman comes out of nowhere demanding money for a baby that the man isn’t even sure is his for whatever reason. This woman is looked at as a gold digger and a untrustworthy woman.
Honestly throughout the whole episode I was thinking that Brandy/Elisa probably had Parker as her first love and didn’t even have any other man after that just taking care of his son and thinking of him...HELLO, game changer?
Yes, if Drop Dead Diva’s creation of Elisa Shayne was available for all black women our image in the media would never be the same period.
I could hug, kiss, and even marry the producers/writers of Drop Dead Diva at this point because in a guest star they have done the kind of portrayal that I have been waiting for in 2011 for black women.
It was confirmed the moment that Parker tried to hand over the check and Brandy/Elisa holding back tears said: “Do you think...(that I was here for money)?” She trails off and has to leave before she breaks down and cries.
There was no scene of “boy, please don’t put that money in front of me!” or any other stereotypical things. She did not fight or break things or beg him. She owned up to what she did and then after he started acting a mess—she left his office holding back tears.
Tears in this case in very important because it signals Brandy/Elisa as someone who has to be protected instead of fought no matter what for the audience so when Parker realizes his fault and leaves the audience is still on Brandy/Elisa’s side.
Side note: just as a side note in the beginning of the episode when Brandy/Elisa owns the kiss from the episode before and even says that she kissed him first. I LOVED HER! Plus Brandy always looked flawless during the arch and I want to see her back on the show playing Elisa period!
This is the kind of stuff that we need on TV.
Brandy also read the character and love the way she was written. I think that black actresses should do more to control their images like this and if there is no work then the indie route can bring success like with The Misadventures of an Awkward Black Girl. I’d rather have few good media representation of black women for now as we work to create our own images as well then have lots of stereotypical representations and just work with them.
Very good comments. Very insightful. I agree, the portrayal of Elisa was very positive. To be honest, I did not see it as baby mama, it was so underplayed. I just saw a women that really had no intentions of telling her baby's father until circumstances intervened. Actually, she acted with dignity and restraint and he did not. Toward the end when he expressed to Kim that "he and Elisa had a son", I began to understand where this might go. I am glad the writers had him respond with "how ever long it takes". Next season awaits.
ReplyDelete"To be honest, I did not see it as baby mama, it was so underplayed."
ReplyDelete^^Exactly! The writer's handled it in what I could only call 'secret baby' which is found mostly in romantic novels where the woman with the secret love child is treated with respect in all the areas that I said above.
I am glad too and interested to see where the plot leads next. I will be posting on them next season episodes as well!~~ Thanks for commenting.