‘Forever' creator Mara Brock Akil on updating Judy Blume — and finding ‘real intimacy' — in the age of social media
Since its publication in 1975, Judy Blume's young adult novel Forever... has stirred controversy for its frank exploration of teenage sexuality. By the same token, it's been an important touchstone for young readers navigating the thorny terrain of first love. It was an important book for Mara Brock Akil, a TV veteran who has re-interpreted it for Netflix for a new adolescent audience.
"Judy Blume was a first for me as a reader," Akil tells Gold Derby. "I think I became a writer because I was a reader first, and I was immersed in her world." Forever, which explores two teenagers navigating sex and intimacy for the first time, had a particular impact on Akil and her friends because "someone was willing to tell us the truth." Blume's book served as "our modern-day internet" for its young readers, explaining love, dating, and everything that comes with it. So when Blume finally made her work available for adaptation, "my middle-school hand just flew up in the air."
More from GoldDerby
Adam Scott, Ben Stiller, Britt Lower, Patricia Arquette and every 'Severance' Emmy submission
7 new shows with the most Emmy potential after Upfronts
'I do think that I burned down the cabin': How 'Yellowjackets' star Steven Krueger pulled off Coach Ben's mental and physical decline
Yet when Akil saw the list of books Blume was willing to lend out to filmmakers, the producer was dismayed to see Forever wasn't on it. "Judy thought perhaps it was a little past its time," Akil recalls, "that the children today had moved way beyond where the book was." And in a way, Blume is right. "You can find anything and everything on the internet these days," Akil says, "but what's still missing, and maybe missing even more, is deeper connection, real intimacy, honesty." At a time when an abundance of technology has led to "an epidemic of loneliness," Akil thought, "what we need now more than ever is connection and love," and to help "young people navigate that part of the story."
Akil's version of Forever places the story in 2018 Los Angeles, centering it on Black teenagers Keisha Clark (Lovie Simone) and Justin Edwards (Michael Cooper Jr.). Akil mined inspiration not just from her own adolescence, but from raising her own teenage son. From that observation came an understanding that for as much as things change, they stay the same.
"At the end of the day, most love stories are about miscommunication," Akil explains. "It's just about what are the obstacles in that miscommunication." In the case of today, it's cell phone, the internet, and social media. "One minute it can connect you, and the next minute it can devastate you. Whether it be true or not, you feel like your life is on a global stage, that any mistake you make, your life is over." At the same time, "there's ways in which it can bring you together." The phone provides an important connection for Keisha and Justin, who feel out of place at the almost exclusively white public schools their parents have sent them to.
Setting the story in 2018, Akil places it between the murders of Trayvon Martin and George Floyd, which heightened the sense of angst not just for Keisha and Justin, but for their parents as well. The "catastrophic parenting styles" within Keisha and Justin's households stems from a worry about whether "the kid was going to come home or not," Akil explains. That fear, in turn, "is creating unneeded and unnecessary anxiety within their relationship." All of these elements "are the interesting things that help this plot flourish around that very simple premise of miscommunication in a love story, and us rooting for them to finally get on the same page because we see that they're good for each other."
That rooting factor hinges upon casting the right leads, and Akil found them in Simone and Cooper Despite her youth, Simone has a fairly robust resume that includes Greenleaf, Power Book III: Raising Kanan, and Manhunt. "She's been working at her craft as an actress for a long time," Akil says of Simone, who just earned a Gotham nomination for her performance in Forever. Pairing her with Cooper, a relative newcomer who has been "waiting to get in the game," turned out to be "magic." To bring out the best in her young stars, Akil turned to Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress Regina King, who has "given us such layered, beautiful, nuanced characters" throughout her acting career, and could do the same as a director. Having someone with experience both in front of and behind the camera was crucial to helping the stars feel comfortable. That was crucial for the sex scenes, which required "a language that felt honest to the story, and not distracting."
Akil is the creator of such TV hits as Girlfriend, The Game, and Being Mary Jane. She earned her first Emmy nomination in 2024 for producing the documentary Stamped from the Beginning. Although her work has primarily centered on black characters, Akil finds that ultimately, she's just writing about people. "The majority of us wake up every morning not thinking about our race, our gender, our orientation," she states. "We think about how near and far am I to my dreams?" In the case of Forever, Keisha and Justin are "old enough to start thinking about their future as it relates to college," but at the same time are concerned with "who loves me? Who's thinking about me throughout the day?" Those everyday problems "are some of the most dramatic ideas in most people's lives."
Ultimately, Akil believes that "the best way we get to know ourselves, and figure out who we are, is when we can find safe, loving relationships that allow us to carve out more of who we are, and to lead us back to our higher selves." When it comes to Keisha and Justin, "these two young people made a good choice in choosing each other," because it "freed them of themselves to get closer to who they are."
All eight episodes of Forever Season 1 are streaming on Netflix.
SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions
Best of GoldDerby
'I do think that I burned down the cabin': How 'Yellowjackets' star Steven Krueger pulled off Coach Ben's mental and physical decline
'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' star Charles Edwards on his tragic death scene: 'He did single-handedly withstand Sauron'
'It keeps me on my toes': 'St. Denis Medical' star Allison Tolman on walking a fine line between zany and 'incredibly heartfelt'
Click here to read the full article.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Cosmopolitan
38 minutes ago
- Cosmopolitan
Squid Game season three ending explained: who wins, who dies and who loses
The third and final season of Squid Game has hit our screens and we are seriously gagged at the drama, the twists, and, ofc, the deaths. The Hunger Games-meets-Battle Royale Netflix show has given us so many jaw-dropping moments we're sad to say goodbye but, if the finale of the last episode is anything to go by, we may have more twisted games to sustain us at some point in future... Anyway, before we look to the future, it's time to unpack the past: here is what went down in the finale of Squid Game season 3. Keep reading for your cheat sheet on who won, who lost and how the saga resolved itself... The winner of Squid Game season 3 is...a baby? Specifically, the baby is the child of Player 222: Kim Jun-hee, a player who is conned by her ex, Player 333, Lee Myung-gi, into buying into a cryptocurrency scam. It's revealed that she's pregnant with Myung-gi, baby and knew this going into the games, which she did in the hopes of winning a better life for herself and her baby. After Jun-hee gives birth in episode 2, the baby enters into gameplay as it is revealed it must live or die according to the rules of the game. In a game of Jump Rope, with the baby successfully saved by Gi-hun for that round, Jun-hee jumps off the ledge, knowing that time is running out and deciding to accept her fate. With Jun-hee out of the game, it's announced that her baby is taking her place as Player 222. When the final game is announced, Sky Squid Game, the other players are enraged and try to kill the baby first but she is protected by Gi-hun. The number of players dwindle as Myung-gi joins Gi-hun in protecting the baby. But, when just Myung-gi, Gi-hun and the baby are left, Myung-gi (who, let us remind you, is the baby's father) attempts to kill the baby so that he can win the game. Gi-hun attacks Myung-gi, who falls to his death. Due to the complicated rules of the game, which require you to press the button to officially start the button, Myung-gi's death doesn't count: amidst all the drama, no-one pressed the button. Gi-hun then presses the button to start a new round and sacrifices himself so that the baby can live. Hwang In-ho, the Front Man, then takes the baby. After a six month time jump, Hwang Jun-ho (the police officer who infiltrated the game to avenge his brother who he thinks has who actually is the Front Man) comes home to his flat to find the baby and a credit card loaded with all the money from the game. The choice to have a baby win the game was, of course, unexpected. But the show's creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk, explains that is was a necessary creative decision. "Ultimately, the baby represents the future generation,' he tells Tudum. 'I believe we also have the responsibility and duty to try everything that we can in our power to leave a better world for the future generation,' he continues. 'The baby coming out [as] the winner was in line with the meaning of Squid Game.' As you may well remember, Gi-hun was the winner of Squid Game season 1, meaning that he is sitting on a pretty major fortune. But what happened to it? In season 2, it was sitting on a bed in the Pink Motel, but then disappears. Season 3 gives us an answer as to where it ends up. Front Man takes the cash, deposits it into a bank account and then flies to Los Angeles to meet with Gi-hun's daughter: giving her the money and informing her of her father's death. When in Los Angeles, Front Man is driving downtown and hears the slap of ddakji tiles on the ground. When he looks up, he sees a well-dressed stranger playing the game with a distressed man, suggesting that there is now an LA recruiter enlisting American players to a form of the game. The best bit? The recruiter is played by none other than Cate Blanchett. 'We thought having a woman as a recruiter would be more dramatic and intriguing,' says Hwang in an article for Tudum. 'And as for why Cate Blanchett, she's just the best, with unmatched charisma. Who doesn't love her? So we were very happy to have her appear. We needed someone who could dominate the screen with just one or two words, which is exactly what she did.' Wowza, we didn't see that one coming!
Newsweek
3 hours ago
- Newsweek
Exclusive: Joe Exotic Shares Updates on Prison Life and Deported Husband
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Joe Exotic, star of the Netflix documentary Tiger King that garnered him global attention during the COVID pandemic, told Newsweek in an exclusive new interview that he has "lost everything." Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado, became a household name five years ago when Netflix aired a documentary centered on him, his affection for tigers, and a zany cast of characters working at his tiger sanctuary in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, from 1999 to 2018. Prior to the documentary's release, he was convicted of two counts of murder-for-hire against Carole Baskin—an adversary in Tiger King—and eventually sentenced to 21 years in prison. This November marks eight years that he's behind bars. Exotic claims to have never reaped any rewards for being the centerpiece. In fact, he said he hadn't even seen Tiger King until about five months ago because he's currently weighing his legal options in a battle with the streaming giant. The 62-year-old spoke at length with Newsweek via phone from inside the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, about his health issues, how he reacted and is dealing with his husband's deportation to Mexico, and how he has sought pardons or a commuted sentence from numerous politicians and celebrities, including President Donald Trump. Health Issues Exotic has prostate cancer and cancer in his left lung. The day prior to the interview, he went to the doctor and was directed to take another PET scan because it's believed the cancer from his prostate has spread to his ribs. Even while held inside a medical facility to do his time, he called the medical care within "pathetic." "My earliest out date right now is October 1, 2030," he said. "With the medical care I get in here, I probably won't even make it five more years." "Tiger King" star Joe Exotic spoke with Newsweek about his prison experience, health issues, fighting back against Netflix, and how he's dealt with the deportation of his husband. "Tiger King" star Joe Exotic spoke with Newsweek about his prison experience, health issues, fighting back against Netflix, and how he's dealt with the deportation of his husband. Newsweek Illustration/Canva/Getty/AP Newsroom Deported Husband In May, his 33-year-old husband Jorge Marquez Flores was deported to Mexico for illegal entry to the United States, after completing a federal prison sentence. Exotic has attempted different forms of pleas and outreach to reunite and live with Flores someday in the U.S., including offering to give the government half his earnings in exchange for a post-prison—in addition to saying he would purchase one of Trump's "gold cards" floated as a broader method to grant U.S. residency to those who invest $5 million in the country. Exotic speaks with Flores, who he last saw in person on May 16, two to three times a day. "He is in Mexico at his aunt's house, praying to God and making videos, asking President Trump for forgiveness and to let [him] come home," Exotic said. "Our plan is, I'm gonna go to Mexico. I really want to go live in Cozumel." He added: "I will work to do whatever I got to do, to either buy a Trump gold card for him, or to go through the asylum process to get him back into America the right way because he shouldn't have come in the wrong way. He knows that; I know that. We don't hold him being deported against anybody because that's the law." Pleas for Pardons In April 2019, a federal jury found him guilty on two counts of hiring someone to murder Baskin, founder of Big Cat Rescue in Florida, eight counts of violating the Lacey Act by falsifying wildlife records, and nine counts of violating the Endangered Species Act by killing five tigers and selling tigers across state lines. Regarding Baskin, he said the documentary portrayed her as close to who she actually is. "To this day you'll never convince me she didn't kill her husband because I investigated it for almost 10 years, and I have her original diary," Exotic said. "I interviewed all of her staff and all of her past staff. She killed him." Baskin has denied that she had any involvement in her husband's disappearance or death. Exotic also takes umbrage with the Endangered Species Act charges. "That's my ultimate goal, to prove that generic tigers that are branded in captivity in the United States do not belong on the United States endangered species list because the endangered species list of 1973 was written to protect the native species and the habitats of our lands," he said. "Tigers, elephants, chimpanzees, orangutans, none of that belongs on our endangered species [list]. We are spending billions of dollars regulating something in America that is protected." Exotic continues to try to talk to anybody who will listen in hope he can get a pardon, or at least an early release. Representative Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican, said last week that her office received an inquiry from Exotic for help. He's made additional reach outs to lawmakers and celebrities including Secretary of State Marco Rubio (when he was a senator), former GOP Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, Joe Rogan, Andrew Tate, Dana White, Hulk Hogan, and President Trump. "I've got a lot of big names out there asking President Trump to make this right," Exotic said. "Why he won't is beyond all of us. You know, he would be so popular and so praised if he would just let me go home." He added: "I don't even need a pardon because I would take just a commuted sentence to time served because I don't need to carry a gun and I don't do drugs. I just need to be able to travel to work because I can become a millionaire with this platform and do good with my charity work as a felon." He said he "looks up" to Trump, who he acknowledged to also be a felon "persecuted by the very same government that persecuted me." Prisoners 'Drooling' From Drug Use "I would never believe it if I didn't live it," Exotic says about his days in prison, which he says is akin more to a college dormitory than doors and bars you would see in TV or movies. He gets up around 7 or 8 a.m., takes a shower, and then watches his fellow inmates in the low-security facility. "Drugs in here is crazy," he said. "You would never believe how many drugs are inside a federal prison. And that's why when I was running for president, I was like, you are so wasting your time on drugs against the war on the border when you can't keep them out of a fenced-in federal is nothing but a college for wannabe drug addicts." He said he spends days watching half the prison population "act like 2-year-olds drooling because they're so high on synthetic marijuana." Fame But Being Alone "It is it overwhelming and gratifying that the entire world knows who I am," he admitted. "I absolutely am upset that they made me out to be a meth head and some crazy fool." Exotic said he gets along with everyone in prison because he honors his words and minds his own business. His life outside is emptier. Both his parents died, one in 2019 and the other in 2020. His husband is in a foreign country and may not be able to return. His three siblings have maintained no contact with him since 1997, which he says is because he's a homosexual. "There is light at the end of the tunnel," he said. "But what keeps me going—I've never even had a speeding ticket. I have no criminal history, period. I know who I am, and my parents raised me to do right." He continued: "And even though I've lost everything I've ever worked for, I am so looking forward to walking out these gates—whether it's with President Trump's blessing or not, and making my life or what I have left of it 10 times better than the life that I had. And I had a pretty good life."
Tom's Guide
6 hours ago
- Tom's Guide
This iconic slasher movie is leaving Netflix — I'm not missing out and neither should you
Between the "Scream" franchise, "The Blair Witch Project"-induced "found footage" phenomenon and M. Night Shyamalan mind-benders like "The Sixth Sense" and Oscar-winning thrillers like "Silence of the Lambs," the 1990s were a great time for horror. One of the most crowd-pleasing (if not exactly critically acclaimed) titles in the slasher genre is "I Know What You Did Last Summer," which sees an iconic foursome of Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Ryan Phillippe battle a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town. The movie comes from director Jim Gillespie and screenwriter Kevin Williamson, the latter of whom recently tapped into the "murderous coastal town" genre yet again with his new Netflix show "The Waterfront." And, as is always the case with the platform's ever-changing library, you now only have a few days left to catch the '90s horror favorite on Netflix before it departs the streamer on July 1. With "IKWYDLS" officially getting a present-day reboot scheduled for theatrical release on July 18, it's high time to revisit the jump-scare original. Here's why you should add "I Know What You Did Last Summer" to your watch list this weekend. "I Know What You Did Last Summer" centers on four teenage friends who accidentally hit a pedestrian following a beach trip to celebrate July 4. They don't alert the authorities and instead dispose the body, vowing to never discuss the horrible incident again. However, a year later, Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt), receives a letter revealing that someone else was on the road that night and knows exactly what they did. Seeking revenge, a hook-wielding killer fisherman begins haunting the four friends throughout their town of Southport, North Carolina, set on taking out the kiddos one by bloody one. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. Again, the original "I Know What You Did Last Summer" wasn't exactly an immediate hit with professional critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, where the film holds an approval rating of 48%, the critical consensus reads: "A by-the-numbers slasher that arrived a decade too late, the mostly tedious 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' will likely only hook diehard fans of the genre." However, some critics were more charmed by the horror flick, which, along with "Scream" a year earlier, helped revive the slasher genre. Derek Elley of Variety called it a "polished genre piece with superior fright elements that should perform at better-than-average theatrical levels," while Richard Harrington of The Washington Post dubbed it "a smart and sharply-drawn genre film with a moral center, and with a solid cast of young actors to hold it." In the decades since its release, "I Know What You Did Last Summer" has endured among horror fans (and been the subject of many a funny parody) thanks to its very nineties-ness, from those Williamson-penned precocious teens to the megawatt '90s names playing them ("Party of Five" star Jennifer Love Hewitt, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" icon Sarah Michelle Gellar.) It's a bloody-good-fun relic of a long-gone era, but one that's clearly still resonating with viewers all these years later. Watch on Netflix until June 30, 2025
