Awkward Black Girl

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
Well, this is awkward.
"My name is J, and I'm awkward -- and black. Someone once told me those were the two worst things anyone could be. That someone was right."
J

The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl – called on The Other Wiki simply Awkward Black Girl – follows the titular character, "J," a diet-pill salesperson who doesn't hate her job but thinks her co-workers are "pretty much the worst people in life." As a coping mechanism, she writes rap lyrics that she considers "too Nicki Minaj" and obsesses over the awkward issues in her life. The show addresses concerns such as "What do you do when you constantly run into the same person at stop signs?" "How do you cover up waving to the wrong person?" and much more.

The brainchild of writer/director Issa Rae, who was unable to identify with sexy vixens and sassy black women on TV, the show revolves around awkwardness, "which is a unifying and universal thing that we all have experienced in some capacity."

Check out the official site of the series at AwkwardBlackGirl.com. The show sprung into popularity after only a couple of months, due to the relatable Black and Nerdy main character not often shown in television.

The show was accepting donations via Kickstarter to extend its first season. In August 2011, they received 56,000 dollars, nearly doubly their goal of 30,000.


Tropes used in Awkward Black Girl include:

J: Am I dating the founder of the KKK? Why all the attention?

  • Brick Joke: CeCe randomly mentions that she had to go to Racial Insensitivity Training. Amir, who had disappeared sometime during the series due to Real Life Writes the Plot, returns in the season finale, reformed by Racial Insensitivity Training. (He needed it.)
  • Butt Monkey: J before she made a couple of friends (namely CeCe) at the office.
  • Call Back
    • In episode 2, her boss lady (jokingly?) says to J, "girlfriend, how are we gonna get cornrows now?" When she shows up in episode 4, she's wearing cornrows.
    • Space-invading co-worker with AIDS, or Patti, fired sometime before episode 4, keeps re-appearing.
    • "I get you."
    • J steals water from her anger management class. "Shit, I thought he said the water was free."
    • "Dear sushi restaurant, thank you for not being Red Lobster."
  • The Cameo: Kevin McCall plays the rapper/freestyler who J had a crush on in the 11th grade.
  • Comically Missing the Point
  • Covert Pervert: Halloween is CeCe's second favorite holiday after International Fetish Day.
  • Cringe Comedy
  • Designated Love Interest: Fred. And later, White Jay.
  • Dogged Nice Guy: White Jay
  • Did Not Get the Girl/Guy: Seesaws throughout the entire first season. A didn't get J. J didn't get Fred. White Jay didn't get J. And in the end, Fred doesn't get J.
  • Early Installment Weirdness: The first few episodes were more obviously low budget and were a lot shorter, compare the 5 minute first episode to the 25 minute season finale.
  • Extroverted Nerd: A
  • Fan Nickname: "White Jay" is almost always called "White Jay."
  • Gilligan Cut: As a Running Gag. J would say something calmly (e.g. "I wasn't bothered by it"), then the show would cut to her rapping furiously about just the opposite.
  • Gratuitous Greek: The Gamma Ray sorority sisters wear matching T-shirts with the Greek letters of their sorority on the front. On another note, which letter of the Greek alphabet is "ray?"
  • Gratuitous Rap
  • Green-Eyed Epiphany: Fred seemingly has one at the end of episode 7. Sort of a case of You Are Too Late.
  • He Who Must Not Be Heard: Darius, whose voice is so quiet that neither J nor the audience can understand what he is saying.
  • Heterosexual Life Partners: J and CeCe (also known as "Curry Fried Chicken")
  • Hey, It's That Guy!: The Fly Guys make random appearances throughout the show.
  • Hint Dropping: Fred can't take the hint that J is interested, while A cannot take the hint that J is no longer interested.
  • Holier Than Thou: Delores a.k.a. Sister Mary Clarence.
  • Hopeless Suitor: A. It seemed as if White Jay was heading into this direction as well but not anymore.
  • Hurricane of Euphemisms: "I want to know why the caged bird sings, I want to get my groove back, and I want the rainbow to be enuf. E-N-U-F."
  • Imagine Spot: The series is told from J's point of view so we get a lot of these.
  • Important Haircut: J cuts off all her hair after her boyfriend dumps her in episode 1. Only for her boyfriend D to take her back, then dump her again because he can't deal with her being bald.
  • Insistent Terminology:
    • CeCe always "diagnoses" J with some kind of disorder, e.g. Rejection Displacement Syndrome or Intimacy Reasoning Disorder, in order to "make use" of her psychology degree.
    • J's narration usually starts out with "It's not X, if you don't Y." Examples, "It's not violence, if you don't act on it." Or "It's not stalking, if you don't mean any harm."
  • Intelligible Unintelligible: Has become a Running Gag that Fred is the only one who can clearly hear what Darius is saying.
  • Just Friends: J and Fred, much to her dismay at first. Once she gets a chance to actually date him in the Season 1 finale, she realizes they are Better as Friends and chooses White J.
  • Love At First Sight: J falls for Fred the first time she sees him.
  • Love Confession: Fred finally spits it out to J in episode 11.
  • Love Triangle: A has a crush on J, who has a crush on Fred, who is dating Nina. It gets even more complicated when White Jay enters the mix.
  • Love Interest: J has two. White Jay and Fred. Also A, but it's pretty much unrequited.
    • The conflict reaches its climax in the Season 1 finale "The Decision", in which J is forced to choose between White Jay and Fred. White Jay wins.
  • Mistaken Nationality:

J: He's a walking rainbow of racism and the main reason he gets away with it is because nobody knows what he is.

    • Happens to CeCe all the time. She's frequently mistaken for latina, middle-eastern and "Pocahontas."
  • My Name Is Not Durwood: In Episode 12, J's boss lady keeps calling a new coworker named Jesus and pronouncing it "Jesus" when it's pronounced "hay-soos." This leads to confusion when she asks Jesus to come inside the room and everyone looks confused.

Nina: Jesus! That is not a good idea.
Jesus: Hay-soos! All of my ideas are good.

Amir: (with a fake Asian accent) Haro, I'm part Asian. I think I can calculate the total.

    • And...

Amir: We should totally get Cinco de Mayo off. I mean, my arms are ... shit ... they're still tired from all that swimming. Right, mija?
CeCe: You know I'm not Mexican.

White Jay: "My fellow Americans."
J: Who is that? Bill Clinton?
White Jay: (points to his name tag which reads "Michelle's Baby Daddy") Barack Obama!
J: How could I possibly not get that?

J: Danny Glover is not his dad. They're just black together.

Nina: You think this is a game? You think being a Gamma Ray is fun?

  • Shipper on Deck:
    • CeCe encourages J to bring her relationship with Fred further.
    • Also ...

Leslie: (whispering) Kiss her.

CeCe: Nina is like the British royal family--a total spectacle without any real power.

  • Theme Naming: Every episode is named "The [NOUN]"
  • Unfortunate Implications: In-universe, most of what J's boss, Amir and sometimes Nina say.
  • The Unintelligible: Darius, affectionately nicknamed "Baby Voice"/"DJ Whispers" by J. Neither J nor the audience can understand what he is saying, due to his incredibly soft voice.
  • Unreliable Narrator: The series is narrated by J, who tends to overemphasize certain characteristics of her workmates.
  • Unrequited Love Switcheroo: After J spent 6 episodes pining after him, Fred looks deeply confused and hurt when he sees J and White Jay Almost Kiss in front of a theatre.
  • Unusual Dysphemism: "I just Starbucked the shit out of Nina's ego."
  • Up to Eleven: "Shut the front door! And the back door. And the side door."
  • What Does He See in Her?: Said verbatim by CeCe after Fred and Nina kiss.
  • Working with the Ex: J works with her former one-night stand, A, who cannot, and will not, take the hint that J is no longer interested.
  • You Are Worth Hell: J was about to quit her job until Fred walked in.