Interview – Queer Creatives Find Friendship in the Search for Mavis Beacon

In Seeking Mavis Beacon, director Jazmin Renée Jones and associate producer Olivia McKayla Ross embark on a neon-soaked adventure to uncover the mystery behind Mavis Beacon. The hybrid documentary takes viewers on a journey that’s equal parts detective noir and coming-of-age buddy film, as these “e-girl detectives” search for Renee L’Espérance, the Haitian woman who modeled for the iconic software.

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The Myth of Mavis

Jazmin, a Black queer filmmaker from the Bay Area, grew up with Mavis Beacon as her first typing teacher, first Black teacher, and a kind of virtual mentor. “In 2018, at the age of 28, I was wondering, oh, whatever happened to Mavis Beacon?” Jazmin shared. This curiosity sparked an investigation that led her to Olivia, a 19-year-old queer video artist from Queens, who blends her family’s background in birth work with a passion for technology.

Olivia’s take on their collaboration is just as vivid: “I met Jazz through collective organizing spaces… Their collective FU was doing a lot of this really awesome pan-Black, Pan-Asian solidarity organizing through the arts.” The two clicked instantly, forming an intergenerational bond that has grown deeper with each step of their quest.

A Mentor and a Friend: How Jazmine Helped Olivia Find Her Place in the Queer Community

For Olivia, meeting Jazmin was more than a creative collaboration; it was life-changing. “Getting to know Jazz, getting to know their partner Yen, our cinematographer, was my first time in having queer elders, having people in my life who played that kind of chosen family big sib role,” Olivia reflects. “I learned so much from Jazz about navigating the world as a queer person, from political organizing to even my sense of style… I feel like my experience as a queer young person has been so normal and safe because of them.” For Olivia, Jazmin became a guide, a mentor, and a friend, shaping her journey and affirming her place in the queer community.

A Hunt Through History and Hearsay

The film navigates from myth to reality, diving into a sea of conspiracy theories, deepfake videos, and internet lore. Audiences are taken from imagined scenes of Mavis Beacon being honored by Barack Obama to real-life detective work tracking down Renee L’Espérance. Jazmin and Olivia use every tool at their disposal: internet sleuthing, spellcasting, and even a “Seeking Mavis Beacon” hotline for tipsters.

But the journey isn’t just about finding Renee. It’s also about grappling with big questions: “What does it mean to have a Black woman in the perpetual role of digital servitude?” Olivia asks. Jazmin adds, “We have to start treating our conspiracy theories as intuition.”

The Future of Digital Identity

Seeking Mavis Beacon arrives at a crucial moment in 2024, a time when AI, digital privacy, and online identity are hot topics. Jazmin and Olivia urge viewers to think critically about their digital footprints and the implications of their online presence. “You can opt in, you can read those terms and conditions… or you have the right to disappear,” Jazmin reminds us.

An Invitation to Connect

Beyond the screen, Jazmin and Olivia invite viewers to engage with the project through a typing game on their website, seekingmavisbeacon.com, or by sharing their memories via the hotline at 575-SEEKING. “If you have memories of Mavis Beacon, real or imagined… please just leave us a message,” Olivia encourages.

This documentary isn’t just a film; it’s an open-ended dialogue, a nostalgic dive, and a call to rethink who controls the narrative. As Jazmin says, “This film is a love letter… to our younger selves and to future generations to keep asking pesky questions with their friends.”

And that’s a message we all need to hear.

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Interview – Queer Creatives Find Friendship in the Search for Mavis Beacon