In a new interview, Issa Rae revealed that she was once told by a former white colleague that she needed to put a white character in to her shows so that people would care about it.
In an interview with Mic, she explained, “From the jump in creating the show, it was put in my mind that you had to have a white character to be a bridge, and for people to care, for it to get awards, for it to be considered worthy of the television canon."
She continued, “She was just like, ‘Girl, if you want this s— to set off to the next level, you got to put a white character in there, then white people will care about it, then NPR is going to write about your s—, and it’ll blow up.' And then it literally happened.”
After adding a white character named "Frieda" to season one, Rae says he eventually started rejecting the use of unnecessary characters. She said, “I was like, ‘F— no! This is not a show about Frieda!’ That was when I started actively resisting. When Issa quit work and we got rid of the ‘We Got Y’all’ storyline, I realized, ‘Oh my gosh, our show is just about Black characters now in the most refreshing way.’”
Issa added, “I hope that not having to think of an audience that isn’t us — and being OK with that — is passed on,” she says. “I want people to know we are enough.” The fifth and final season of “Insecure” premieres off October 24th on HBO.