Note: This review was originally published on Sundance 2024. That’s why we’re republishing it Looking for Mavis Mayak it’s in theaters now.
A Sundance documentary with a healthy heart and a dose of whimsy Looking for Mavis Mayak follows two young Black women dedicated to finding the original model for Mavis Mayak teaches Typing. If you touched a computer in the 80s or 90s, there’s a good chance Mavis helped you get comfortable with the keyboard. At least, you might remember her from the program’s original 1987 cover: a smiling, elegant Black woman in a cream-colored dress. He exuded style and a professional vibe – as if you could be just as skilled as him if you bought this program.
It’s no spoiler to say that “Mavis Beacon” didn’t really exist—it was a marketing idea concocted by a bunch of white guys from Silicon Valley. But the cover star of the program was real: Her name was Renee L’Esperance, a Haitian model discovered while working at Saks Fifth Avenue in Los Angeles. Then his image helped Mavis Mayak teaches Typing successful, he retreated from the spotlight, reportedly returning to retire in the Caribbean.
The documentary’s director and writer Jazmin Jones, as well as her collaborator Olivia McKayla Ross, start with these basic details and set out to find L’Esperance as a pair of digital detectives. From their home base in an old Bay Area office surrounded by tech ephemera, various artworks and images of influential black women, they schedule L’Esperance’s reporting, track leads and even hold a spiritual ceremony to connect with them. model.
I won’t say if the couple actually finds L’Esperance because it’s a journey. Looking for Mavis Mayak such a joy to watch. Jones and Ross both grew up with the writing program and feel a kinship with the character of Mavis Beacon. It was the first app to prominently feature a black woman on the cover (reportedly causing some suppliers to cut orders), so it showed the tech world as a place where young black women could actually fit in. The beacon’s digital hands are also visible. on the screen, as if it’s gently guiding your fingers to the correct letters and placement.
Mavis Beacon to help uncover more details about the whereabouts of Jones and Ross hotline and website for anyone to submit tips. Some of these calls are featured in the film and they clearly show that his digital presence inspired many people. The film opens with references to Beacon throughout culture, including one of my favorite bits Abbott Elementarywhere Quinta Brunson’s overachieving teacher is excited to see a writing sign in the school crowd. I remembered my own childhood experience Mavis Mayak teaches TypingI try to speed up my free time at school and free time at home to write. In high school, writing was as natural as breathing. Yes, I would be scared if I saw the real Beacon in person.
While the documentary wouldn’t seem out of place at Sundance, known for its innovative projects, it sometimes feels like a piece of experimental media meant for YouTube or an art show full of impossibly cool twenty-somethings. (At one point, Ross attends a farewell party for one of his friends’ dead laptops. It’s held in an art space full of people in white. It makes you love him even more.)
Jones shows us screenshots of his desktop, where he can watch TikTok alongside his notes. Instead of a full-screen video chat with another person, sometimes we just see a FaceTime window (and sometimes it’s a picture of Jones himself looking at the screen). Finding Mavis Beacon tells its story in a way that digital natives will find natural, without confining itself to screens. Search movie.
As with many first features, the film could use some narration. Jones and Ross’ research stops at several points, and we’re often left blank as they consider their next move. The couple also seems very close to the story at times, or at least it seems so when we see Jones tear up as he begs to meet L’Esperance.
But I’d argue that’s part of the charm Looking for Mavis Mayak. Jones and Ross aren’t true crime podcast hosts looking to make content out of controversy. They are young women who find comfort in one of the few faces in technology that look like them. With this film, Jones and Ross can similarly inspire a new generation of underrepresented technologists.
