Jay Rohr
Seeking Mavis Beacon discovers more than just a typing teacher. What begins as a search for the identity of an individual evolves into something broader. This documentary provides an overview of cultural identity, particularly within the backdrop of the cyber era, serving as a reminder of some of society’s building blocks. Civilization is composed of cultures defined by a variety of elements, not always stemming from positive histories, but always wonderfully colorful. Yet, for all the ideas Seeking Mavis Beacon inspires, it arrives at very few answers.
The initial notion of the documentary is to discover exactly who is Mavis Beacon. She helped sell an educational game that taught people how to type. Designed by The Software Toolworks and released in 1987, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing! would become a common purchase for households during the rise of personal computers. Anyone wanting to learn to type, in either the QWERTY or Dvorak configuration, could utilize the game and as such it became a common educational tool aimed at millennial children. However, Mavis Beacon is as fictional as Betty Crocker.
As the documentary shows, many people are under the mistaken belief she’s a real person. That’s partly what inspired a pair of self-described “e-girl investigators”, Jazmin Jones and Olivia McKayla Ross, to make this film. The face on the box is Renée L’esperance. Through Seeking Mavis Beacon, the filmmakers endeavor to discover who that real person is and give her a voice allowing her active participation in tech history.
Refreshingly, very little of this film bears any resemblance to conventional documentaries. Anyone expecting talking heads relating history interspersed by academics offering analysis alongside other facts and figures won’t find much of that. The talking head format of typical documentarians is largely eschewed for a more intimate and stylized approach. This isn’t simply a film about Mavis Beacon, it’s also about Jones and Ross delving into the mystery.
Part of the story being shared is their own journey into ideas stirred up by Mavis Beacon. These include the Mandela Effect wherein people misremember the past with absolute certainty, but quickly expand into more complex notions such as cultural identity, appropriation, representation, and the ethics of an investigative film. More than anything, there is a look into Black identity.
While Mavis Beacon provides a positive image, her fictional nature puts Renée L’esperance in line with Nichelle Nichols or Janet MacLachlan. Yet, the documentary isn’t quick to dismiss the importance of such individuals. Contrasting this representation against the Aunt Jamima marketing persona, Seeking Mavis Beacon tries to unwrap the frustration that coincides with the relief of positive fictional representation. In other words, as uplifting as these portrayals can be their infrequency is frustrating due to unused real-world examples which do exist. But this is only one of many ideas touched on by Seeking Mavis Beacon.
This hybrid-documentary mainly aims to give voice to Renée L’esperance. Jazmin Jones and Olivia MacKayla Ross want her perspective on being a millennial icon as well as how the company exploited her image after only paying $500 dollars for a face that helped sell millions of units. Getting to the heart of that matter means tracking down L’esperance which is accomplished through a combination of spiritualist methods in conjunction with classical sleuthing. Some viewers may be skeptical of the occult means employed but they do provide scenes which allow the filmmakers to outright state their intentions.
That said, there is a conscious degree of staging throughout Seeking Mavis Beacon. The conversation with Shola von Reinhold, for instance, feels more like a scene in a film than a plain interview. However, that doesn’t subtract from the authenticity of the exchange. In a way, Seeking Mavis Beacon intriguingly acknowledges the whole artifice of documentary movies. As an example of potential stylization for future films, it’s a shining example of a possible step forward. There is a wonderful artistry behind the story being told.
Older audiences more accustomed to the old format of documentary films may consider the movie lacking in focus. Younger audiences might not have a problem processing the presentation, especially as this flair sometimes injects glimpses of ideas. At one point the satirical novel SCUM Manifesto by Valeria Solanas is displayed for a blink which will mean something to anyone familiar with its content. Instead of outright stating things, Seeking Mavis Beacon often relies on background details or flash by inserts.
This can be a bit of a problem in Seeking Mavis Beacon as the film seems to expect audiences to have information rather than informing them. The backstory behind cultural concepts is one thing, but the real downside is with Jaszmin Jones and Olivia MacKayla Ross. Since the film wants to include how this journey affected them, changed them as they pursued their goal, never really knowing much about them makes this outcome murky. That it clearly takes a toll on them is there but the why is not.
The other downside is that Seeking Mavis Beacon never reaches any conclusions other than it can’t reach any conclusions. At risk of spoilers, ethical considerations, primarily involving privacy, shut down the overall investigation. What results is a documentary that leaves an audience with a lot to think about.
It’s entirely likely some viewers will watch this and be inspired to educate themselves further when it comes to the broad cultural concepts that’re touched on. There’s definitely a sense of Jazmin Jones and Olivia MacKayla Ross pursuing, in a modern sense, notions espoused by “The Black Aesthetic” particularly “a reflection of their African heritage and worldview” that “would embolden black people to honor their own beauty and power.” Stylistically Seeking Mavis Beacon is a bold move that often wins. Although a core concept—finding Renée L’esperance—runs throughout the documentary, the movie wants to be about more than that. In many ways it offers a glimpse into matters some people may never see, tech savvy contemporary kids struggling to express themselves and understand a world that doesn’t acknowledge them.
