Young Love Makes for a Powerful Family

Portrait
Rendy Jones September 19, 2023

In 2019, Matthew A. Cherry's "Hair Love" became a milestone in

Black animation excellence. The Kickstarter project that became
an Academy Award-winning animated short about a Black father,
Stephen, attempting to do his daughter Zuri's hair before visiting
his girlfriend Angela at the hospital captured the hearts of many
nationwide. It was a refreshingly positive depiction of Black
fatherhood, often stereotyped in the media.
Spell (TV Spot)
Notable animators Bruce W. Smith (“Proud Family: Louder and
Prouder”) and Everett Downing Jr. ("My Dad the Bounty
Hunter") were co-directors alongside Cherry on "Hair Love"
before developing their respective shows. The short's widespread
love and success even led to a viral trend of Black dads posting
videos of them styling their daughters' hair. The MAX series
adaptation, "Young Love," graduates the source's general appeal
for a young-adult demographic—specifically, a millennial crowd
who once grew up with Black '90s sitcoms. Even with a longer
format, Cherry's creation maintains its stance as one of the
media's richest positive African-American family portraits.
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Picking up right where "Hair Love" left off, "Young Love" follows
the Young/Love family: music producer Stephen Love (Scott
Mescudi), hair stylist/vlogger Angela Young (Issa Rae), and their
precocious six-year-old daughter Zuri (Brooke Conaway),
navigating life in Chicago two months following Angela's cancer
recovery.
Waiting for his big break, level-headed Stephen is advised by his
agent, Star (Tamar Braxton), to produce beats for up-and-coming,
arrogant rapper Little Ankh. To the dismay of Angela's stern,
traditionalist father/landlord Russell (Harry Lennix) and mother
Gigi (Loretta Devine), Stephen's freelancing music-producing gig
isn't sustainable enough to pay the bills. Meanwhile, Angela
restarts her life, returning to her salon job, where her co-workers
initially treat her as a patient rather than a person. Then, she finds
a list of post-cancer goals and works on the personal endeavors
she promised herself. Young Zuri gets into many misadventures at
elementary school, often rebelling against the system by
becoming Angela Davis for coffee cakes at her school, going
against Girl Scouts, and appointing herself as a new messiah when
she doesn't get a star student award.

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For a series about a modern African-American family, "Young

Love"'s essence carries itself like a contemporary version of classic
late '90s-early '00s Black sitcoms like "My Wife and Kids," "One
on One," "All of Us" (anything that derived from the UPN lineup),
which aired during the formative years for millions of millennials.
Like those shows, "Young Love" shines through its writing,
resuming the family's loving camaraderie established in the short,
even for unfamiliar viewers. Now that the characters speak, the
writing staff strikes a lighthearted, effortlessly charming tone led
by humorous, personality-driven characters.

The series prospers from thoughtful and insightful takes on

generational differences in traditionalist topics: religion not being
essential in Stephen and Angela’s lives, which shocks Russell and
Gigi, trying to be a better parent than the one before you, sharing
a bank account. The writers’ greatest strength is in rendering
Stephen and Angela’s relationship. They are a supportive, loving
couple whose bond transcends societal nuclear family
expectations, another topic handled with maturity and
insightfulness. They're comfortable in their familial status without
putting a ring on each other's fingers. Even with their strong
bond, their relationship doesn't define their characters, as the
writers focus on them individually in their frustrating pursuits of
happiness. Some of the strongest episodes within the 12-episode
season lie in examining each party's search for purpose in their
everyday lives.
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For example, the first few episodes concentrate on Angela starting
anew, cancer-free, trying to get back on track with her career and
personal endeavors, and being a mother. It also digs deeper into
Stephen’s background and a tragic childhood that still haunts
him. Not every topic it tackles is a winner. Most discussions are
treated with a light feather, and the season can lack continuity.
Sometimes, its adult humor is tonally uneven with the many
Disney-fied resolutions on episodes about homelessness and
parenthood. Oddly enough, Disney’s own “Proud Family: Louder
and Prouder” tackles similar themes but in a bold, diplomatic
sense.

The energetic voice cast elevates any issues with the writing. The
amazing Issa Rae brings so much of her onscreen traits—
independent, wide-eyed dreaming, eccentric personality, and
flawless comic timing—to the character. Even behind the booth,
Rae textures her animated characters as people. The same goes
for Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi) as Stephen, whose natural, deep
voice matches the character's straight but entertaining
personality. The standout comic relief is young Brooke Conaway
as Zuri, who pours endless life and energy into her character in
her line delivery.

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A few months ago, I wrote an essay about how important Black