So We Made-Up Sequels to Our Favorite Black Rom Coms
It’s not every day we see films for us, by us and about us that capture the essence, ebb and flow, and oh so cool vibes of black love. Love Jones, The Best Man, Brown Sugar, it really doesn’t get any better than seeing authentic portrayals of black relationships featured on the big screen.
From Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan, to the prom king and queen of black rom coms, Morris Chestnut and Nia Long, a hit-it-and-quit-it, six-week run at Magic Johnson Theaters just isn’t enough. So, in honor of blackness everywhere and the fab fictitious couples that have come before us, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite black romantic comedies re-imagined for their second spin on the big screen.
Love Jones
Guy meets girl. They fall in love. Girl spends the afternoon touching up her roots after getting her entire life in a late night Chicago rain. Seeing that the film ends with Darius and Nina confessing their love to one another but not quite sure how to make their long distance relationship work (he in Chicago and she in New York), the couple never really got a happy ending, or beginning.
Fast-forward a few years and Nina’s career is basically s**tting bricks on Darius’ publisher turned blogger lifestyle. Shortly after arriving to NYC, Nina was hired as the official photographer for the “Formation” tour and spends her free time teaching Blue Ivy how to use a zoom lens. Naturally, Nina’s career boom doesn’t sit well with Darius who, until further notice, remains in his feelings.
Due to Nina’s severe allergic reaction to bi**hassness, her and Darius eventually part ways. Nina launches her own camera accessory line, has an on-again, off-again fling with singer Maxwell, and launches a non-profit organization that teaches photography to inner city youth. Darius can now be found on Chicago’s South Side organizing non-violent rallies and teaching free spoken word classes on the weekends at the Harold Washington Library.
Poetic Justice
Life as a full-time stepmom proved to be tougher than expected for Justice. On the positive side, Lucky’s daughter was never without a fresh set of box braids. Justice continued doing hair at the local beauty shop until one day a friend called her to assist with a last minute braid-out for Kendrick Lamar's Compton homecoming concert. Shortly after, Justice joined the rapper as the official hair stylist for his U.S. tour.
Dubbed an official “homie” in Kendrick’s crew, Justice scored Lucky an audition with Dr. Dre that resulted in Lucky being signed to Interscope records. Lucky experienced moderated success as a rapper (think Flo Rida level fame) but fell off after a doomed collaboration with Jeremih and Justin Beiber. Luckily (no pun intended), Justice’s career as a stylist is beyond awesome. She created her own clothing line, Frayed Edges, and Lucky eventually settled into life as a famed producer and became a surprise breakout star on Love and Hip-Hop: South Central.
Love and Basketball
Life for the McCall family was great. Quincy was the founder and CEO of a sports marketing agency whose first major win was a re-branding of the Curry 2 Low, elevating the shoe from a Walmart manager’s go-to accessory, to a Dad’s favorite walking shoe when visiting an amusement park type of footwear. Meanwhile, Monica quickly became one of the WNBA’s top athletes, scoring record-setting endorsements with Always and Nike. After three successful seasons in the League and at the height of her career, Monica becomes pregnant with the couple’s second child. Unable to “snap back” and return to her pre-baby body the second time around, Monica was forced to forego a season of basketball. Unable to play, she was forced to a life as a full-time mommy with Quincy becoming the family’s primary breadwinner. Juggling kids, a fledging career and a bruised ego, Monica was soon diagnosed with postpartum depression and retreated somewhere in West Africa to, as she described it, find her being.
But it was love and basketball that eventually brought her back to the states and to the life she once knew. Monica eventually returned to the WNBA and Quincy went on to become one of the sports industry’s top marketers and even scored a side-hustle as an NBA commentator.
Oh, and Quincy’s mother’s fine a$$ is still in Gucci and gold.
Boomerang
When you factor in the original cast —Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Halle Berry, Tisha Campbell, David Alan Grier and Martin Lawrence, a sequel would be pretty epic. Angela is now seven months pregnant and the couple just bought their first home outside the city for a slower pace and better schools. While Angela spends her days working on her natural mommy blog and mixing her own laundry detergent, Marcus treks back and fourth to the city in his new Chrysler mini van. On weekends he works to perfect Angela’s natural birthing playlist.
It was all good ‘bout a week ago until Marcus’ new admin, Roxy, reminded him just how much he missed fat a$$es. A player to his core, Roxy did give Marcus head one late night, but he swears he never hit. After learning of Marcus’ affair, Angela was heartbroken. However, after listening to Toni Braxton’s greatest hits album and acknowledging that love did in fact bring Marcus home last night, she forgave him and life resumed as usual.
Also, Strange is now 1-year into her transition, goes by the name Eduardo and regularly appears on I Am Cait. We’re sad to report Lady Eloise passed after forgetting to remove her waist trainer one night before bed.
How Stella Got Her Groove Back
Stella and Winston went through quite the rough patch. Considering both were unemployed (Winston spending his last on a one-way, non-refundable flight to Jamaica and Stella spending a good chunk of her savings on a bigger house for her family), life for the couple was initially no crystal stair. In an effort to bring in more cash, Stella became a part-time Yoga instructor and Winston took a job as a line cook at a local Cheesecake Factory. As luck would have it, Stella’s side-hustle, an Etsy furniture store, quickly took off, eventually bringing in enough money to create a Jamaican-themed brunch cafe where Winston serves as head chef.
The couple is now expecting their first child together in the fall, and is also working on their first book, The Groove Never Left. In their spare time, they surf Snapchat with Winston teaching Stella the latest dance crazes. She’s hoping to perfect her Floss in the coming weeks.
Weigh in and let us know what black rom coms you’d like to see make a return to the big screen!