There's Something About Molly: Different Perspective of Insecure's Molly

I was debating on posting a piece on HBO's hit series Insecure.  I wanted to give my thoughts earlier in the season, but any discussion about Insecure seems to boil people's blood.  After a few more debates with myself, I decided to go for it.  I really shouldn't give a spoiler alert because you had enough time to catch up on the second season, but I will. 

So I assume if you continued reading this post, you're familiar with Insecure and both seasons.  If you are familiar with Insecure, I assume you're familiar with Molly Carter (played by Yvonne Orji).  In a nutshell, Molly is the hard-working, witty, best friend of Issa.  This season Molly finds herself in bed with a man named Dro who claims he's in an open relationship.  I won't get too much into the plot because again; I am assuming we are all familiar.

Now I will start by saying this is MY perspective on the Molly character, so anything you disagree with - debate ya mama.  All jokes aside, I love perspective. I love the fact people looked at a dress online for two days and couldn't decide if the dress was black or gold.  Perspective. Good times.

Okay, back to Molly.  So I am scrolling through my social media and I see everyone calling Molly stupid and saying Dro isn't what she wants, and blah, blah, blah.  Everyone is entitled to how they interpret a fictional character on a cable series.  But I will say I happen to have a not-so-popular opinion.

This is what I got from Molly's character up until this point in the show: 

Molly's conflict isn't finding a man.  

I think Molly's issue is more accepting that what she "likes" isn't ideal for her (by society's standards).  Molly doesn't seem conflicted with the men she "likes".  When she sees something or someone she "wants", she usually has it by the end of the episode.  She's actually very certain in her decision-making.  She sees men she likes, and men she doesn't.  She is very aggressive in going for the men she likes.  In my opinion, if there's anything Molly is certain of - it's the men she likes.

During season two Molly didn't seem like she was in counseling because the men in her life, but more because she had trouble accepting her life wasn't anything like a fantasy.   An example would be the guy in Season One (I am bad with names, but the light skin man that made a lot less money than her).  Molly seemed embarrassed of him around others.  "Around others" is the key part of that sentence.  When it was just them two, she seemed very interested in him.  However when she got around others, she seemed embarrassed to date a man that wasn't college educated, and who wasn't a professional.

Now, let's really think about why Molly would want a professional.  It seems Molly has everything (material) that she wants.  Molly is a lawyer, and a damn good one (it seems).  Although the light-skin guy wasn't a professional, he seemed to have a decent job that was not entry level.  We have to note that Molly lives in a high-rise condo in a nice area of California.  Let's be completely honest for a second: it doesn't matter if her man is rich or poor, Molly eats regardless.  And not only does she eat, she eats well.  In knowing this woman financially wants for nothing, I really doubt she cared about what this man had to offer her financially.  The embarrassment seemed to come from going against societal expectations that a female lawyer should date a man in her tax bracket.

All throughout both seasons Molly seemed to be dating guys for her friends' approval and making sure they were acceptable by her friends/family's standards.  Someone tried to persuade me they were her standards too. But let's be honest, if HER standards aligned with her friends' standards, she wouldn't have any interaction with half of her love interests on the show.  If Molly's interest aligned with her friends', Molly wouldn't exhaust so much energy into men that were nowhere near this said "league".

I am just going to move the elephant in the room: I don't think Molly has any standards (from a professional and financial standpoint).   I just think she wants to be loved.  The thing getting in the way of her being loved is the fact whomever she allows to love her has to meet society's standards (which I really don't feel are hers).  When I say society, I am including her friends. Per their standards; the man who loves her has be tall and good looking enough for her friend's approval, educated enough to not be a topic of discussion (when people who didn't go to college are discussed), and a bunch of other things she clearly doesn't care about until she's around people.

Dro.

Dro is one of my favorite characters on the show.  Dro disucssions bring out people's (men and women) sexist thoughts.  Dro and Issa are low-key the same character: both in a committed relationship (regardless what Dro says), both cheaters, and both selfish.  Although very alike, one gets coined as a savage, and the other "trifling".  We won't get into why that is because our focus is Molly at this moment.

Now this is where conversations get weird:  Dro seems to love his wife (or at least like her) and somewhat care for Molly.  I have scrolled through at least 100 conversations that mentioned Dro's character and no one ever mentioned Dro being stupid for being interested (regardless what that interest entails) in 2 people. Ever. They say he's messy, and a cheater but that's usually where it ends.  But when Molly takes interest in multiple partners, she is "stupid" and/or "lost".  In my opinion (again, debate ya mama), that's because women are conditioned to be with one man.  You're taught to have interest in one man at a time.  So if you have interest in more than one simultenously, something has to be wrong with you.  Whenever said woman (factious woman, not Molly specifically) steps out of people's imposed lifestyle for her, she's entered a life of "issues".  It doesn't matter if the lifestyle one wants for someone doesn't align with that person's wants.  All that matters is if they go against the lifestyle they didn't want in the first place (the ideal lifestyle), they need a title for their actions (which is stupid, lost etc).

I think Molly's conflict (concerning Dro) is deeply rooted in why she's okay with being with Dro, not necessary the action of actually being with a married man.  I tend to notice viewers want for Molly what'd they'd want for themselves.  They don't take into account the reality of Molly's character.  In an ideal life, pretty and successful women are a hot commodity. So ideally, she shouldn't have to have half of a man. But her reality is she does have half of a man, and by her actions on the show she is okay with that. 

Rant over.

In a nutshell, I don't get "dumb" from Molly's character.  I think Molly's lifestyle is different (for better choice of words) but I can't say I get "dumb" from her character.  I think the part that isn't working for Molly (and why she is even in counseling in the first place) is she's trying to force a lifestyle that her friends will accept, but that her heart is rejecting. My wish for Molly is she'd find her happiness.  I don't know if that's with one man, or several. I do know she thinks it's with one man, but her actions gravitate to several.  Molly Carter seems to be living life the Molly Carter way, and everyone on the show who isn't Molly Carter seems to oppose it.  And because I don't live my life that very same way, I can't necessarily title it.  I can't relate to the lifestyle, but I will say she makes for a great character and better discussion.