In the new investigative documentary Seeking Mavis Beacon, director Jazmin Jones and producer Olivia McKayla Ross offer a unique exploration of technology, representation and digital identity for Black millennials.

For many, their first introduction to the keyboard was through Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, the computer software featuring a beautiful, seemingly successful Black woman as the face and guide to correctly using the QWERTY typing system. As technology progressed, Mavis’ affirming voice and boxy blazer became a distant memory, replaced by Siri’s robotic voice and Alexa’s heartless engagement.

“This character has had a big impact on our culture,” Jones told Blavity’s Shadow and Act in a recent interview.

Photo by Natasha Campos/Getty Images for NEON

Jones pointed out that Mavis Beacon was one of the first educational-based software programs that was anthropomorphized, meaning it had human characteristics or behaviors associated with it. She emphasized its success by revealing the most up-to-date sales numbers: Over 10 million copies of the typing software have been sold worldwide.

Jones referred to her producer’s revelation of Mavis being the “Henrietta Lacks of technology” and serving as the prototype for “servile femme bots” such as Siri, Cortana and Alexa.

“If we are going to humanize our technology, let’s do it through the image of a woman, and the specific image of a Black woman,” Jones said.

She later added. “We absolutely have to unpack the intersectional identity politics of it all.”

Seeking Mavis Beacon

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