Jazmin Jones knows what she did. “If you’re online, there’s this idea of trolling,” said Jones, the director behind Finding Mavis Beaconhe said during a recent panel for his new documentary. “For this project, some things we take very seriously… and other things we are trolling. We are trolling this idea of a detective because we are also, as ACAB.”
However, her provocation had good reason: Jones and fellow filmmaker Olivia Mckayla Ross did so in the hope of finding the woman behind Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing.
The popular teaching tool was launched in 1987 by The Software Toolworks, a California-based video game and software company that produced educational chess, reading and math games. Mavis, essentially the game’s “mascot,” is a black woman dressed in business attire and sporting a slicked-back bun. Although Mavis Beacon wasn’t a real person, Jones and Ross say she’s one of the first examples of black representation they saw in the tech space. Finding Mavis Beaconwhich opened in New York City on August 30 and will roll out to other cities in September, is their attempt to uncover the story behind the face, which appeared on the tool’s packaging and later as part of its interface.
The film shows the duo setting up a detective room, chatting over FaceTime, approaching people on the street and even tracking down a relative related to the ever-elusive Mavis. But the journey of their search sparked a different question they didn’t initially expect: What are the impacts of sexism, racism, privacy and exploitation in a world where you can present yourself however you want?
Using computer screen shots, deep dives into archival footage and personal interviews, the noir-style documentary reveals that Mavis Beacon is actually Renée L’Espérance, a black model from Haiti who was I paid $500 for his image No royalties, despite the program selling millions of copies.
Creating artificial images of people from marginalised groups is not unique to Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. Major brands have used these images to generate awareness and money without sharing that success with the real people behind the inspiration.
“Little Miquela”, an AI-generated musical artist with some 2.5 million followers on Instagram, appears in bmw commercials. MSI, which recently partnered with the artificial influencer to promote an OLED monitor, noted on a web page promoting the collaboration that Lil’ Miquela has “a rich heritage of half Brazilian and half Spanish roots.” The AI bot reportedly makes millions of dollars a year as an influencer. Meanwhile, BIPOC human influencers on social media report earning up to 67 percent less than white influencers per Instagram post, according to findings published last year by the PR firm MSL Group.
Another example is Gram Shuduwho, according to her Instagram account, is known as “the world’s first digital supermodel.” Launched in 2017, Shudu is tall and slim with very dark skin. She looks even more human than Lil Miquela, but she’s not. At a time when black models still face challenges in the fashion industry, Gram has appeared in Vogue Czechoslovakia, partnered with Sony Pictures, and amassed 239,000 followers on Instagram.