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The Search For the Face Behind Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing (wired.com) 56

Posted by BeauHD from the lost-tech-icons dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired: Jazmin Jones knowswhat she did. "If you're online, there's this idea of trolling," Jones, the director behindSeeking Mavis Beacon, said during a recent panel for her new documentary. "For this project, some things we're taking incredibly seriously ... and other things we're trolling. We're trolling this idea of a detective because we're also, like,ACAB." Her trolling, though, was for a good reason. Jones and fellow filmmaker Olivia Mckayla Ross did it in hopes of finding the woman behind Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. The popular teaching tool was released in 1987 by The Software Toolworks, a video game and software company based in California that produced educational chess, reading, and math games. Mavis, essentially the "mascot" of the game, is a Black woman donned in professional clothes and a slicked-back bun. Though Mavis Beacon was not an actual person, Jones and Ross say that she is one of the first examples of Black representation they witnessed in tech. Seeking Mavis Beacon, which opened in New York City on August 30 and is rolling 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, conversing over FaceTime, running up to people on the street, and even tracking down a relative connected to the ever-elusive Mavis. But the journey of their search turned up 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 any way you want to? Using shots from computer screens, deep dives through archival footage, and sit-down interviews, the noir-style documentary reveals that Mavis Beacon is actually Renee L'Esperance, a Black model from Haiti who was paid $500 for her likeness with no royalties, despite the program selling millions of copies. [...]

In a world where anyone can create images of folks of any race, gender, or sexual orientation without having to fully compensate the real people who inspired them, Jones and Ross are working to preserve not only the data behind Mavis Beacon but also the humanity behind the software. On the panel, hosted by Black Girls in Media, Ross stated that the film's social media has a form where users of Mavis Beacon can share what the game has meant to them, for archival purposes. "On some level, Olivia and I are trolling ideas of worlds that we never felt safe in or protected by," Jones said during the panel. "And in other ways, we are honoring this legacy of cyber feminism, historians, and care workers that we are very seriously indebted to." You can watch the trailer for "Seeking Mavis Beacon" on YouTube.
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The Search For the Face Behind Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing More

The Search For the Face Behind Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing

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  • Interesting documentary premise .... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by King_TJ ( 85913 ) on Wednesday September 04, 2024 @06:38PM (#64763490) Journal

    But honestly, I find it difficult to be too indignant about them using a likeness of some Haitian woman for the sake of only having to pay her $500 compensation.

    I mean, when that software package was first released, do you really think anyone involved had much certainty it would be a big financial success? That was written back when a lot of software was developed by a single individual or a team of a couple of people. It wasn't the world of Triple A game releases made by big studios like we have today.

    How much was it really worth to them to invest in a face to be the "mascot" for the program? If someone demanded much more compensation than what they paid, I'm sure they would have just elected to use an animated character that didn't exist as a physical person at all. It wouldn't have really changed anything as far as the program's success.

    • Re: Interesting documentary premise .... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Speare ( 84249 ) on Wednesday September 04, 2024 @07:36PM (#64763572) Homepage Journal
      I worked for TST around the time of Mavis Beacon 3 or 4, though not on that project. As far as I recall, the original terms were $500 to a completely random encounter outside a shopping mall. One or two photos taken, a quick release signed, and only one image kept. Just like any other stock photography shoot. It wasn't like "let's find a model, sign a big contract, have her come back for similar shots on V2, V3, V4." For each generation of the product, they hand-painted a little gray hair here, a little wrinkle there, on the same image. Very low budget all the way through.
    • About 10 years earlier two people managed to build something in their garage that would become one of the world's biggest multinational companies. The entrance barrier to achieving a level success that is literally fit for a king was MUCH LOWER in 1987, and 1977 than it is today.
    • Running it through the US government inflation calculator the current payment would be $1,414.30. Not sure how that goes against a professional doing a picture.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Cito ( 1725214 )

      "Wizard of Id's Wiztype" was the best anyhow. I don't remember anyone liking Mavis Beacon.

    • Re:Interesting documentary premise .... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Ol Olsoc ( 1175323 ) on Thursday September 05, 2024 @07:49AM (#64764734)

      But honestly, I find it difficult to be too indignant about them using a likeness of some Haitian woman for the sake of only having to pay her $500 compensation.

      I mean, when that software package was first released, do you really think anyone involved had much certainty it would be a big financial success? That was written back when a lot of software was developed by a single individual or a team of a couple of people. It wasn't the world of Triple A game releases made by big studios like we have today.

      How much was it really worth to them to invest in a face to be the "mascot" for the program? If someone demanded much more compensation than what they paid, I'm sure they would have just elected to use an animated character that didn't exist as a physical person at all. It wouldn't have really changed anything as far as the program's success.

      So now we are supposed to pay models in perpetuity because they were on the cover of a software?

      Her being paid 500 dollars for one image is pretty standard. Turning it into "cyber feminism" is a stretch bordering on psychotic.

      And it will definitely not have the effect the cyber feminists demand, that of if you are a model, you are critical to the project.

      This is easily fixed by AI generated images, and the destruction of a market segment for people. then people like Renee L'Esperance won't get even 500 dollars. NO actual human images will be used. Good work.

    • Who cares. Personally I loved the program, taught me everything I know about typing, but I also loved Doom and never cared about the story behind Doomguy and if he got his due royalties. Maybe its just me.

  • Wired is so desperately biased. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Stoutlimb ( 143245 ) on Wednesday September 04, 2024 @06:45PM (#64763498)

    How many stories go like this where the software sells a couple of dozen copies then disappears off the face of the Earth, and the few hundred dollars the model gets is the best deal, and the developer is stuck with debt and loss? What's the ratio of failed business to success?

    Someone took a risk on developing software, made it big, and somehow this is twisted into racism and sexism. I'm sick of it.

    • Agree - Re:Wired is so desperately biased. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by will4 ( 7250692 ) on Wednesday September 04, 2024 @09:00PM (#64763742)

      Only in Wired because of the demographics of the picture on the software box. And, consider that the entire article is one extended advertisement for a film and to promote the careers of the filmmakers.

    • And wrong too. First depiction of a black person in tech?

      Nintendo Punch-Out 1984?
      Heavyweight Champ 1976?

      You want black female:
      Outrun: 1986 has a black female at the lineup and I canâ(TM)t be bothered to look up old arcade cases, but I remember many games depicting both white and black people, especially race when you could pick a driver or most sports game.

  • I had this software (Score:3)

    by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 ) on Wednesday September 04, 2024 @06:45PM (#64763500)
    And I remember on the box, it said she was an anctual typing teacher.
  • Why would the model on the box get royalties? This is so dumb.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by evanh ( 627108 )

      It's as good a reason as any. Why does anyone get royalties at all?

      • Actors play an integral role in the success of the product. Their performance will be played again and again in subsequent viewings of the film/show.

        The model who posted for a headshot for a box had nothing to do with the functionality of the software inside.

        • Actors play an integral role in the success of the product. [...] The model who posted for a headshot for a box had nothing to do with the functionality of the software inside.

          The woman whose face was on the box helped sell the product. As such, she deserves some of the rewards. You might well say yes, and she got her five hundred bucks. But is that really fair compensation for helping sell many copies of something? Why shouldn't everyone whose likeness is used so prominently get points, or at least an inflation-adjusted per-use fee? This isn't just one of a bunch of people in a manual or something, this is the face of the product.

          • Ah. So in your opinion, the Gerber baby's family should still be raking it in?

            • Ah. So in your opinion, the Gerber baby's family should still be raking it in?

              In short, yes.
              If that baby isn't important they can take it off of their products.

              • I would agree if they were still getting money (no idea if that's the case or not) but were I the owners of Gerber I'd be ending that agreement and letting AI put some kind of vaguely similar (possibly mutated) image of a baby (or Winston Churchill) on my baby food jar.

                • but were I the owners of Gerber I'd be ending that agreement and letting AI put some kind of vaguely similar (possibly mutated) image of a baby (or Winston Churchill) on my baby food jar.

                  Same thing, innit?

                  But yes, that would be a legitimate workaround. You could trademark it, too.

          • Yes, it is. It's more than fair.

    • DId the programmers get any royalties?

    • Because the programmers who spent days and weeks writing the code get - oh, wait, nevermind.

  • BuT tHe RoYaLtIeS (Score:2, Insightful)

    by vrhelmutt ( 9741742 )
    ACAB---- All I had to do was see that in the quote to know where this was going. Some pukey little Gen Z wanted to spin a social justice narrative into a nostalgia documentary. What a waste of every one's time...
    • I truly fear for the future of America. We were a country of movers and shakers and innovators. Now we are becoming a country of personalities, and fee fees, and searching for "isms" underneath every rock. People just want something to be angry about: it gives them a buzz.
      • Also on the flip side, we have raging Nazis that can't keep their "not a Nazi, I swear!" mask from falling off. Some of them are openly advocating for genocide. America won't be "great" either way
    • Parent is 100% correct, yet gets flagged as flamebait anyway. If the skin tone of the model were a lighter shade this wouldn't even be a story.
  • How can they just invent a fake "award-winning typing teacher"? The model would have had to have been in on the scam too.
  • Did they try putting the image through a "search the web by image"? Probally wouldn't come up with any revelations given how old the image is and how common this particular photo is but it's probably worth a shot.

  • Wow...the Y2K for a face.... (Score:5, Informative)

    by joshuark ( 6549270 ) on Wednesday September 04, 2024 @09:59PM (#64763848)

    Wow....the Y2K for a face...well here's the 1998 New York Times article that gives some more insight...

    https://archive.is/SZWHd [archive.is]

    Key paragraph...

    ''One day he walked into Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills to buy some cologne, and there behind the cosmetics counter was a beautiful black woman named Renee L'Esperance,'' said Mr. Bilofsky, reading from a file that was put together to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Software Toolworks. ''Born into a well-to-do Haitian family, she fled the Duvalier regime and wound up at Saks. She had never modeled, and her extremely long fingernails made her an unlikely typist, but when Les looked at her, he saw Mavis.''

    Cue the music and theme song from "In Search Of..." (with Leonard Nimoy, logically) https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

    JoshK.

  • .. To type, at heart it's a racist choice. If she can type, so can you.

    -reality sucks.

  • So ... (Score:3)

    by cascadingstylesheet ( 140919 ) on Thursday September 05, 2024 @05:49AM (#64764518) Journal

    ... if she were white (or Chinese, or ... ) it would have been just fine?

    If not ... why?

    • You nailed it. *applause "

    • ... if she were white (or Chinese, or ... ) it would have been just fine?

      If not ... why?

      There will always be fringers with axes to grind.

      The concept that a person who is paid well for a few images is now entitled to perpetual renumeration for that is based on a couple aspects that some fringers have that everything is racist and sexist. And it is true that being "black" and being a birthing person will have some of the fringers looking hard for a reason that racism and sexism is involved.

      What isn't as obvious at least for people looking for reasons to go goofy over what is a standard pra

      • If it's AI generated then you can't have a copyright. So your competition might start using your mascot in ways you really don't like and there's nothing you can do about it.

  • As soon as they mentioned ACAB in the very first quote, I knew exactly what the agenda of the film producers is. It is embarrassing that things have come to such a state of disunity and political polarization that one acronym basically tells you everything about a person's identity, and even gives some clues as to what they might look like.

    "In a world where anyone can create images of folks of any race, gender, or sexual orientation without having to fully compensate the real people who inspired them"

    This m

  • carmen sandiego.

  • Interesting spin on the company asking themselves what a secretary should look like and deciding a black woman best represents the role of someone whose job it is to type a white man's words.

  • "Jazmin Jones knows what she did. "If you're online, there's this idea of trolling," Jones, the director behind Seeking Mavis Beacon, said during a recent panel for her new documentary. "For this project, some things we're taking incredibly seriously"
    Hmm, that sounds interesting!

    " ... and other things we're trolling. We're trolling this idea of a detective because we're also, like,ACAB."
    I'm out.

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