The Black Best Friends Who Should’ve Been the Main Characters
By Alexus Mosley
For years, Hollywood had a thing for putting a fabulous Black girl next to its heroine. The “Black Best Friend” was stylish and funny, and gave excellent advice. She knew exactly when her best friend was making a terrible decision and usually had the sassy one-liner to call it out. Occasionally she was even the person saving everyone from complete disaster. The only problem is we rarely got to find out what happened in her life once the main character left the room.
From Dionne Davenport ruling Beverly Hills alongside Cher Horowitz to Bonnie Bennett repeatedly saving the supernatural residents of Mystic Falls, these were the Black girls who had enough personality, history, drama, and fabulousness to make us wonder: Why weren’t we watching a show about her?
Dionne Davenport — Clueless
Cher Horowitz may have been the heroine of Clueless, but Dionne Davenport was certainly no sidekick in the style department.
Played by Stacey Dash, Dionne was wealthy, fashionable, confident, outspoken, and navigating her own hilariously chaotic relationship with Murray. She and Cher operated as equals socially, yet the movie naturally followed Cher’s romantic mishaps, matchmaking experiments, and eventual coming-of-age. Meanwhile, Dionne was living an entire Beverly Hills teenage picture off-camera.
Though we got glimpses of it with the arguments with Murray, the freeway driving disaster, the incredible hats, and a closet that could’ve justified its own production budget. It’s impossible not to imagine Clueless from Dionne’s perspective. What did her family and her bedroom look like? How did she become one of Bronson Alcott High’s reigning fashion girls? And, perhaps most importantly, how exactly did she and Murray become Dionne and Murray?
Cher deserved her movie, but Dionne did too.
Bonnie Bennett — The Vampire Diaries
At some point, somebody in Mystic Falls should have given Bonnie Bennett a vacation.
Played by Kat Graham, Bonnie begins The Vampire Diaries as Elena Gilbert’s best friend before discovering that she comes from a powerful line of witches. That revelation alone could have supported an entire television series. Instead, Bonnie frequently became the person everyone called when another supernatural catastrophe needed fixing. Her powers protected her friends again and again, often at tremendous personal cost. And Bonnie experienced plenty of tragedy of her own.
Her family history, magical ancestry, relationships, grief, evolving powers, and complicated place within Mystic Falls offered enough material for Bonnie to exist far beyond her role in Elena’s story.
She wasn’t simply the best friend. She was a Bennett witch. Frankly, we would’ve watched that show.
Angela Moore —Boy Meets World
Angela Moore could easily have been introduced as nothing more than Shawn Hunter’s girlfriend. Thankfully, she became much more interesting than that.
Played by Trina McGee, Angela was intelligent, independent, emotionally guarded, and gradually revealed to have fears and family experiences that existed entirely outside of Shawn.
Her mother’s departure affected the way Angela approached relationships. Her bond with her father gave viewers another glimpse into her life. And her friendship with Topanga allowed her to exist outside the show’s central romance. Still, much of Angela’s story ultimately remained connected to Shawn.
That’s particularly frustrating because the pieces of a compelling protagonist were already there. How refreshing it would’ve been to witness a young Black woman navigating college, friendship, family, abandonment, love, and the uncertainty of becoming an adult.
We knew enough about Angela to care about her, and still, we didn’t get enough Angela.
Chastity church — 10 Things I Hate About You
Chastity Church is perhaps the greatest example of a character giving us very little information and somehow leaving us wanting more anyway.
Gabrielle Union’s Chastity spends much of 10 Things I Hate About You alongside Bianca Stratford, occupying the familiar territory of the popular best friend. She’s pretty, socially savvy, occasionally shady, and perfectly comfortable reminding Bianca of the rules governing their high-school social universe. But unlike some of the other women on this list, Chastity isn’t given an elaborate backstory or deeply emotional subplot.
She’s present in Bianca’s world, yet we aren’t invited very far into Chastity’s own. Union’s charisma makes the character memorable despite the limited material, leaving behind the tantalizing possibility that there was another teenage comedy happening somewhere beyond the Stratford sisters.
We would’ve liked to see it.