So, I finally saw The Woman King. Heavy Sigh. I didn't go see it in the theater because I wasn't sure if I wanted to support something that I felt historically missed the mark as I predicted it would.
Now...after watching the movie, I’m even more torn about it. On the one hand, I loved it and on other hand, I hated it.
The Good:
It was visually stunning! Like, I absolutely loved the designs, the costumes, the set and the choice in actors. In fact, the acting was AMAZING. To me, Lashana Lynch's "Izogie", Thuso Mbedu's "Nawi" and Jordan Bolger's "Malik" particularly shine. However, Viola Davis was absolutely brilliant and fearless in this movie and I believe she would have won all the things for her portrayal alone IF it was a different script & movie (and I know…it makes no sense but if it was hard for me to get into the plot...I know people who actually vote/critique for a living struggled).
The Bad:
In my opinion one of the reasons it didn’t do well this award season is because it was poorly marketed. The first trailer I saw made it seem like it was a movie where Africans were fighting the Portuguese, (and I was still apprehensive about seeing it because I knew the history of the women warriors) but I found that slightly more acceptable because I could in a sense get pass the reality and see it as a work of pure fiction. Instead, as I watched, I quickly realized that it was a movie about the Dahomey Kingdom and it’s Women Warriors fighting the Oyó, another African Kingdom that really existed. So, not only did I have to shift mentally what I expected to see, I also was reminded as I watched this "fictional" work of art that elements of this story was real. And, I didn't want to be reminded of that because I'd already read Barracoon a few years ago and I'd recently watched "Warrior Women" by Lupita Nyong'o. So, as I watched the opening scene of the movie where the women warriors are attacking the Oyo, I instantly thought of this passage from "Barracoon" by Zora Neale Hurston and I almost became sick to my stomach. Honestly, knowing this history also made it hard for me to connect with the characters the way that I wanted to. Like, I fully felt like I should have and absolutely wanted to cry when that main character died, but the tears wouldn't come and that's wild to me since I cry literally at the drop of a dime. Which tells me that I was really, really, really disconnected from the movie and I hated that.
The Ugly:
The movie tried to portray the Women Warriors as fighting to end slavery in the 1820’s and there are people who left that theatre thinking that this actually happened but, well, it simply just is not true. And, I think for me, knowing that the Dahomey Kingdom practiced human sacrifice, often choosing their offerings from those they enslaved AND that they sold millions to white enslavers made some parts of this movie laughable (but not haha funny...more like you can't be serious) when we were absolutely suppose to be taking it serious.
Honestly, seeing them defeat the Oyo, also made me think of the fact that this movie conciously, and unabashedly is telling a historical story from the view of the oppressor and that was really hard for me to stomach. And I think that anyone who has read Barracoon probably also struggled with this because the interview of Cudjo (who Zora thought at the time was the last surviving African from the slave ship, The Clotilda), very brutally highlighted that the slave trade continued into at-least the late 1850’s because Cudjo’s village was attacked by King Glele of Dahomey’s Women Warriors in either 1859 or 1860.
In fact, in his interview with Zora, he describes how he witnessed the women warriors ripping off jaws after they attacked his people while they were sleeping. He also endured watching them cut off the head of his King (and others) and forced them to March for miles to get back to Dahomey with the severed heads on full display as they rotted beneath the beating sun.
When Cudjo arrived, he witnessed some Africans being sold to white people while others remained enslaved within the Kingdom and some being selected for human sacrifice. Cudjo himself was sold to an American from Alabama who made a bet he could go against the slave trade ban of 1808 and bring back Africans to the US. There have been numerous shows now that tell the story of the Clotilda from Professor Henry Louis Gates "Finding Your Roots" Quest Love episode to the new documentary "Descendents" produced by the Roots drummer on Netflix.
Here's the thing, I'm seeing a lot of people say that "The Woman King" should have been a top contender this awards season. I, however, vehemently disagree. Considering that many of those judging might know the real history (and that's not even thinking about those who might not support Black and/or women led movies in general) it is perfectly reasonable to assume they also had complicated feelings while watching too and that doesn't bode well when choosing the best movie & performances of the year. I'm always rooting for Aunty Viola and I really wanted to see her win all the things this year...but I also understand why she and the movie did not.
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Very Insightful takeaway from the movie♥️