Viola Davis as ‘The Woman King.’ Credit Sony Pictures via AP.
The cinematic, historical masterpiece, Woman King, is a movie that many people love to hate for various reasons. From love interest controversies to historical inaccuracies – can Black people ever be great on the big screen?
Starring actress Viola Davis and actor John Boyega, the newly-minted film follows the story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness, unlike anything the nation (or world) has seen.
Inspired by true events, The Woman King follows the emotional, harrowing journey of General Nanisca (played by Davis) as she prepares the next generation of female recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life.
Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood with a screenplay by Dana Stevens and Gina Prince-Bythewood based on a story by Maria Bello, the film also stars Thuso Mbedu (The Underground Railroad) as ambitious recruit Nawi, along with Lashana Lynch (No Time To Die), Sheila Atim (The Underground Railroad), Hero Fiennes Tiffin (After trilogy) and Boyega (Star Wars).
While the movie is, for the most part, critically acclaimed, people.com reported that Woman King is getting backlash and calling for a movie boycott.
“You’re not going to win an argument on Twitter,” Viola Davis told Variety when she was asked about the growing social media #BoycottWomanKing hashtag.
The controversy surrounds some of the film’s lack of historical elements, which don’t go into extreme detail about how the Dahomey Kingdom was involved in slavery.
“First of all, I agree with Gina Prince-Bythewood’s saying is you’re not going to win an argument on Twitter,” said the Oscar winner, 57 in the article. “We entered the story where the kingdom was in flux, at a crossroads.”
Described by the movie spokespeople as “edutainment,” the film was to educate and entertain others and has some major fictional elements.
“They were looking to find some way to keep their civilization and kingdom alive. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that they were decimated. Most of the story is fictionalized. It has to be,” according to Prince-Bythewood.
A Black studies lecturer noted in a Black Information Network article that boycotting the movie “makes no sense,” Aswad Walker said.
“Surely, if you’re Black, you’ve heard the criticisms of the Viola Davis-led movie that ruled the box office last week, taking in $19 million and exceeding everyone’s expectations,” Walker said, adding that some people describe the film as whitewashing history and glorifying enslavers.
“I, however, have a different take. I’ve told everyone with whom I’ve come in contact that, from my vantage point, The Woman King is a ‘love letter to our ancestors and to Black women of all generations.’ Especially this current generation, i.e. Black women living and breathing and doing their thing today, like only Black women can,” Walker said.
Walker added that while it might seem like a “strange position” to be in for someone who has taught in the University of Houston’s African American Studies Program (now a department) for 18 years – hear Walker out.
“For many years now, I’ve criticized individuals and organizations that have bombarded our people with ‘epistemic violence,’ the act (crime) of removing our contributions to global history from classrooms and/or stealing our contributions to human civilization and claiming them as their own,” Walker said. “I’ve been a stickler for telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about our story in this Babylon, and our longer and greater story before we arrived on these shores. So, why then, am I not joining the chorus of those who claim The Woman King is not true to history, and that it ignores the facts of the people/nation centered in this film?”
Walker said that several reasons include that the movie uplifts Black people and delves deep into the “power of art.”
“Oftentimes, art has the power to teach people what scholarly books and university lectures cannot,” Walker noted. “The Woman King is a work of fiction based on some historical facts.”
Another form of controversy surrounding the film is that Boyega only dates Black women, the British-Nigerian actor was recently quoted as saying.
His quote, found in a GQ UK interview, unleashed a torrent of “hate-filled rants” on Twitter, huffingtonpost.com reported.
Many want to know why is his preference of dating Black women, of his own ethnic and cultural background, so outrageous?
Some say there is a double standard as if a White man said the same thing he would be labeled as a racist.
“As many users rightfully pointed out in the replies, White entertainers and celebrities don’t say it; they just do it,” according to the article. “At most, they use vague descriptions such as “blondes and brunettes” and age-old euphemisms such as “tall, dark and handsome” — and, more recently, “golden retriever vibes” — to describe their type.”
According to the article, Black women have been hypersexualized for centuries and are being seen (in recent weeks by Boyega’s comment) as possibly full humans beyond stereotypes run deep.
“Too often, Black women are deemed devoid of any desire or longing for companionship,” per the article. “The expectation is that we are worker mules, saving the world around us, gleefully and loyally, despite reaping minimal tangible benefits.”
“You cannot equate Boyega’s comments to a double standard when Black women are not heralded on equitable ground,” the article noted. “If anything, the conversation amplifies society’s acceptance of whiteness as the epitome of beauty.”
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