womanist-films-empower-blog

[womanist-films-empower-blog]

Hidden Figures 8.5/10

Critique: Hidden Figures is a 2016 film based upon the untold story of three NASA scientists in the 1960’s. These three scientists were African-American women in a time of stark racism, discrimination, and prejudice in the United States. Throughout the film, the women encounter segregated bathrooms, having their credibility questioned, losing credit for their work, and being discouraged from trying to achieve success. The women utilize womanist methods with their self-love in a society that diminishes their worth and critical engagement by breaking the norms of NASA and the systemic racism they are subjected to. Traditional communalism is also very prominent in the film. Traditional communalism is the inclusion of all peoples in the justice and hope of womanism. The main characters of the film do exceptional work at NASA, not for their self-advancement--any success would be attributed to their white colleagues--but rather for their country and humanity.  Katherine works exceptionally hard to ensure the safe return of astronaut John Glenn from outer-space.

A common critique made by reviewers is the inclusion of the “white savior” trope all too familiar in mainstream films. Katherine, who is portrayed by Taraji P. Henson, is questioned by her white male boss, played by Kevin Costner, as to why she is so often missing from her desk. Katherine, obviously frustrated after having to run thirty minutes in the rain to the only colored women’s restroom on the grounds, raises her voice in an emotionally charged speech about the systemic racism that is hindering her from being the best worker she can be. She feels dehumanized by the fact that she has to use an entirely different restroom for one of the most human actions, relieving yourself, and also because her white counterparts make her take coffee from a pot labeled colored. The white saviorism comes from Kevin Costner’s character destroying the “Colored Restroom” sign with a crowbar and an audience there to see his actions. He gives a speech with a memorable line, “Here at NASA, we all pee the same color.” Excellent, it's always great to be an ally to marginalized groups of people.

However this was historically inaccurate and quite frankly, never even happened. In fact, Costner’s character wasn’t even based on a real person but more so a compilation of a few men. Katherine Johnson didn’t need this “white savior” as she just used the bathrooms at her facilities even though they were for “whites only.” She made that stance herself and in the film it was accredited to a white man, as was much of the three main characters’ hard work. One character wasn’t even allowed to put her name on joint projects with the white men she worked with. The whitewashing of Hollywood is nothing new but there is promise in the fact that accredited journalism platforms, such as Vice, are writing pieces on the inaccuracies and harm whitewashing creates.

[womanist-films-empower-blog]

Sister Act 7/10

Critique: The film holds many tenets of womanism. Delores develops a sisterhood among the women in her convent that is consistent with womanist traditional communalism.  The nuns accept Deloris into their community even though she is nothing like the traditional nun. Deloris loves her sisters even though they are not anything like the typical crowd she runs with. The sisters and Deloris come together to fight the toxic hegemony of masculinity that got Deloris into this situation created by her abusive ex-partner. Deloris is abducted by Vince’s gang and taken to the casino where she is threatened to be killed. The other sisters come to the rescue and save their new found sister which ultimately leads to the arrest of her abusive ex. . Deloris ultimately holds a sense of redemptive self love by finding a new purpose in her life as the choir director at St. Katherines with her new sisters and away from the toxic, hegemonic masculinity that once oppressed her. Deloris not only learns and develops new traits from her time with the other Sisters, she also teaches them too. Through the new music they perform in the choir and constant reminders to lighten up, the Sisters benefit greatly because of Deloris’ presence.

Summary: Sister Act is a 1992 comedy film starring the wonderful Whoopi Goldberg. Whoopi plays a lounge singer named Deloris who, upon witnessing a crime committed by her abusive gangster boyfriend Vince, she goes to the police and is in turn placed in the Witness Protection Program. The eccentric lounge singer is placed in a convent in San Francisco much to the disapproval of the mother superior. But after connecting with some of her fellow “Sisters” and giving them music lessons, Deloris fits right in.

[womanist-films-empower-blog]

Nappily Ever After 9/10

Critique: The film sets out to prove that “perfection” is not always what it seems to be; there is no real perfection. When the main character Violet comes to this realization, she takes back her life by shaving her head and learning to love herself, nappy hair and all. Violet is shown as a dimensional person rather than a flat stereotype. She is a working woman who is able to achieve what many people view as success (a powerful position in the workplace and a long-term relationship). At the same time, the film sets out to prove that “perfection” is not always what it seems to be. There is no real perfection. When Violet learns that her life is not what it seems, she takes back her life by shaving her head and learning to love herself, nappy hair and all. This film shows the womanist virtue of good community and good accountability by shedding a light on a struggle within the African American community to combat white aesthetics as ideal. Pauletta is convinced that appearing whiter (ex. having straight hair) is the only way to be happy and accepted by society. Violet, like many black women and girls, go through the tedious task of maintaining nappy hair instead of embracing for the sake of being accepted. But this is unhealthy for the black community as a whole because it forces them to be someone else instead of embracing who they are and loving themselves. In order to be there for the community, one must first be there for themselves. By being able to care for oneself, they are able to also care for the community. Overall, I thought this was a great movie. It did a wonderful job of showing a strong black female lead as well as showing much of the African American community in a positive light while at the same time, addressing important issues within the community. In the end, the conflict was resolved using a womanist pillar of redemptive self-love.

Summary: Nappily Ever After is a 2018 film directed by Haifaa al-Mansour and written by Adam Brooks and Cee Marcellus. It is based on the novel of the same name by Trisha R. Thomas. It centers around a woman named Violet, who seems to have the perfect life. She is successful in her job as an advertising executive and has been in a two-year long relationship with her boyfriend Clint, a doctor. Violet’s obsession with perfection comes from her mother Pauletta who has always been in control of Violet’s outward presentation. Even as an adult, Violet allows for her mother to do her hair. A key part in keeping up with her perfect life happens to be keeping her hair straight. Her mother instilled the idea in Violet that nappy, natural hair was ugly and should always be maintained. With her birthday party coming up, Violet expects Clint to propose and when he does not, she confronts him which results in a break up. This causes Violet to become devastated and shave her head. By doing this, she is taking back her life and rejecting the “perfection” she has always had to maintain. She later ends up dating Will, the owner of a hair salon and befriends his daughter, Zoe. As they grow closer, Violet becomes more confident in herself, but still hasn’t completely let go of the past. When Violet invites him to her mother’s Fourth of July party, Pauletta blatantly disrespects Will and his career. This causes Will to break up with her and tell her to “get herself sorted.” In the end she is finally able to let go of her ‘perfect past’ and become who she really is.

[womanist-films-empower-blog]

Cinderella 9/10

Critique: While this might seem like a Cinderella movie through and through, this movie is actually about the betterment of the community through truth and conversation. During the middle of the movie, there was a scene that stressed the importance of each person having their own “little space” which is a popular discussion these days. Many feminists also feel that woman of color should have their own spaces within their community which excludes those outside of their race and gender.

This movie rates a nine out of ten. It was practically written by a womanist scholar! However, this movie is missing a point on our rating scale. Cinderella is not focused around an African American community. This is forgivable because the community it is centered around is very well balanced between races.

Summary: Released in 1997, this film follows the main plot of the classic Cinderella plot. She has a white stepmother, two ugly stepsisters, and a fairy godmother. However, the prince meets Cinderella in the town and thinks that she is both beautiful and is interesting because she does not have the same philosophy or thoughts about how people ought to behave. The prince fell in love with her for her mental capacity and personal philosophies. The prince finds her at the ball, as he wished they would. They then sneak away from the party and discuss each other's happiness and how they wish all people would be true to themselves and speak their mind. The two begin a healthy relationship built on honesty and mutual respect.

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The Help 7/10

Critique: The Help only rate as 7/10. While this movie does feature African American women, it is ultimately told through the view of a white woman. This movie could be improved by the movie following one maid and have Skeeter as a secondary character.  This movie has predominantly white cast screen time, is not centered around an African American community and does not positively impact the African American community. I would argue that The Help does not hurt or improve the African American community, but I believe that it did open the eyes of some people

Summary: As a whole, the movie is about creating a female-dominated community that stands by each other and draws power from one another. They use womanist methods in Skeeters journalism and writing. The movies endings would not have been possible without Aibileen receiving confidence from the community that she and Skeeter had created in the process of writing the book.

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Last Holiday 7/10

Critique: This movie has great womanism values. The lead actress is of color and is shown in a great light. The cast is diverse and the director is Asian. Georgia is almost always on the screen as well as Sean. Throughout the movies Georgia is loved by all who meets her and they are stunned by her outgoing creative self. She uses womanist virtues throughout the entire movie! The ones that stuck out to me the most are compassion and generosity! She shows this by forgiving Kragen at the end of the movie. This movie is not a 10/10 however, because she is shown in the beginning with many stereotypical black women qualities. She also does try to run away from her past a little hiding the fact that isn't wealthy and not famous. The movie takes a great twist however when she is exposed for not being who she claims to be she owns up to it and is embraced even more! Overall, the Last Holiday is an excellent source to find out about traditional communalism!

Summary: Georgia is a sales woman who loves to cook but never chased her dreams. Working in a department store she mets Sean, who she falls for. Little does she know he is into her as well. She hits her head and ends up going to get a cat scan saying she has brain tumors. Not being able to pay the treatment she runs off to live out her remaining weeks in style! She claims to be wealthy and meets all these people who end up adoring her beautiful personality. Kragen who owns the store she works at does not though. He doesn’t believe her and has somebody dig up information about her. They find out the truth and expose her. She admits it and tell her new friends she has days to live. They turn against Kragen and support Georgia even more. They tell her to return home and spend her last days with loved ones. She tries to but the snow blocks her in. She then travels back to where she was staying and finds out she was misdiagnosed! Sean finds out she is dying and goes to find her. He gets there finds out she's not ill. They all cheer and Georgia marries Sean. Sean and Georgia moves to New Orleans, opens a restaurant and they live happily ever after!

[womanist-films-empower-blog]

Black Panther 10/10

Critique: This film earned the highest possible rating 10/10 through its abundance in the number of black female roles, positively depicting black culture, and an overall positive portrayal of the black community. As stated before, Wakanda is placed in a third world country so that people form their own views and ignore them. This is an artistic choice to point out how people form opinions on black lives prior to getting to know them. It isn’t until Wakanda and all it has to offer is exposed that people care about it. This is an excellent example of how the movie uses womanist methods to keep society aware of how easy it is to judge people prior to actually knowing them. There is also a point to make that the white villain tries to come into Wakanda and milk it of its resources, with the intentions of leaving it fully stripped of its resources. The whole Wakanda community works like clockwork to keep everything running efficiently. When the outside forces come to steal from them, the whole community strands together to protect everything they’ve built together. These scenes are very important when displaying womanist ethics and showing off how strong the black community is. One of the most crucial scenes is when the Black Panther freezes in front of Lupita Nyong’o and other female roles must take over. This happens multiple times and expresses the truth that women are strong and very much needed. It fights the misconceptions that womanists have been trying to expose. Too many people believe women are weak and rely on men to get things done. Another important scene is at the end of the movie when they open the portal from Wakanda to the public so that everyone can see everything they have to offer. This is a powerful statement of showing that black lives matter and they have a lot to offer. They also create a support system for those living in the projects and continue to support black lives that are suffering within America. Overall, the uncountable amount of times this movie accommodates womanist methods is what wins this movie a perfect score of 10/10.

Summary: This movie came out in 2018 and took its audience to Wakanda, which is a hidden civilization that is purified and cut off from society. The irony is that Wakanda is strategically placed in a third world country so that no one will think to find it there. The main character the “Black Panther” must fight to keep his people safe as outside forces try to steal what is rightfully his. They possess a non-renewable resource known as vibranium. Vibranium is indestructible and can be used to craft countless tools, weapons, etc.… It should be noted that the Wakanda community is African American and the intruders are white people trying to steal extremely powerful and valuable resources. One of the other villains of the story is an African American that was left behind in America and has since been on a tangent of vengeance trying to take over Wakanda. One of Black Panther’s most vulnerable points is when he is anywhere near the girl he loves. He freezes up whenever Lupita Nyong’o is around and she or other female leads take control of the situation because he isn’t strong enough to get the job done.  At the end of the movie, the portal to Wakanda is open so that everyone can see what Wakanda has to offer. They also open a support system for those living in the projects of America.