Call it an awakened civil war: Viola Davis’ star car female king The film broke the North American box office record in its first weekend, despite online activists calling for a boycott over the clear whitewash of an African tribe’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.
Awarded by critics female king The film, which received a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, was acclaimed for its “fresh female point of view” and the message of “women with the power to own their own bodies” at the time, and grossed $19 million, was released at number one at the weekend box office and received A+ CinemaScore from the audience.
However, Woke social media users harshly criticized the film for highlighting the fact that the Dahomey tribe it glorified had a dubious history of selling slaves to Europeans and supported the hashtag #BoycottWomanKing. Even the ultra-left Slate had to summon the creators.
“There are ferocious female warriors in Dahomey. Ana Lucia Araujo said it clearly in her review of the movie.
Smithsonian magazine He also acknowledged that “kingdom’s involvement in the slave trade does not quite fit the historical record.”
“As historian Robin Low has noted, Dahomey became a major player in West African trade between the 1680s and the early 1700s, selling its captives to European traders whose presence and demand were revived in the industry, and hence the monumental scale of the Dahomey War.” Meylan Solly wrote Smithsonian Institution.
“While most of the people Dahomey brought were enslaved abroad, many remained in the kingdom where they served on the lands, in the army, or in the palace.”
Solly also mentions that in 1852 the British government forced King Gezo of Dahomey (portrayed in John Boyega’s film) to end his involvement in the slave trade.
“Although Ghezo explored palm oil production as an alternative source of income, it proved less profitable and the king soon resumed Dahomey’s involvement in the slave trade,” he said.
Waking up to the usual content isn’t enough, and Twitter trolls are brutal.
“Dahomey warriors weren’t just slave traders. They took away all the healthy young people, killed the old and disabled, and burned everything that was left of the village. #GENOCIDE” a user’s complaint.
Dahomean warriors weren’t just slave traders.
All the healthy young people were taken away, the old and sick were killed, and everything left in the village was burned.
Deadline for doing #GENOCIDE#BoycottWomanKing #WomanKing
– PJ
#MagdalenBernsForever (@PJenkins1931) 16 September 2022
“Let’s be honest. It’s a movie about an African tribe known for selling slaves to Europeans, turned into a story of female empowerment by two white female writers. You don’t have to be “vigilant” to see the problem here,” said another.
Let’s be honest people. A film about an African tribe known for selling slaves to Europeans, turned into a story of female empowerment by two white female writers. You don’t need to be very “vigilant” to see the problem here.#BoycottWomanKing pic.twitter.com/Mk5dpvsBUk
– Edward (@EqualityEd) 16 September 2022
“I won’t tell you #BoycottWomanKing but I suggest you study the Dahomean tribe. If you decide to watch it later, so be it. But deliberately ignoring the devastation wrought by their involvement in the slave trade is not the sort of gimmick Hollywood thinks,” another exclaimed.
I will not tell you #BoycottWomanKing but I suggest you study the Dahomean tribe. If you decide to watch it later, so be it. But deliberately ignoring the devastation wrought by their involvement in the slave trade is not the kind of flexibility Hollywood envisions.
– brandivita (@Brandyspeaks1) 16 September 2022
It’s like asking Jews to watch a Nazi movie to feel good on Saturday.#BoycottWomanKing
— Peach Sangria (backup account) (@mimaa222) 16 September 2022
Twitter is invincible. I had no idea that these women were deeply involved in the slave trade. i will pass #BoycottWomanKing
— ba4hire (@ba4hire) 16 September 2022
You should be ashamed of yourself for praising the people who sold the Viola Davis family. #BoycottWomanKing
— @Starwind (@Black_Starwind) 16 September 2022
As a Jewish person, I was very surprised by this. @Sony green #WomanKing A film written by two white women who revisit and fictionalize the extreme brutality of the Dahomey Kingdom.
Such disrespect in a Nazi movie is unacceptable… why? #ADOS? #BoycottWomanKing https://t.co/4jes7yAmVT pic.twitter.com/XidsIU0YPP
— The Firm of Terror (Sundance) (@boomboxtitan) 16 September 2022
Lazy intersections, according to Twitter @Disney She decided to make a film that glorified the slave-trading tribe of Dahomey and present it as a kind of feminist empowerment film. And now #BoycottWomanKing fashion
good
— Michael Quinn Sullivan
(@MQSullivan) 16 September 2022
Hollywood has been playing against the descendants of slaves for too long. Now they glorify African slave traders #WomanKing and they show their blackness with a black face. #BoycottWomanKing pic.twitter.com/Amke04F5th
— HarrietEve9 (@HarrietEve9) 16 September 2022
* seen #BoycottWomanKing fashion.*
*understands why this is trending*
Me: “No.”
*does research*
[20 minutes later]
Me: Well, I can’t watch this movie now. “12-year-old slave” is one thing, but “12-year-old slave trader”? No.
— Daniel Hennessy (@DK_Hennessy) 16 September 2022
#boycottWomanKing Slave trade gangs will never be glorified! Black pain and suffering is neither inspiring nor comforting! https://t.co/aWBfYG0Noz
— Eden G. Mehari (@narsha_adey) 16 September 2022
#boycottWomanKing The hashtag makes me think that Thursday’s premiere failed at the box office and resonated with the public. Movie junk. The constant demonization and castration of the Negro.
– Jason Whitlock (@WhitlockJason) 16 September 2022
Imagine you are celebrating a movie #WomanKing that’s literally why your family #Alabama brought to shores of America + movable property damaged #slavery and all its permutations.
Barracoon: the story of the last “black cargo”#boycottWomanKing pic.twitter.com/OjqC9uxQML— Michael “Mike” Adams (@MJ_Adams30281) 16 September 2022
Nobody should support this movie. even here #Woman Fictional depiction of the film showing that they stopped the palm oil slave trade so they could become slave traders and use slaves to produce palm oil. And even this white lie stopped them. #boycottWomanKing pic.twitter.com/bvvWMPsoIw
– Antonio Moore (@tonetalks) 16 September 2022
Source: Breitbart
