I'm a history buff and when I heard that Netflix and Octavia Spenser were working on a story about Madam C.J. Walker I was excited. Then the more I read about the limited series, the more I knew I would be disappointed and I was. Madam C.J. Walker was not the first millionaire, that was Annie Malone, who Walker worked for. Malone was worth about 14 million at the turn of the century and in today's money. that would be roughly over 400 million. Malone was the first to invent hair-care products, the first to invent the straightening comb, and the first to have distribution of her hair-care products. And Walker actually tried to steal her formulas and ideas. Here, Malone's name has been changed to Addie Munroe, played by Carmen Ejogo, and she is a very unsympathetic character, who is biracial, and a hardcore colorist with "good hair". Which by all historical indications, Annie Malone was none of that. This portrayal simply perpetuates the battle within the Black community of having a light complexion means you're better, and being darker, means you're considered less attractive and undesirable. And quite frankly, it's a notion that should be put to rest for good.
Spencer portrays Walker as a wildly insecure woman because of her looks, who is driven to prove to the world and her rival "Addie", that her color is not a deterrent to success, nor is her gender. She emasculates her 2nd husband, and in this series, he's a little more than a bit player in Walker's life, and the series continues in this cringe-worthy direction and doesn't give the audience any real insight into Walker's business acumen, but throws her insecurities in our faces like a hail-storm and it does Walker's legacy no justice whatsoever.
This limited series was a missed opportunity to really delve into Walker's life, and celebrate what a Black woman managed to accomplish during a time when Black people, especially Black women, were invisible and considered second class citizens. This series was basically a rivalry between two women, one light, one dark, and from there it went completely off the rails and down the cliff and burst into flames. And the puzzling part is that it glossed over the rabid racism of the era and tried to make the audience think that it didn't exist. We're talking about the turn of the century. Let that sink in. Finally, why was Tiffany Haddish even in this? She played Walker's daughter, and her character was so grossly underdeveloped that you actually felt sorry for Haddish. And let's not get into the low production value...no words.
Spencer portrays Walker as a wildly insecure woman because of her looks, who is driven to prove to the world and her rival "Addie", that her color is not a deterrent to success, nor is her gender. She emasculates her 2nd husband, and in this series, he's a little more than a bit player in Walker's life, and the series continues in this cringe-worthy direction and doesn't give the audience any real insight into Walker's business acumen, but throws her insecurities in our faces like a hail-storm and it does Walker's legacy no justice whatsoever.
This limited series was a missed opportunity to really delve into Walker's life, and celebrate what a Black woman managed to accomplish during a time when Black people, especially Black women, were invisible and considered second class citizens. This series was basically a rivalry between two women, one light, one dark, and from there it went completely off the rails and down the cliff and burst into flames. And the puzzling part is that it glossed over the rabid racism of the era and tried to make the audience think that it didn't exist. We're talking about the turn of the century. Let that sink in. Finally, why was Tiffany Haddish even in this? She played Walker's daughter, and her character was so grossly underdeveloped that you actually felt sorry for Haddish. And let's not get into the low production value...no words.