With the trending hashtags #womanappreciationwednesday, #blackgirlsrock and #everydaysexism blowing up our timelines this week, it's hard not to notice the celebration of women.
Creative, influential women, and women of color, are being honored, cited and heralded all over new media. In an attempt to strike while the iron is hot, we at The Odyssey Online thought it was a good day to look at 7 new millennium movies which tell the stories of women of color, and are watch-worthy in 2017. Some are spanking new, some are older, but all are entertaining and enlightening.
While no one woman, and definitely no man, can say she/he is an authority on films that validly communicate the experiences of women of color, this list is comprised of movies that include representations of women from varied ethnic minority groups, overcoming issues that disproportionately affect them. Rigid gender roles, classism, language barriers, religious tradition and cultural expectations are all picked apart by the strong female leads in these motion pictures.
Hidden Figures (2016)
If you have not seen it yet, put it on your to-do list. This (mostly) true story interweaves the tale of how NASA put the first American into orbit, and three black women who were integral as part of the team that got him there. Yes, the movie does have the quintessential "fictional male character helping to save the day" (played by Kevin Costner), but he proves himself an ally to these women, and a character that helps move the story along.
The female leads (Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer, and Janelle Monáe) bring alive the struggles of being a black professional in a time when colored bathrooms were not available in some buildings. Black, or even female mathematicians, were believed to be unicorns and the "good coffee" in the office was reserved for "whites only". But they do not do it in a defeatist , or even an angry way. These women are proud and persevering. They get to the finish line no matter how many times it is moved further away from them.
Wadjda (2012)
The Saudi Arabia-set story follows a ten-year -old girl who is determined to buy and ride a bike. Given that driving, riding, and voting are all primarily male activities in Saudi Arabia, this movie is beautiful and simple. It is triumphant in illustrating the complex personalities, desires, and fighting spirits of women. Until 2015 women were not allowed to vote in Saudi Arabia. The movie was filmed in 2012. But the movie is not sad. It gives a layered look at the women of the region, who many times are depicted in the media as only a pair of eyes peeping through a burqa. Wadjda also marked Saudi Arabia's film debut into Oscar territory, as it was the first time the country submitted an entry to the Oscars.
Moana (2016)
Disney's first Polynesian princess captures the screen fighting volcanic monsters, and becoming allies with a demigod. All the while, she is questioning the rules her father has set to keep his people safe, but also keep them from their full potential.
Girls Trip (2017)
In this unrestrained comedy, four African American friends embark on an adventure as they travel to New Orleans for Essence Festival, a music and cultural celebration where some of the biggest names in black entertainment meet. Jada Pinkett-Smith and Queen Latifah, Set It Off costars, reunite, while breakthrough star Tiffany Haddish shows off her comedic chops . It explores topics like self denial, infidelity, the cost of success and friendship, all wrapped up in a layer of side splitting humor.
Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)
The movie begins in pre-World War II Japan and follows the storyline of Chiyo, a young girl pulled away from her family, to work as a maid in a Geisha house. The young Japanese girl slowly blossoms into one of Japan's most powerful artisans/Geishas. The story is quite Cinderalla-esque.
Bend it like Beckham (2002)
It is set in England, in the midst of a traditional Punjabi family. The movie follows the central character Jess, who is a talented soccer player, battling the gender norms set out for her by both her family and ethnic customs/expectations. She is obsessed with the soccer star David Beckham, and his skills influence her playing style. And yes, the fact that she even plays is a secret she hides from her family. The movie stars Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley. There is also an exciting cameo.
Spanglish (2004)
Spanglish is the story of Flor Moreno, who migrated from Mexico and moves in with her American bosses. She struggles to raise her own family while simultaneously helping to raise theirs. The audience sees how different cultures and family norms clash and blend in this comedy/drama starring Paz Vega and Adam Sandler.
Watching these movies makes one remember, * "...There's really no such thing as the 'voiceless'. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard," as Arundhati Roy, author and activist said. The stories of women of color were almost invisible before the last two decades, but it is not because women of color do not have beautiful and complex stories to tell. Every year, the list of movies with female colored leads telling female fueled stories grows, to the benefit of all and sundry, but especially movie lovers.
*The University of Sydney - The University of Sydney. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2017, from http://sydney.edu.au/news/84.html?newsstoryid=279
