Look at that, a movie about the Dahomey Amazons. I'd like to see The Woman King but it doesn't even have a release date here in Japan yet. It looks like it covers the same historical ground as Werner Herzog's Cobra Verde, the 19th century period in which King Ghezo of Dahomey was struggling with issues related to the slave trade, Dahomey's primary source of economic vitality for much of its existence. Cobra Verde is more historically accurate while The Woman King seeks to be an historically inspired fantasy epic along the lines of Gladiator or 300.
I was amused last night to see on Twitter a "#BoycottTheWomanKing" hashtag trending because people were just discovering that an African Kingdom aided and abetted in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. People are apparently shocked that a movie would portray any aspect of such a kingdom in a positive light.
Since I started doing research for my web comic, Dekpa and Deborah, in 2014, I was surprised by how difficult it was to find information on West African nations. It also became clear to me that many of the people who used West Africa as a topic in their political rhetoric often knew very little, and seemingly cared very little, about its history. This was clear, too, when the Black Panther movie came out, at which time people discussing the film showed not just their ignorance of African culture and history but an unabashed disinterest in modern West Africa. It was a real eye opener for me, being able to witness so clearly how much the political story being pushed was fundamentally fantasy. Whatever else The Woman King might be, hopefully it's a step towards people holding a more honest perspective on human nature. Then maybe we'll have fewer things like Rings of Power, in which only white people are shown to be genetically capable of racism or oppression.
