Hollywood has abandoned new ideas in favor of prequels that repackage and reinforce China-approved themes.
It’s a technique employed by ministers and coaches. Effective leaders find new and compelling ways to say the same thing day after day. A Christian minister uses the Bible’s 66 books and 31,000 verses to convey a simple message: We need Jesus.
Right now, Hollywood is hyper-focused on a simple message selling a different savior: Woman.
The Viola Davis-fronted “The Woman King” purports to be a based-on-true-events drama about a group of amazing female warriors in Africa. The truth is, “The Woman King” is the first prequel to the “Black Panther” superhero fantasy.
“Panther” sold its woman-as-savior message subtly. The blockbuster let unsuspecting moviegoers leave theaters believing T’Challa was the hero. The reality is T’Challa did exactly what his mother, sister, and a group of amazing female warriors told him to do. T’Challa was a robot, a system quarterback programmed by a female coaching staff.
The prequel, “The Woman King,” is far less subtle. Fifty-seven-year-old Viola Davis is the Black Panther of Dahomey, Africa. After watching the movie Thursday, I wanted to hashtag #BlackGrandmaMagic.
Why not call it “The Memaw King”?
That’s the point. The matriarch is the ruler of the patriarch. General Nanisca, the fictional leader Davis played, is an 1823 version of 52-year-old Queen Latifah’s “The Equalizer.”
General Nanisca is wiser, braver, and more charismatic than Dahomey’s King Ghezo, played by 30-year-old actor John Boyega. Casting Davis opposite Boyega is not an accident. It’s a message that young black men should submit to and serve their mothers. It’s a wildly popular message.
The same message was in “Black Panther,” a movie that grossed more than $1.3 billion worldwide. That’s why I consider “The Woman King” a prequel. Hollywood is hoping to ride the emasculated-black-man narrative to box-office glory. It worked in “Black Panther.”
“The Memaw King” is doubling down on the narrative. King Ghezo’s top servant is a gay man who makes RuPaul look masculine. General Nanisca and her troops outsmart and trounce their male rivals.
Factual history tells a story much different from the fantasy spun in “The Woman King.” In the movie, General Nanisca convinces King Ghezo to abandon the slave trade and the female warriors thwart the white colonizers.
It’s all fantasy. The French routed the Amazon warriors, and the British forced Dahomey to give up the slave trade in the 1850s.
History isn’t the point of “The Woman King.” Message is. The movie is on message. Men are evil. Men raped and tortured Nanisca when she was young. The father of teenage warrior Nawi gave her away to the king when she rejected an older abusive husband.
The climactic point of the movie is that women should rule. After an all-female, postwar circle twerk, King Ghezo named Nanisca a king to rule alongside him.
Hollywood is preaching that message over and over again.
A month ago, HBO launched its “Game of Thrones” prequel, “House of the Dragon.” The Dragon pretends to be the backstory of the Targaryen family. It’s really the backstory of Arya Stark, the female child who would grow up to slay the wicked Night King in “Game of Thrones.”
Arya wanted to be a boy and go off to war. The patriarchy wouldn’t allow it. Rhaenyra Targaryen, the star of “House of the Dragon,” wants to be a boy and go off and fight in wars. The patriarchy won’t allow it.
The point is that girls would be boys if not for sexism, and sexism is ruining the world.
The truth is the world needs better men, not women pretending to be men.
All art emanating from Hollywood has a secular, anti-male theme. It rejects a Christian worldview. “The Woman King” is a farce. It’s satanic propaganda promoting the worship of women. It’s not remotely subtle in its messaging. In the post-movie credits, during an extra scene, the Amazon warrior Amenza shouts out “Breonna Taylor” in a ritual celebrating warriors killed in 1823.
Can’t you see? Breonna Taylor, the woman killed in a shootout with Louisville police, is an extension of the African warriors who captured and sold her ancestors into slavery.
Yep. The people who sold black people into slavery are the real heroes. Anyone who disagrees is a misogynist and a racist.