Category: Features

{Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios Family}

By Caren Chelangat

The movie, Hidden Figures (2016), not only serves as an item of good entertainment, but is also admirable in depicting the scientific changes in the USA in the 1960s, the social life issues of that era, and differences that existed in the country, especially among African-Americans. The movie centers around the lives of three women: Katherine Johnson, who is recreated by movie star Taraji P. Henson; Mary Jackson, who is played by Janelle Monáe; and finally, Dorothy Vaughan, as the mathematician portrayed by Octavia Spencer. Essentially, all three women of AfricanAmerican backgrounds, they play vital roles in society through their contributions while working at NASA towards the successful launch of a spaceship into orbit.

As an informative movie, it shows the condition of African-Americans among the wider USA community and some of the issues they faced. These include gender imbalances, as well as racial discriminations. From a historical perspective, the film shows a depiction of the Jim Crow rule, which created ideologies of segregation — requiring some buildings and facility spaces to be separated to ensure that races were kept apart (Edwards and Thomson, 146). The impact of such a rule is seen through Mary Jackson in facing opposition as a result of taking a course in physics at the graduate-level. There is also a depiction of racial discrimination where there are separate toilets for white people and for colored people.

Additionally, the film depicts differences in the social treatment of community members among various ethnic groups. As seen in the film, at the Langley Campus at NASA, even if African-Americans and white citizens work within the same vicinity, they are segregated — with African-Americans using separate dining facilities and bathrooms. This ranked as a key feature during the Jim Crow years acting as a tool for the unequal treatment of AfricanAmericans ,Edwards and Thomson. In the film, Katherine Johnson is seen running from her office just to visit the washrooms, sometimes even in the rain.

The film, Hidden Figures, is also important in showing the social differences between men and women in historic America. There is a sense of prejudice and workplace bias towards women from their fellow men counterparts. One scene from the film depicts Katherine Johnson (played by Taraji P. Henson), who is skilled in computing and at explaining information to the board, yet sidelined and prevented from being among the men by Paul Stanford, a lead engineer on the project. Rather, she is forced to relinquish her presentation files to men, as opposed to making the presentation herself.

However, with changes and acceptance, Katherine is finally allowed to present, especially with the support of Al Harrison. The film also shows the importance and impact that the three women played in shaping the subsequent events at NASA, and in shaping the whole community. Through power and determination, the women act as motivators for other women, especially African-American women. As seen with Dorothy working with other white women and commanding several computers, she gets bypassed for upcoming promotions within the company for the role of supervisor. Also, Dorothy is treated maliciously by fellow co-workers and her boss. However with perseverance , she encourages fellow African-American women to take up programming lessons as a way of preparing themselves for the changes in computing. With all of the dramatic prejudice and issues undertaken by these three women, the movie does an excellent job in portraying past issues faced by African-Americans, explaining scientific changes in USA, and in creating a vivid picture of the social differences in gender in the 1960s.

By Nkatha Wainaina

(nkathawainaina@gmail.com)

Are you tired of seeing male dominated fights and unrealistic women fighters? Are you tired of seeing fights with guns as the protagonist dodges them like it’s nothing? Are you tired of Africa being painted in a weak and desperate picture? This movie is a change of pace.

A friend recommended this to me and I hesitated until I finally gave in. I would like to officially apologize to her. Gigi, this was worth it!

The Woman King is an action drama, directed by Gina  Prince-Bythewood. She has also directed Beyond the Lights and The Old Guard.

In the 1800s, a group of all-female warriors protects the African kingdom of Dahomey with skills and fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. The women warriors live secluded in the kingdom, where men are not allowed to enter. The women are comprised of captured women from enemies they conquered, run-aways and insolent women who refused to be married off to significantly older men, who abuse them before officially getting married. They take an oath of celibacy and not getting children.

Faced with a new threat, Gen. Nanisca trains the next generation of recruits to fight against a foreign enemy that’s determined to destroy their way of life a.k.a white people. The tests are excruciating and hard but it gets the work done. Naniska is forced to deal with her past and the results of that past, and still rises to become The Woman King. I have tried not to butcher the summary, as well as not give too much detail that would ruin the experience of watching it.

Though a fine choice of actors, perhaps next time they should try an all Africans cast instead of Americans in fake accents? How Africa is portrayed in Hollywood is slowly changing. We have been seen as a war ridden continent, where terrorists go to hide for five minutes of the film before they are brought back, or people who constantly need water, churches and hospitals and the main character’s love interest has to leave him for a while to go do good will.

The movie focuses on women. African women. Their strength. Their might. Their resilience. At the end you start to think women are cut from a different cloth. Do not get me wrong. I am not using this as a front to spearhead toxic feminism. I am using this article to remind women that they don’t just belong in the kitchen. I don’t mean go to war, but if they did, wars would end in three weeks. Through all this, they show that women still cry. They are emotional beings and that drives them to make risky but fruit bearing decisions. How working together could lead to great heights and generally supporting each other But standing out undeniably, is how beautiful Africans are!

It was brilliantly written and artistically brought to life. The cast consisting of Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, John Boyega and Sheila Atom could not have done a better job! The investment of the audience, the twists, the raw and bare way of entertaining and still having a valuable lesson at the end. You don’t see that too often nowadays.

Incase you missed where I stand on this cinematic masterpiece, I a hundred percent recommend it.

By Nkatha Wainaina

(nkathawainaina@gmail.com)

Don’t Worry Darling is a two hour long mystery thriller, directed by Olivia Wilde.

Alice (Florence Pugh) and Jack ( Harry Styles), live in a idealized community of Victory in the 1950s. It’s an experimental company town that houses the men who work at a top secret project. Their wives stay home, cook for them, clean, go shopping and wait for them to come home. The husbands work hard at the job they are not allowed to speak about, while their wives enjoy the luxury and beauty of their seemingly perfect lives.

After witnessing a plane crash, Alice starts to see things. She starts noticing a few things are not right in the neighborhood. She slowly starts questioning what she’s doing in Victory. She traces all the problems back to Frank, played by Chris Pine, the founder of the project. She tries telling people including her husband of her suspicions but they all tell her she’s crazy. She’s taken through a procedure that makes her forget all her suspicions.

Eventually she ends up remembering everything. Her husband lost his job and he was having trouble getting back on his feet. She worked as a surgeon and had to take up more shifts to keep them afloat. Seeing how miserable his life and that of his wife had become, and she not having time for him, he opted to sign up for a project he had seen online.

I had major problems with this movie, especially around the storyline. It was a fine storyline. I must admit I did not see that twist coming. But the plot holes were too massive to ignore. This project was a simulation that took place in their bedroom. Did no one never try to come into the house? Not even the landlord? Alice was a surgeon, did no one notice she was missing? What was the project they were working on? Was Frank’s wife in on it as well? Other than the general outline, the movie did not give any satisfactory answer or ending.

With all these, my attention was directed towards the husband. He completely altered his life and his wife’s, for her to be comfortable. For her to stop working and stop worrying. Or he completely stopped her life so that she could be completely his and have time for him. Is that romantic or controlling?

The actors were alright. Harry Styles was either very consumed in his role or completely disinterested. Which ever one it was, it worked in his favour. Other than his accent that changed whenever he spoke, he did a good job. Florence arguably carries the whole film on her own, with a few other characters doing a great job with the five minutes of screen time they get.

I would recommend this movie only for the different perspective it brings out: do you think Jack’s actions are justified or completely selfish?. The description of the movie is well placed. It maintained the mystery well up to the end. It doesn’t drag on for a long time and relatively enjoyable if you see past the glaring gaps.

By Nkatha Wainaina

(nkathawainaina@gmail.com)

Before I begin, I have in the past, made clear where my loyalties lie. This has in no way affected my objectivity in giving an unbiased and honest opinion on DC productions. With that out of the way, I present Black Adam.

Black Adam is an action, adventure movie, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who is known for directing a couple of horror films.

The movie is set in the country of Kahndaq, which has been taken over by ‘bad people’. In ancient Kahndaq, Teth Adam was bestowed the almighty powers of the gods. After using these powers for vengeance, he was imprisoned, becoming Black Adam. Nearly 5,000 years have passed, when Black Adam was awakened by the words Shazam! He helps fight the ‘bad people’ by killing them . This attracts the attention of the Justice Society: Hawkman, a slightly annoying man in a hawk costume, Dr. Fate whose importance I may have missed, Atom smasher, he grows big and is always snacking and Cyclone, she…twirls with colours?

The Justice Society is determined to subdue Black Adam when it is evident they cannot. They are forced to work together, alongside a woman and her son, who in retrospect, caused all the chaos, to fight a man wearing a demon infested crown.

For a production that has been in the works since 2008, I expected a lot more. From the one dimensional actors who form no connection with the audience, to the anti-climatic final fight scene. Contrary to popular opinion, I don’t think Dwayne Johnson was the best fit for this role. Do not get me wrong, he’s a good actor. He wouldn’t be the highest paid actor in the world if he wasn’t. This role however, wasted him. They emphasized so much on how Black Adam isn’t a hero, yet never put him in a situation that showed how truly brutal he could be. The tension between him and Hawkman could be described as the feeling you get when a fly won’t stop hovering around you.

I did not enjoy this movie. I kept waiting for a pivotal moment that would change the course of this movie. It was lazily written as they kept looking for an easy way out. They were afraid of exploring potential storylines that would have made this movie so much easier to sit through. They movie might be paving way for an exciting future for DC but for a stand alone film, it’s not quite there. On the bright side, you don’t have to watch anything before it to understand what is going on.

But hey, that’s just my opinion.

By Nkatha Wainaina

(nkathawainaina@gmail.com)

I was very excited for this movie, but also equally worried. Worried of the emotions it would bring (I am a very emotional person. Even to movies). I was worried about how they would play out Chadwick Boseman’s (The Black Panther) death. I was worried they would not live up to the ridiculously high standards set by the first movie. Two hours and forty minutes later, I can sit here with credence, and tell you my dear reader, it was amazing!

Wakanda Forever is the second movie in the Black Panther series and a part of a larger franchise in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It is written and directed by Ryan Coogler, who also directed the first movie, produced by Kevin Feige and Nate Moore. This lot is deserving of a great deal of credit. In Coogler’s words, the show had to be ‘reshaped’ after the death of Chadwick. I have mentioned his death a few times so far. It’s needless to say the movie revolved around it as well. For the fragile hearts, get your box of tissues ready. This is going to be an emotional journey.

After the death of King T’Challa, his mother, Queen Ramoda takes over as head of state. American and European governments are in search of Vibranium, as the Wakandans are very protective of their supply. With the help of a genius teenage girl, Ironheart, they find Vibranium deep in uncharted parts of the sea, consequently angering Namor, kind of a god of the sea. Namor tells Shuri and the Queen to bring him the girl that made the device or he would wage war on the entire world.

Shuri struggles dealing with her brother’s death. After Namor kills her mother, she is tipped off the edge. She’s consumed by rage and vengeance as she becomes the new Black Panther. We watch her embrace the pain and rise above it, as well as defend her country.

I may have made this sound like a tear jerking, heart throbbing movie, and it is, but what I love about Marvel, nothing is ever too serious. There were light moments. Happy moments. Impeccable writing that makes you forget the silent intro at the beginning. And finally giving a notable villain.

The actors were simply phenomenal! Leticia Wright was a brilliant lead, whose pain was tangible. Angela Bassett gave an earth shattering performance. Danai Gurira (Okoye), Winston Duke as M’baku, Tenoch Huerta and Lupita Nyong’o, all collectively played an important role in making this movie the best way to end the year.

Hype aside, watch this masterpiece. There are a few pleasant surprises here and there. But my advice would be to expect nothing to not get disappointed.