Queen And Slim.

Last night I saw the film Queen And Slim. I had to write a blog post.

This movie taught me a few lessons, as a matter of fact, it reiterated what it means to be a black human being in a corrupt society.

This is so unlike me, writing about films I’ve watched, but this one is necessary.

Queen and slim is an important film. It’s kind of like a superhero movie, where you’re rooting for your favorite characters to win in the end like a fairytale, but then they don’t and you’re livid. This film was meant to make you livid. It was meant to open your eyes to what’s really going on in this world. It wasn’t meant to have a happy ever after, no matter how hard we were praying for one because like Issa said, we’re rooting for everybody black, and I definitely was. Call it bias if you want.

Lena Waithe (the genius behind this film) said, “My job is to make art that makes you think, and makes you question things. And I hope that’s what we did.” –Yep, she definitely nailed it with this one!

Love, anger, sacrifice, new experiences, realness, pain, and death. How could a movie hit it on the nail so perfectly that it felt like real life? From the start to the end I was in tune and felt like it could be me and my husband this could have happened to. One event after another felt like a page ripped from a book of any black person living in the US. When people say black lives matter, don’t get offended. When someone takes the time to appreciate and celebrate a black life, don’t feel like your life is any less. When you see a black couple being celebrated, broadcasted, and well appreciated, don’t ignore it. That’s a rare sight in a blind world.

This film depicted what it feels like to let a woman lead, while the man follows. The importance of that in itself showed that the power dynamic was so adequate and flowed so smoothly. No question, no doubt, just plain ole “GWTF” (Going with the flow).

Another important lesson I got from this movie was the question, ‘when you die, what will be your legacy? How will people remember you?’. Think about it. This should be steady on our minds, our thoughts and shown throughout our lives. 

The end of the film…the death of Queen and Slim. At that moment, when they got out of the car and was heading to the helicopter I felt liberated. I was rooting for them the whole movie and finally, they were getting the fairytale ending. If I’m being completely honest, I felt it in my gut that it was “too good to be true”. I knew this film had a purpose, and that purpose was not going to just end so smoothly where they got away scot-free. Then Slim is being all romantic (because he knows it’s about to go down) promising that he would’ve kissed her and Queen asking if she could be his legacy…the white cop lets the bullet loose on her. Queen drops. Slim is left devastated. I am happy that he didn’t just leave her body on the floor. He cared and saw her worth all the way through to his death.

I cried. 

I expected them to die together, not Queen being shot first. That was the jaw-dropping part of the movie for me. I did not expect that the black man would be the one who set them up. Total plot twist. Another plot twist was the black boy shooting the black cop in the face. Sadly he didn’t know that shooting that black man in no way made him iconic, immortal or memorable (in a good way).

Initial feelings–disgust, betrayal, anger. 

Queen and slim, they are every black boy, girl, man, and woman. What would you do in that situation? Would you run or would you live out your last few days (or hours) like actually live…do things you’ve never done while trying to survive.

This is one of the greatest love stories of all time. What’s your legacy?

— Photo of Queen & Slim by @PhotoDre