According to Just Jared, actress extraordinaire Viola Davis is responding to claims that her new film, “The Woman King’ isn’t historically correct.
The award-winning actress and her husband Julius Tennon, who produced the film alongside Viola, are speaking out in response to some Twitter users’ move to boycott the movie because it doesn’t ‘accurately address Dahomey Kingdom’s involvement in slave trade.’
During an interview with Variety, the couple confirmed that most of the film’s content is fictionalized.
“First of all, I agree with Gina Prince-Bythewood saying you’re not going to win an argument on Twitter. We entered the story where the kingdom was in flux, at a crossroads. They were looking to find some way to keep their civilization and kingdom alive. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that they were decimated. Most of the story is fictionalized. It has to be,” Viola said.
Tennon added, “We are now what we call ‘edu-tainment.’ It’s history, but we have to take license. We have to entertain people. If we just told a history lesson, which we very well could have, that would be a documentary. Unfortunately, people wouldn’t be in the theaters doing the same thing we saw this weekend. We didn’t want to shy away from the truth. The history is massive, and there are truths on that that are there. If people want to learn more, they can investigate more.”
“Part of the story that hit me as an artist was these women were unwanted,” Viola continued.
“They were recruited between the ages of eight and 14. They were the women who were not considered desirable. No one wanted to marry them. They were unruly. They were recruited by the King to fight for the kingdom of Dahomey. They were not allowed to marry or have children. The ones who refused the call were beheaded. That’s also a part of the story. People really are being emotionally shifted. I saw a TikTok video today of women in a bathroom of an AMC theater, and I don’t think they knew each other. They were all chanting and ruminating. That cannot be quantified by words.”
Perhaps this will finally give people the answers they’ve been looking for concerning the film. If you haven’t watched it still, the film is currently showing in most theaters across the US and other parts of the world. If you have, let us know what you think about this entire conversation.
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