The Woman King -The true to life story of the Dahomey Amazons
The Woman King is a historical film about real-life women warriors that originated from Africa. Gina Prince-Bythewood, the hit Netflix original Old Guard director, directs this film. Black actors usually lack representation in historical films. Historical films with black actors stars either in a movie about slavery in America, or they will have to race to bend a white historical figure. The Woman King is a game-changer because it uses African history to give Black representation in historical films instead of the familiar setting. This movie gives life to a historical event in Africa. Even if African countries have a plethora of historical heroes, Many of them are yet to appear on the Silver screen. The Kingdom of Dahomey (present-day Benin) was one of Africa’s most powerful kingdoms. They resisted surrendering in and letting the Europeans colonize them. Due to the low birth rate of males and the high death rate of men in battles with other kingdoms, there is a manpower shortage. Women who hunted elephants enlisted in the military.