Slavery 'Glorified' in Movie 'The Woman King' Depicting Dahomey Warriors as Heroes, Twitterati Claim

15:00 GMT, 17 September 2022

Olga Borodkina

“The Woman King,” whose world premiere took place on September 9 and was released in the movie theaters in the US and Canada on September 16, is set in the 1820s. It stars Viola Davis as a general training the next generation of Dahomey warriors, who were known as formidable female fighters, to combat their enemies.

Sputnik

The film about the Dahomey Amazons, also known as the Agojie, was reportedly intended to depict strong fearless women fighting for their people, in accordance with how Maria Bellow, who wrote the story, saw them after learning their history during a visit to Benin, home of the Dahomey tribe.

However, as the film premiered at movie theaters across the US, some Twitter users were outraged, arguing that it appeared to justify the slave trade.

It’s estimated that from the 1720s to 1852, when the British imposed a naval blockade on the slave trade, the rulers of Dahomey sold hundreds of thousands of people from neighboring tribes and nations to the British, French, Portuguese, and others.

A #BoycottWomanKing Twitter user's tweet

Despite the storm of negative reactions, there were also some who supported the film, saying it was informative and educational, accusing most of their Twitter opponents of probably not watching the movie.

A #BoycottWomanKing Twitter user's tweet

The film was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens and Maria Bello. The film also stars Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, and John Boyega.