Check Up On Your Flossy Posse
Last Saturday night, I saw the much lauded "Girls Trip" in theaters. For those who are unsure, it was the one with black women as leads, not the other one. You think you might know something of what happens based on the trailers but I promise, you don't. There is so much more and unfortunately this will include a spoiler so if you haven't seen it yet, don't read this. Go see it, then come back.
Of all the critical tropes in this film, from the "strong friend needing someone to look out for her too" to "black women lifting each other up” to "hustle till you die and hold it together at all costs" to "integrity and friends before all", one of the ones I find most important was that women, specifically black women, even more specifically characteristically strong black women, were front and center for the entire film. Any and all men were tertiary. There were only two white people in the entire film and they both didn’t have much screen time in comparison with everyone else.
Based on the trailer, you wouldn’t know Regina Hall's character is married, let alone that she’s having marital issues concerning fidelity, let alone with Mike Colter. A friend I was with said she can't watch Luke Cage anymore after this as a result, oh well. It's not even that she finds out he's cheating on her. She's known about it. It’s when her closest friends, the Flossy Posse, find out and give her a "really though!?" reality check. Finally, a movie that focuses on black women, that celebrates them flaws and all, that makes us feel proud to be US. Not on us as we relate to men, not on us as we relate to our careers or children or anything else. Just black women as black women.
Another important trope I feel is so necessary to discuss further is that of the "strong black woman." It is so hard to keep up facades as Regina's character admits and Queen Latifah’s character later acknowledges. We as black women are conditioned to think we should be modern day Superwomen, capable of any and everything, of having “it all” as Regina's character's book is entitled when that is not at all the case. The affirmation she recites to herself whenever things get shaky seems to be barely holding her together. It also reminds me of what Viola taught her charge in "The Help" (you is kind, you is smart, you is important), except Regina's mentions being beautiful, intelligent, and strong. We as black women are strong because we have to be but that doesn't mean we're always doing well on the inside. We try so hard to hold it together because so many people depend on us but we must realize and remember, we need someone to lean on too. And no, we don't always have it all together, nor should we. In fact, those who look most put together, holding everyone else up are the ones we need to check in with the most. Just because everything looks okay doesn't mean it is.
Do your black female friends, your personal Flossy Posse, a favor and like Beyoncé says, come check up on ‘em.
Of all the critical tropes in this film, from the "strong friend needing someone to look out for her too" to "black women lifting each other up” to "hustle till you die and hold it together at all costs" to "integrity and friends before all", one of the ones I find most important was that women, specifically black women, even more specifically characteristically strong black women, were front and center for the entire film. Any and all men were tertiary. There were only two white people in the entire film and they both didn’t have much screen time in comparison with everyone else.
Based on the trailer, you wouldn’t know Regina Hall's character is married, let alone that she’s having marital issues concerning fidelity, let alone with Mike Colter. A friend I was with said she can't watch Luke Cage anymore after this as a result, oh well. It's not even that she finds out he's cheating on her. She's known about it. It’s when her closest friends, the Flossy Posse, find out and give her a "really though!?" reality check. Finally, a movie that focuses on black women, that celebrates them flaws and all, that makes us feel proud to be US. Not on us as we relate to men, not on us as we relate to our careers or children or anything else. Just black women as black women.
Another important trope I feel is so necessary to discuss further is that of the "strong black woman." It is so hard to keep up facades as Regina's character admits and Queen Latifah’s character later acknowledges. We as black women are conditioned to think we should be modern day Superwomen, capable of any and everything, of having “it all” as Regina's character's book is entitled when that is not at all the case. The affirmation she recites to herself whenever things get shaky seems to be barely holding her together. It also reminds me of what Viola taught her charge in "The Help" (you is kind, you is smart, you is important), except Regina's mentions being beautiful, intelligent, and strong. We as black women are strong because we have to be but that doesn't mean we're always doing well on the inside. We try so hard to hold it together because so many people depend on us but we must realize and remember, we need someone to lean on too. And no, we don't always have it all together, nor should we. In fact, those who look most put together, holding everyone else up are the ones we need to check in with the most. Just because everything looks okay doesn't mean it is.
Do your black female friends, your personal Flossy Posse, a favor and like Beyoncé says, come check up on ‘em.
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| These women are all AMAZING but Tiffany Haddish was the G.O.A.T. of this film tbh |
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