“Queen & Slim” opened on Nov. 27 and blew up the box office. However, there is a heated debate raging on Twitter. The film has been called everything from brilliant to exploiting Black trauma.
See Also: Despite Lena Waithe Backlash, ‘Queen & Slim’ Blew Up At The Box Office
Directed by Grammy winner Melina Matsoukas and written by Emmy winner Lena Waithe, the film is about a couple on a first date who defend themselves against a police officer. They are soon on the run. The film has received strong reviews. Respected professor at Columbia University Jealni Cobb wrote for for the New Yorker, “This is a film that stands as strong a chance of being hailed and lauded as it does of being denounced and picketed.”
He continued, “But it understands the inescapable fact that heroism is entirely a matter of context, that heroes need not be concerned with explaining themselves, and that it—like the characters at its center, like the history it draws upon—stands a great likelihood of being misunderstood. And, gloriously, neither its writer nor its director appears to give a damn.”
Cobb gave an accurate predication when he said the film would be hailed and denounced, which is the reaction on social media.
One user wrote, “Queen & Slim is visually sumptuous but completely hollow. It’s a textbook example of media ‘looking’ great and “sounding ‘woke,’ but have absolutely nothing underneath in terms of content, character, or meaning.”
Another tweeted, “I’m not interested in you expecting claps for casting two darkskinned Black protagonists in your film if you’re going to handle them like that. Period.”
https://twitter.com/IWriteAllDay_/status/1201552731908919297
One person was exhausted by the critiques, “Queen & Slim is not above critique – I would never say that. But my goodness y’all are exhausting. Never satisfied and way too ‘woke.’ Take a damn nap.”
Writer Da’Shaun Harrison accused the film of being fatphobic, writing for Wear Your Voice, “In the film, the word ‘fat’ was mentioned only four times, but the harm this film does to fat people extends far beyond the use of that word in a derogatory sense.”
The writer also added, “I eft the theater feeling that, yet again, fat Black people did not belong in the new safe haven these writers envision themselves creating for Black people.”
Nonetheless, the film is hit, bringing in a whooping $16 million over the weekend.
See more of the passionate reactions to “Queen & Slim” below.
