Madam C.J. Walker Deserved Better than ‘Self-Made’

Hello Meltingpot Community,

If you recall, earlier this month I posted about how excited I was to watch the Netflix mini-series, Self-Made:Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker. I probably should have kept my expectations low based solely on the clunky, pseudo warning in the title, but alas, my love for Madam C.J. Walker, Octavia Spencer and all things Black hair had my hopes all the way up.

Good Hair

Let’s start with what was good about Self-Made. First of all, I watched the entire four-part series in one sitting because each 50-minute episode ended on a cliff hanger and I really was engrossed in the drama. (Also, thanks to Corona 2020, I have a bit of extra time on my hands.) Even though I know Walker’s entire life story, I still found myself wanting to know what was coming next. Would Walker get the bank loan she needed to finance her factory? Would her marriage survive the strain of building a million-dollar business? Also, the costumes, scenery and hairstyles were so visually appealing, I literally found myself making mental notes about hairstyles I wanted to try on myself and wondering if some of the dresses that Tiffany Haddish wore (Haddish played Walker’s daughter) could be found in shops today. The soundtrack was also profoundly Black and beautiful.

Truth is Better Than (this) Fiction

As I mentioned above, I really wanted to love this series. Ever since I started researching the history of Black hair in America – way back in the late 1990s – I have been in awe of Madam Walker. She is the epitome of Black excellence. Her life story gives meaning to narrative cliches like triumph over tragedy, rags to riches and truth is stranger than fiction. And more than 100 years after her death, the way she built a successful business for Black people by Black people, continues to resonate and inspire today’s entrepreneurs.

Madam Walker was truly a force of nature and a marketing genius. If you examine what she accomplished as a business woman – building an international empire –  it is beyond impressive considering she was a Black woman with a limited education. But when you couple that with the fact that she was creating her Black-hair business while the country was embroiled in one of the most violent anti-Black eras, her accomplishments are even more impressive. And there’s more. While we may take it for granted that Walker funneled much of her profits back into the Black community, donating money to Black schools, colleges, and anti-lynching campaigns, her generous philanthropy was unprecedented at the time.

In other words, Walker’s entire life was remarkable. Her rise from widowed teen mother to America’s first self-made female millionaire needs no embellishment. The drama and struggle in her life was only too real.  But clearly it wasn’t real enough for the people behind Self-Made.

Team Dark Skin vs Team Light Skin

The main problem with Netflix’s Self-Made is that rather than use the compelling, real-life experiences of Madam C.J. Walker, they created an alternate storyline that was far less dramatic and far less interesting. Rather than explore Madam’s otherworldly understanding of business and marketing, resilience and creativity, they created a non-existent rivalry between Madam Walker and an invented character named Addie Monroe.

I won’t go into all of the made-up elements that the Netflix series employed because you can read all about them in other articles. But the resulting story made Madam C.J. Walker appear to be a woman who was overly concerned with light-skinned women besting her – in business and the bedroom. Also, this fictitious feud with Monroe left little time to explore Madam’s actual business acumen, her feminism, civil rights activism and her legendary philanthropy. I hate to say it, but it would appear that the filmmakers were just too lazy to do justice to Madam Walker’s incredible life story and chose to craft a cliched drama about a dark-skinned woman with a dream who was tormented by a scheming, light-skinned nemesis. *eyeroll*

Madam Walker Deserves Better

If I’m being totally honest, which I am, because this is my blog, I also have to say that I wasn’t thrilled with the acting or casting choices in the movie either. I LOVE Octavia Spencer, but I felt like she played this role on robot mode. Madam Walker didn’t feel any more real than her picture on the sides of her bottles of Wonderful Hair Grower. Also, there was zero chemistry between Walker and Blair Underwood who played her husband. Tiffany Haddish playing Madam’s daughter was also a choice I’m guessing was based on the fact that Haddish actually does resemble the real A’Lelia Walker a bit, but she just seemed to be Tiffany Haddish in period costume. I  kept waiting for her to crack a dirty joke.

Watch This or Read That

In conclusion, if you happen to be trapped at home because of say, a global pandemic, and you just want to watch something with beautiful Black people, a banging soundtrack and a happy-ish ending, then tune into Self-Made. If, on the other hand, you want to learn about the legendary Madam C.J. Walker and her unprecedented rise to self-made millionaire, then read the well-researched biography written by Walker’s own great, great granddaughter, A’Lelia Bundles. That book is called On Her Own Ground and is chock full of all the details missing in Self-Made.

Also, check out this documentary that was just made available on YouTube called, Two Dollars and a Dream. This documentary about Madam C. J. Walker was filmed in 1989 by Stanley Nelson, who not only is a world renown filmmaker, but is also the grandson of Madam Walker’s personal lawyer, Freeman B. Ransom. While a bit dated, the film includes incredible images and interviews with people who actually knew and worked with Madam C.J. Walker and her daughter.

You can also read my book, Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America to get more accurate information than Self Made. In Hair Story, my co-author and I write about Walker, as well as her relationship with Annie Turnbo Malone, who was the inspiration for the Addie Monroe character. And FYI, there weren’t any colorism issues at play between the two women. And Malone’s story is just as impressive as Walker’s.

Say Her Name

As a Black hair historian, Madam C.J. Walker fan, and a colorism expert, I can’t give Self-Made a passing grade for accuracy (or acting). But I am grateful that more people will now know Madam Walker’s name and will associate her with excellence.

I’m curious. Has anyone else watched Self Made? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Peace!