Harriet is a historical biopic about the American founding mother Harriet Tubman, who is played by Cynthia Erivo. Kasi Lemmons, a black woman, directed it and is best known for Eve’s Bayou. While I may not faithfully follow Lemmons career, I wanted to see this film in theaters because I’m interested in Harriet Tubman, wanted to support a black woman director and a black cast with a black woman in the lead. If this film does not do well opening weekend, it may be harder to finance the next film with similar demographics, but I understand why some may decide to boycott the film.
In the interest of full disclosure, Comcast funded this film, and you should Google how Comcast has allegedly discriminated against Byron Allen and is challenging the Civil Rights Act by saying if there is a valid business decision, race(ism) could be a factor. I didn’t know that Comcast funded this film until shortly before I saw it, and I’m not so ride or die for the film that I want anyone to violate their conscience by seeing this film if they would ordinarily boycott it. The US Supreme Court will hear the case on November 13, 2019. So far Allen has won, and I wish him the best of luck. Also I pay Comcast for access to the Internet and to make phone calls so technically I’m their boss, and if I was going to start boycotting, I should have started at home, but who knows with the way that things are going, Comcast could be one of my many corporate overlords. My other choice is Verizon, whom I have a long history with that ended in disaster. There aren’t a lot of choices.
Also I don’t know enough about the specifics of the controversy, but apparently there was some uproar over Erivo being cast. Some articles claim that it is specifically because she was not born in the United States of America, but a brief Twitter search would suggest that it could be because of some remarks that she made about African Americans specifically or her association with a well known social media personality who shall remain nameless and actually made the inflammatory remarks. If I completely understood the issue, again I may feel differently about Erivo, but at this time I don’t. I’m not closing my ears to criticism so I’m open to learning more. I’m simply a fan of hers ever since I saw her running in Widows and was pleasantly surprised by her captivating performance in Bad Times at the El Royale, which was way better than I thought it would be.
So how was Harriet? I think that your enjoyment level depends on your audience. I happened to see the movie with the perfect person with a similar sense of humor so when the movie started, I hypocritically said something to the effect, “We have to be quiet in this theater,” then proceeded to talk and laugh throughout the majority of the movie. Harriet reminded me of when I saw BlacKkKlansman and a few (black) people in the theater thought parts were hilarious that other people just absorbed silently, but the filmmaker was definitely making jokes if you were paying attention and spoke the language. They come fairly early after an abrupt cut from a prayer interrupted to the answer to that prayer. My friend and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing. It didn’t hurt that we just came from church.
My friend was genuinely worried that Harriet was going to be hella depressing because slavery, but it wasn’t. It may not be elevated much higher than a television movie. It is fairly standard in the way that it plays certain moments safe to not draw outrage, but because there are so few movies about black women historical figures, seeing them in formulaic movies is kind of revolutionary and inspirational. Seeing a black woman take risks, be a leader, demand respect and basically be a realistic action hero is great. If it was up to me, I probably would have emphasized her role in the Civil War as a spy and general (my term, not official) more then taken it to unrealistic levels where she is doing gun fu so she could be a black warrior princess so don’t let me be in charge. I’m not going to lie, but I was excited every time that she cocked her gun. The movie made sure that she never hurt anybody too badly. It did a great job of underscoring how her various aliases aided her mission and increased her effectivenesss.
Harriet emphasized her early years and how she became a conductor on the Underground Railroad then hits quick historical beats until the denouement. I’m a Christian, and I love cheesy Christian produced movies though now I look at them wondering whom the producers supported in the 2016 election. In this film, I recognized this Jesus and didn’t have such worries. Lemmons emphasizes Tubman as a woman who literally gets messages from God. I kept whispering, “Harriet Tubman, undefeated, 100 to 0.” I don’t want to ever get hurt or experience that level of pain, but if I could receive a guarantee clear reception from God on how to act, I would definitely consider signing up. I wish that the film was more visually arresting in distinguishing her visions from her daily life, but I appreciate the story centralizing it. What it lacked in unique imagery, it more than made up for in integrating music into the narrative, especially since Erivo is a talented singer.
Harriet also did a good job of highlighting that more ordinary people could not be as courageous or daring as Tubman and had to make a life under inhumane circumstances that could seem like compromise to us now. By emphasizing the difficulty of her initial journey, it makes us appreciate the return trips and her achievements. The closest analogy that I can make is everyone thinks of themselves as someone who would survive the zombie apocalypse when I realize that I would get killed fairly early and brutally if such an outbreak occurred. Think about how you act on the job and theoretically you can quit a job and get another. The depiction of the widespread panic at one point, including for Tubman, is probably one of the most powerful, ordinary and horrible events in the film. Unfortunately by taking the time to establish the insurmountable odds, it leaves less time for us to see her really cook in later years.
Harriet does get a healthy dose of side eye for implying that the only onscreen character who was a suspected rapist was a black guy. For real? The script takes great pains to emphasize that one slaveholder spends all his time in brothels. Sure, OK. To be clear, I’m glad there are no onscreen rapes, just violence, but the film does imply the threat of sexual violence and ultimately punishes it. I just think that it pulled punches to assuage certain viewers from feeling more disturbed by history, which is a problem for those of us who try to discuss the legacy of slavery and rape for all women in the US. I will give points for Harriet taking the time to slam the fifty-two percenters’ spiritual and literal ancestors. Overall the movie appears to be historically accurate, but there is plenty of room for other filmmakers to make a biopic that can surpass Lemmons’ earnest entry.
If you see Harriet with the right people or go to a theater with a great audience, you’ll enjoy it disproportionately more than the movie deserves. I’ve seen Erivo deliver more powerful and memorable performances, but I blame the movie for being conventional rather than the cast. If you decide to boycott, waiting to see it at home won’t diminish your viewing experience.