The Story of Madam C.J. Walker has always been inspirational to anyone that dreams of becoming a legendary figure in American entrepreneurship. Although her story is synonymous with becoming a self-made millionaire, the struggles of what it takes to reach this goal sometimes will get lost in the African American diaspora just to celebrate the fact she is a black millionaire.
Netflix Limited Series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, starring Octavia Spencer is a great biopic illustrating the stubbornness, can’t take no for an answer, and the idea of expanding on your success that separated her from the average business owner.
Addie applying her miracle grow to Sarah Breedlove hair.
“Madam C.J. Walker’s story really struck me as one of a woman who was a visionary, who was ahead of her time. And it really needed to be told in a way that reflected that,” said series co-executive producer Nicole Jefferson Asher. “Not just for the sake of doing that, but to really get us deeper into her imagination, and on another level, to show what was special about her, what made her unique and what enabled her to do what no one had done before. This was a woman who didn’t go to school. She had to teach herself to read. And she ended up becoming a millionaire in her lifetime. So that takes a tremendous imagination. And so we wanted to use interstitials, fantasy elements, magic realism, all of these things to be able to put the viewer in her mind.”
Let’s start at the being of Madam C.J. Walker’s story, first known as Sarah Breedlove a poor washer-woman who is losing her hair. When she meets a beautiful mulatto woman named Addie, who saves her bald spots with her miracle grow. To show her appreciation of Addie (Carmen Ejogo), Sarah wants to become a saleswoman, but Addie knocks her confidence down by telling her to stick to washing as women will never want to buy a product from someone who looks like her.
Sarah creating her version of a miracle hair grower.
Infuriated, Sarah creates her own line of products. Though they sell well she craves more and decides to move her entire family to Indianapolis. Sarah’s company is successful until Addie arrives in town. Frightened by the competition Sarah decides to offer a “buy one get one free” deal but in the ensuing struggle to fulfill orders her home burns down. As she watches Addie scoop up her business she vows to rebuild her business and takes on the name Madam C.J. Walker.
In order to fulfill those orders, Sarah knew she needed to open that factory fast. Manging to put a downpayment on a factory to fulfill those orders but Sarah knew she needed to secure investors to pay for the rest. Struggling to find one she decides to gain Booker T. Washington’s endorsement. unfortunately, Mr. Washinton was opposed to lending his help because of sexist views on women entrepreneurs. Margaret Washington and the only wife of the elite black men saw it differently, putting money together that helped Sarah secure that factory.
Sarah takes a trip to New York with the hope of getting her products in the 10 cents or less stores.before setting off on this trip she decides to take her daughter Leila (Tiffany Haddish) over her husband Charles (Blair Underwood). Whose beginning to feels like he is being cut out from the business more and more. Addie takes the opportunity to poach five of Sarah’s top saleswomen out from under her including Dora, a beautiful saleswoman who is having an affair with Charles.
When Sarah returns to the chaos she discovers all that has been going on and once again puts her business first.
Maden C.J. Walker speaking to Rockafella on how to handle disgruntled workers.
While many have condemned the series for moving too quickly, it easy to see their points while episode 1-3 kept a patent pacing. The final episode did wrap up the story quickly opening with a rapid montage where she becomes a millionaire and moves into a mansion next-door to John D. Rockefeller. This series could’ve benefited from expanding more on the ascent of her company but maybe over two more episodes.
In my opinion, the pace at which the series ran was spot on, some series can suffer from adding in too many details losing the interest of your audience. I prefer liking the biopic to a PowerPoint presentation you hit on keep points of information so your audience leaves with some general knowledge and if there is a legitimate interest in the subject that person will do more indebt resource.
These days when we hear about a biopic being made of a historical Black-figure, the response is often both interest and concern. Hollywood tends to add inaccurate information to sell the general public on the story but Netflix’s newest biopic stays true to the life of hair industry mogul Madam C.J. Walker.
Watch the trailer below:
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