I’m Only Watching Women Now

I’m blessed to be a woman in these times when so many women before me have resisted to overturn age discrimination and racist beauty standards that left so many of us out of range. This grand resistance made sure to leave in women who would fit those age or beauty standards- but demand respect for them.

I saw this in Pieces of a Woman. In it, Vanessa Kirby and Ellen Burstyn give their alls in the best movie I’ve seen in our new times. I could have watched just hours more of them alone, together. It’s almost unfair to the rest of the ensemble to have to stand alongside these ladies at their bests, Kirby new and Burstyn a veteran. Both had to rise above expectations they would limit to staying men’s love interests or sex kittens in the movies. Here they handle childbirth, child loss, grief, PTSD, dementia and a near sex assault (I wasn’t sure) yet leave us no ways to give up or check out. They arrested me.

This is the first cultural era someone could actually get away with never seeing men hog everything. Join me in celebrating new standards we are all better off for. Make sure to stream or safely go see these other strong female lead films:

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom with Viola Davis, the perfect actor to command the best out of Chadwick Boseman in his last performance we have to treasure.

The Life Ahead with Sophia Loren, simply a star like they don’t make anymore, capable of playing with children and elevating them to the level of veterans.

Nomadland with Frances McDormand, a woman and performance that make me proud to walk my own path no matter the costs.

The Forty-Year-Old Version with Radha Blank, a sexy smart joy and reflection of myself as a mature sister in the city; often, all we give to the world backfires to feels like burdens instead of gifts (nevermind statistically lower pay). Plus, urban classroom kids haven’t been this good and true since Precious.