James asked Vanessa Riley:

Hi I recently completed reading "Sister Mother Warrior." It appears the upcoming film, "The Woman King" starring Viola Davis is about the same Dahomey warriors that are in your book. What little I've read and heard indicates some have gone so far as to suggest boycotting the movie. What are your thoughts toward this?

Vanessa Riley I think you should go see it. It's well acted. The costuming and music are inspiring. Do I go to Hollywood to see a documentary or to watch a feel good film, one that gives brilliant actors meaty parts.

There can be a million films on lore of the Old West or Vikings. Why must we have 100% accurate accuracy for stories of Africa? Why can't we allow our creatives some freedom.

The last thing, I'll say is that the more films that are shown to be commercially viable, the more films with predominate castings of Black and other marginalized groups will be made. I highly doubt that any exec or film agency or finance backer will dissect a movie such as this and say it falters because of historical accuracy. I think they'll fault the actors or mistakenly think that no one wants these types of positive portrayal in film.

Let me know if I've said too much. Wordy author here. :)

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