TV March 2020

Star Trek: Discovery

The first thing we turned to when I realised I was going to be watching more telly than I have in my entire life*. We’d caught it one Christmas while staying in a AirBNB furnished with Netflix but never got to the end of the series. Now we’ve seen two and whereas I’ve been bought up on Star Trek, I wouldn’t necessarily put it on. This had me gripped. Of course the sci-fi has advanced from the plastic sets of my childhood, however, the main draw is the number of kick-ass women.

*adult

Self-Made

Talking of kick-ass women, this is a gentle look back on the life of Madam C J Walker (Octavia Spencer), America’s first female self-made millionaire. At the turn of the century, I expected a lot more racism and sexism, however, most of this is implied. Through the speeches she gives to her female sales force who sell her hair products door to door and when pitching to investors. Born into poverty when her parents were only just out of slavery, Madame CJ Walker (Sarah) found her drive and went with it. It’s always inspiring to see someone work hard to change the world, for themselves and the people around them. The rivalry between Walker and the lady who introduced the product that would change her life is unfortunate and there are cliques from the philandering husband to the powerful men only after one thing. All true I’m sure although I wondered why she took her husband’s entire name for her brand. Different times I guess., which also explains why the products were made to ‘tame’ the hair whereas now we’re all about the natural hair movement.

Look out for the unexpected dream sequences.