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We are back for another post for Delux Designs (DE), LLC television and movie review blog segment, DeluxEdition. With everything going on with this year’s current COVID-19, I have had the opportunity to catch up on a ton of the latest movies and television shows. First on my list to check out was the new Self Made: Inspired By the Life of Madam C.J. Walker Netflix series. Before you continue reading on this post please note that there are spoilers here so do not continue reading if you have not watched the new film and don’t wish to know what happens beforehand.
If you have watched check out our review below!
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Octavia Spencer plays the role of iconic and legendary self made millionaire Sarah Breedlove also known as Madam C.J. Walker. She depicts and shows the struggles of how Walker had to overcome colorism from her own friend early on in her pursuit to provide a better life for herself and her family as a wash woman. Due to how she looked and how another African American woman whom was a lighter shade in skin tone than her perceived her to be, she had to battle through a lot of emotional barriers in order to get her own products off the ground after she was not allowed to simply sell another woman’s products just to make some money as a salesman.
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Carmen Ejogo plays the role of Addie. Addie is a friend of Madam C.J. Walker that basically tries out her own hair products onto Sarah’s hair from time to time in exchange for Walker to wash her clothes. Walker wants to help her sell her latest hair products but Addie doesn’t think that’s a good idea due to Walker’s darker skin tone & coarse hair. She believes that darker colored women can not attract the same amount of consumers as an African American woman that is of a darker shade, basically colorism against her own race. This act of colorism leads her in a downward slope for her life from that point forward.
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Madam C.J. Walker’s husband, Charles James Walker, is played by actor Blair Underwood. You can tell upfront that he is a businessman that loves and adores his wife and family dearly. He really helped her not only emotionally but financially as her business partner to get her brand off the ground fully from the start of Walker’s business endeavors. Things began to become shaky with his business relationship with his wife due to him not feeling included as Sarah always referred to the business as hers and not a team effort for the two of them.
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John Robinson is played by actor J. Alphonse Nicholson. He is the husband of Madam C.J. Walker and Charles Walker’s daughter. He is frowned upon early on to date their daughter due to him being a musician and wanting to open up a nightclub. He ends up marrying their daughter and working with Madam C.J. Walker’s company but things got tricky with their trust for him when the house the company developed from ended up catching on fire and hindering the company’s success.
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Actress Tiffany Haddish plays the role of Lelia, the daughter of Madam C.J. Walker and Charles Walker. She is one of the first people that Madam C.J. Walker tests her products out on. She seems to have a good heart and ends up falling in love with John Robinson whom she soon marries and brings into Madam C.J. Walker’s business & growing brand. But her true colors begin to show clearly soon enough that she wants something very different than what her parents and even her husband want for her.
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Cleophus is the father of Charles James Walker, played by Garrett Morris. He is what you would call an old head with old wisdom. He lends a helping hand and some knowledge here and there about staying on course with the business from time to time.
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Esther is played by Mouna Traoré. She first starts off as a worker for Madam C.J. Walker but soon becomes very acquainted with Lelia– in a negative manner towards Lelia’s marriage.
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Booker T. Washington’s wife, Margaret Washington, became a huge asset and one of the strongest supporters for Madam C.J. Walker and her brand. Played by Kimberly Huie, she was the stepping stone towards Walker moving forward with her plans to build a factory for her product line when Walker had lost all hope and strength to fight for her dreams.
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Dora Larrie becomes a huge problem for Madam C.J. Walker and her brand. Played by Sydney Morton, it starts with her sabotaging ways towards Walker’s marriage to Charles, and moving on to her spitefulness towards Walker’s business with the help of Walker’s top competitor Addie and her husband Charles Walker’s misdeeds.
I have been binging some old favorites and looking at some new releases. This is on my list in Netflix. I always try to watch these types of films — I get to learn about people who we typically don’t see on TV or movies. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome and thank you for visiting and reading our post. It’s a really great film and tells the life behind a legendary woman that no one has really told before.
Just finished watching this short series also! I liked it… although they could have spaced it into more episodes!
I do agree I think it should have extended out with more episodes to give more details especially towards when she became successful in her business.