Queen and Slim was brought into movie theaters in late November of last year. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to catch it when it was first released. Lucky for me, Georgia State’s Cinefest featured this lovely film last week.
Side note: The Cinefest is free to all Georgia State students. Check out the movie calendar here.
Queen and Slim explored an alternate story to the term “ride or die.” I enjoyed watching the bond between Queen and Slim. Even though the majority of the time these two fought like cats and dogs, they demonstrated strong loyalty with one another.
In retrospect, Queen and Slim explore the difficulty of black bonds and relationships. Queen deals with some unspoken family traumas, causing her to be portrayed as very “strong and hard.” She has a guard up for most of the movie. She stands on her own, which is very admirable.
After developing some sort of trust from Slim, she is able to feel more comfortable. It’s interesting to see how their bond expands with these feelings of love, trust and unity.
Typically, in movies and television, African-American couples are portrayed by a light-skinned woman and a dark-skinned man. Colorism in film and media is prevalent in today’s society. The National Museum of African American History and Culture explains that fair-skinned African-Americans received roles easier than darker African-Americans, simply for the color of their skin. Queen and Slim were faced with a double stigma. Both characters are darker skinned African-Americans. They are subjected to more harassment than a couple of a mixed color.
There’s also this concept of black solidarity. For instance, the black police officer, who was supposed to be on the lookout for Queen and Slim, actually discovered and let them go in a car. Another example is of the black mechanic, who disliked Queen and Slim’s actions, actually helped them despite his disapproval. It’s interesting to see how the black people coordinate to “protect” one another. It’s this recognition of trust that a community is supposed to have with each other.
There is also the aspect of distrust. The ending involved a black man selling Queen and Slim out for financial gain. In reality, our community lacks trust within each other. “Money rules everything,” they say. Financial gain is important especially with those in poverty or instability.
We could turn a blind eye on a situation that needs attention. We could pretend and not acknowledge the pains that we deal with. There is no trust. We must uphold our community and establish a communal trust.