Woman King and Dahomey Amazons | Based on a True Story

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Күн бұрын

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The Woman King seems like a strange movie for me to review. Everyone was clowning on it because of how inaccurate the premise is, so why even subject myself to that? Well firstly, the Agojie or Amazons of Dahomey are a fascinating topic. For real they are the only time in recorded history of real life Amazons, as in a warrior class composed of only women. Even more interesting, they existed during the hey-dey of the trans-Atlantic slave trade on the Ivory Coast. Indeed, their existence was predicated on that, as we will see.
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Bibliography
Stanley B. Alpern, Amazons of Black Sparta: The Women Warriors of Dahomey, with a new preface (1998; reprint, New York: New York University Press, 2011). amzn.to/3qa9U81
Edna G. Bay, Wives of the Leopard: Gender, Politics, and Culture in the Kingdom of Dahomey (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1998). amzn.to/45AuLl5
Patrick Manning, Slavery, Colonialism and Economic Growth in Dahomey, 1640-1960 (1982; reprint, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002). amzn.to/45whbz7
J. Cameron Monroe, The Precolonial State in West Africa: Building Power in Dahomey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014). amzn.to/3MBDESJ
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Wiki: The Woman King is a 2022 American drama about the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. Set in the 1820s, the film stars Viola Davis as a general who trains the next generation of warriors to fight their enemies. It is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens, based on a story she wrote with Maria Bello. The film also stars Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and John Boyega.
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Hashtags: #history #TheWomanKing #Dahomey #review #BasedOnATrueStory
chapters
0:00 intro
3:10 magic spoon
4:28 reality
11:15 scholarship
12:53 accuracy
14:25 inaccuracy
20:06 outtakes

Пікірлер: 358

@CynicalHistorian 11 ай бұрын

Use my code CYNICALHISTORIAN to get $5 off your delicious, high protein Magic Spoon cereal by clicking this link: sponsr.is/magicspoon_cynicalhistorian Click "read more" for further info, corrections, and bibliography Thanks for watching! Please consider supporting the channel by buying merch: teespring.com/stores/the-cynical-historian Or by donating to my Patreon: www.patreon.com/CynicalHistorian *[reserved for Errata]* *Related videos* Braveheart: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jM51lsl-lZOpaYE.html Hamilton: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hbhjgs2n3duzh58.html Based on a True Story playlist: kzfaq.info/sun/PLjnwpaclU4wVzPp-sQVV48cdfyeg9G5JJ *Bibliography* Stanley B. Alpern, Amazons of Black Sparta: The Women Warriors of Dahomey, with a new preface (1998; reprint, New York: New York University Press, 2011). amzn.to/3qa9U81 Edna G. Bay, Wives of the Leopard: Gender, Politics, and Culture in the Kingdom of Dahomey (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1998). amzn.to/45AuLl5 Patrick Manning, Slavery, Colonialism and Economic Growth in Dahomey, 1640-1960 (1982; reprint, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002). amzn.to/45whbz7 J. Cameron Monroe, The Precolonial State in West Africa: Building Power in Dahomey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014). amzn.to/3MBDESJ

@bradhorowitz2765 11 ай бұрын

THERE is a story to be told here. Here’s how I’d do it- make it fictional historical. That way you CAN tell the story of a woman riding up with a militia to kill slave traders. You could have the women heroes slowly realize what the slave trade is doing. They see their sons both becoming perpetrators and victims. They decide that they must embark on killing the white slavers. Afterall, but the cancer beat the dieases. They start a slow rebellion, but things go south once their own kin, their leaders, turn on them-betraying them to slave hunters/traders. The women realize that their society is complicit, for both naive, practical, . And immoral reasons. This way you can show the complexities of the slave trade. Showing bith how societies willingly dealt slaves, and how the European market coerced groups into the trade. You’d avoid the racist “black people did slaves so no reparations” trope but REALLY explore the reality of slavery. So as our heroes numbers dwindle, viola Davis decides attack the largest slave town/trader site with her followers. They realize they CANNOT kill slavery. But maybe they can go out saving another life. Most of the heroes die, saving their sons and daughters, bloody battle, but the film leaves us wondering g “was this worth it?” Wont the slave cycle continue? With harsher punishments for those who rebel? Wont the freed captives jsut be recaptured? Especially if their language is different from the mainstream groups living in the area? So we the audience see the cruelty of the slave trade-the endless evil. But it allows us to think that maybe, heroes should arise even if they don’t make a long term change. Afterall, isn’t one life worth it?

@LadyTylerBioRodriguez 11 ай бұрын

Moral of the story. Whitewashing women who were involved in the slave trade to make them girl bosses is a bad idea.

@ebrimajallow9631 11 ай бұрын

As an african i hate this movie.

@jalejablonsky2396 11 ай бұрын

I know of your name. You know someone called Gumgum? If yes, they say hi.

@masonarmand8988 11 ай бұрын

@@ebrimajallow9631 as an american we do too

@hemmingwayfan 11 ай бұрын

I'm looking at you Jada Pincket-Smith

@starmaker75 11 ай бұрын

Especially for the people that helped set up institutional racism in USA(and other American countries)

@MadeleineTakam 11 ай бұрын

I am Bamileke, but I have a few Fon friends. Most people are proud of their tribal history. However, no Fon would ever refer to themselves as decedents of the Dahomey. That says all you need to know about how badly this film was received in many parts of Nigeria, Togo, Cameroon and even to some extent in Benin. The woman king statue in Benin has already been defaced once with pig’s blood. Quite a feat considering the ridiculous monstrosity is 100 feet tall. But hey governments and their tone-deaf tourism push. It is highly appropriate that the statue was constructed by the North Koreans.

@MrGksarathy 11 ай бұрын

That is actually kind of funny. Even the Fon know how awful Dahomey was and how many of their own were enslaved by the kingdom.

@holdenennis 10 ай бұрын

Is that why Dahomey was renamed Benin?

@MadeleineTakam 10 ай бұрын

@@holdenennis It was changed only in 1975 to the Peoples Republic of Benin under the Marxist government, who were by nature extremely anti-slavery and anti-colonialism. So possibly you might be right. I think it was only changed to République du Bénin in 1990. If you look at the Demographics on Wikipedia you will see that there are no tribal groups that call themselves Dahomey. Fon (38.4%) Adja & Mina (15.1%) Yoruba (12%) Bariba (9.6%) Fula (8.6%) Ottamari (6.1%) Yoa-Lokpa (4.3%) Dendi (2.9%) Other (2.8%) Although as a realist and pessimist, I have a welling sickness, that because of this silly American movie, that was not made for an African audience that some fools might start calling themselves Dahomey once again. The Americans will then have achieved their objectives then of pushing guilt on to others totally bypassing colonialism. Which I feel was probably the objective.

@woodsmand 7 ай бұрын

pigs blood thats epic

@kindomofghana 6 ай бұрын

and yet, all the reviews I've seen on YT of Africans reacting to this movie are mostly of Nigerians and a Ghanaian saying how wonderful this movie is.

@michaelsinger4638 11 ай бұрын

There is a fascinating complex story to be told here. But you have to tell it warts and all. Lupita Nyong’o pulled out of this film after learning more about the real history.

@DiamondKingStudios 11 ай бұрын

Good on her. Cooler heads ought to prevail.

@MrGksarathy 11 ай бұрын

@@kudjoeadkins-battle2502She spent a good deal of her life in Kenya even if she was born abroad because her family fled Kenya.

@MrGksarathy 11 ай бұрын

@@kudjoeadkins-battle2502 Yeah, I misunderstood your point a bit.

@SomasAcademy 11 ай бұрын

~17:20 They didn't have gold to sell, Dahomey was a net importer of gold, there weren't significant gold deposits in the region, so there's another baffling thing in that line.

@sramspoker 11 ай бұрын

My standard for historical movies is I'm willing to forgive underemphasizing, sanitizing, or ignoring the unsavory elements of people or groups. But when a movie says, "No! No! They didn't do x," when they totally did x... Well that's where I start drawing hard lines.

@GuineaPigEveryday 11 ай бұрын

Yeah for me im a history student but i dont care if films fictionalise, as long as its not insulting and disrespectful to the history. This is. Because its downright an insult to the real history to turn it into some patronising pretentious modern revisionist blockbuster. Its like 300 (which i understand is a graphic novel, still shit), where they claim to be all about freedom and anti-slavery when the real historical figures were the absolute opposite, not fighting against slavery whatsoever. Enemy at the Gates and Pearl Harbour are great examples too, sensationalised fake bullshit that was unnecessary for how inherently interesting the real history was

@Theo-bk6qj Ай бұрын

@@GuineaPigEveryday To be far to 300, it is most accurate for an unreliable and bias narration (in this case, the Spartans) and this type of things does happen a lot in Ancient Greece. They would paint themselves in the most positive way while their enemies (the Persian) as the worse of the worse.

@gamebawesome 11 ай бұрын

In all seriousness, thank you for doing this episode. I would've been very interested in a movie about the Agojie, and more historical movies on African kingdoms, as so many have fascinating histories that need more attention. But this movie completely screwed it up.

@jeremyxavier2297 11 ай бұрын

Finally a proper critique of the movie's inaccuracy without feeling like a reactionary video. Admittedly I enjoyed it like I did with braveheart, but it's hard to look past the film downplaying how ruthless the tribe was in real life. Thank you for continuing to make these videos.

@Astrodam1991 11 ай бұрын

Agreed. Too much of those have the word woke in it to be worth something.

@chasformer3091 11 ай бұрын

At least Braveheart was about a heroic historical figure. Notice how I said HEROIC!

@riograndedosulball248 11 ай бұрын

@@chideraalexanderdex547 the movie 300 is told from the perspective of Dilios, a story teller. who was recounting the last stand at the Thermopilae to Greek kings, and clearly exaggerating about it, in order to convince them to form a unified reaction against Persia. I would rather have phrased it in less aggressive manners but I'm with no patience for such kindness today. Die.

@brotlowskyrgseg1018 11 ай бұрын

@@chideraalexanderdex547 I've watched 300. For all it's many faults, the movie at least doesn't portray the Spartans as abolitionists, or even pretends to be historically accurate. I mean, most of the cast are a bunch of bodybuilders in swim trunks, magic is real, Xerxes is a literal god, goat people are a thing, etc... Also, the main complaint here isn't against African history, but a movie that actively erases it.

@mollkatless 11 ай бұрын

@@chideraalexanderdex547 What a silly post, what is your point, that we should all celebrate lies about the racial/ethnic group we come from? How about if we just reject lies, regardless if they are lies we like? You silly-sillly-silly fatuous little man

@davidogundipe808 11 ай бұрын

As person who knows the history of the Dahomey Amazon's, and its war with the Oyo empire, and other stuffs you're coverage of the movie is awesome. Oyo is pronounced, 'O-yaw, Abeokuta is pronounced Ah-beh-kutah. Btw, if you want to know more Yoruba words, I'm willing to be of service.

@CynicalHistorian 11 ай бұрын

Huh, I was pretty sure I was getting Oyo correct at least 😅. The movie pronounced it my way too, so they got that incorrect too

@davidogundipe808 11 ай бұрын

@@CynicalHistorianno biggie.

@josephwolf7552 11 ай бұрын

I never watches the movie , not because people where dog piling the movie. It was because I was confused by title Women = feminine King = masculine We have a a confusing title You wouldn’t say the men queen , just call it the queen of Africa.

@davidogundipe808 11 ай бұрын

@@josephwolf7552 you'll be surprised that they're female kings, and not queens in Yoruba history.

@suspicious241 11 ай бұрын

@@josephwolf7552 If I remember correctly, Jadwiga was crowned as the King of Poland in the 14th century. I dont see why it it is confusing if a woman is called a king. it just means that the society in question viewed the title of king as more gender ambiguous than you do. Also one might say Man Queen if the histories of most societies had been female dominated and Queen was seen as the default title of a ruler.

@brotherjay4614 11 ай бұрын

I really wished they made movies with less good guys and bad guys in history. It’s far more interesting to see all the gritty details. Like that wall with heads on top was really cool to know

@arturocavendish6859 11 ай бұрын

I think David Lean's historical epics did a good job of that. Lawrence of Arabia definitely portrayed the British, Arabs, and Ottomans in less stringent morality. Ryan's Daughter portrayed the Irish and English as just people living their lives in a remote village but on different sides. Bridge over the River Kwai has complex characters where only one of the main characters come off as decent. Dr Zhivago portrays the White and Red Russians as committing atrocities. I think that form of story telling, following one person through different sides that both did bad things, is an effective presentation of history.

@GuineaPigEveryday 11 ай бұрын

@@arturocavendish6859perfectly said. Lawrence of Arabia has no mustache-twirling villains, it only has different parties and groups fighting for their own interests. Look, im all for anti-colonial films but no one wants the same boring ass two-dimensional villains on either side. Then again i think Lawrence of Arabia has nonetheless received accusations of orientalism, which is understandable but far dismisses the nuance of that movie.

@SaltoDaKid 10 ай бұрын

Cause the 14 rated system is broken film studio think adults don’t watch as much movie as children or teenagers. Which tell you how dumb these film studio are in rather tone down history and theme, just keep rating at a “family friendly level”

@thfkmnIII 5 ай бұрын

It's a movie with black ppl and european imperialists. Pretty obvious how morally ubambiguous it's gonna be

@HistoryandHeadlines 11 ай бұрын

I really like watching these "History vs. Hollywood" kind of videos!

@IaMaPh1991 11 ай бұрын

The thing that bothered me most about the controversy surrounding this movie was less so its inaccuracies, egregious as they are, and moreso the sycophants who vilified anyone who didnt want to see this movie, even if those people had legitimate reasons for choosing not to watch it. Basically it was more or less: "Hmmm i was going to see this movie, but I've heard its inaccurate and full of historical revisionism, so Im not going to support that" "Then youre a racist/sexist/something-something-phobe!" "No... i just dont want to go see a movie that blatantly lies to its audience about historical events, pats itself on the back, and expects us to affirm, praise, and support it for doing so" "Whatever bigot! Go burn a cross in front of an abortion clinic!"

@MrChickennugget360 10 ай бұрын

thats the main problem with "wokeness" it uses arbitrary attacks of racism and or sexism to bully people into control. the most dangerous aspect of wokeism is its being weaponized by powerful financial interests to try to shame people into supporting films, or movements. people can freely debate racism and sexism but when perfectly legit criticism can be dismissed with "you're a racist" then you know you are not dealing with legit moral concerns. its not like we have not seen this kind of stuff before from earlier generations of moralizers.

@SageThyme23 11 ай бұрын

I want so bad for there to be a actually good movie covering this period that actually deals with these issues rather than using it as set dressing to tell the story they want to hear

@yaqbulyakkerbat4190 11 ай бұрын

"Based" on a true story. I think my favorite definitely true part of the movie was the queen using her matrix powers to absorb the kinetic energy of every fired bullet and convert it into devastating laser vision. The kaiju scene was a little unbelievable, but only because I don't think they ever had horses that big or with that many tank treads.

@dimitriosdrossidis9633 11 ай бұрын

I am glad someone is rightfully pointing out the shortcomings of the movie. You can't just represent slavers as people we should aspire to be, while ignoring the very people that were silenced because of them.

@MichelWALTER-gk7rr 11 ай бұрын

Such a pity that lots of efforts were made on custumes and buildings. And the history so badly warped.

@olasmedby4894 11 ай бұрын

@@chideraalexanderdex547 300 is not pretending to tell a historically accurate story. It’s an obvious work of fiction.

@dimitriosdrossidis9633 11 ай бұрын

@@chideraalexanderdex547 first of all, I didn't see the movie till I was 17, secondly I actually did complain, both about the portrayal of the persians as well as the comic it imitated Thirdly and I can not stress this enough, things can be independently awful of one another. Bad history is bad history, doesn't matter which region or time period

@olasmedby4894 11 ай бұрын

@@chideraalexanderdex547 I really can’t tell if most people view 300 as a historically accurate depiction of events that took place 2500 years ago, some probably do which is kind of sad in my view. But i have not heard the creator of the comic book or the creators of the film make assertions of historical accuracy, unlike the creators of the woman king who seem to say it is the literal historical truth, although in dramatized form, that they are presenting.

@williampearson6299 11 ай бұрын

@@MichelWALTER-gk7rr Like most white historic movies where they portray people who are supposed to villains as heroes?

@clarenceonyekwere5428 11 ай бұрын

Haven't been able to watch the movie because I hail from the region and know some of the history + family and friends who research this specific topic for a living. The premise just feels absurd. I'd like more west African history in movies but would like it done well, there's a lot of interesting stuff.. From the history of Lagos and the Yoruba (+ dahomey) warring era, the Fula Empires etc there is a lot to be explored.

@colonelweird 11 ай бұрын

It's hard to believe this could happen. I hate to say it, but it's almost as if Hollywood is more interested in money than historical accuracy.

@ericvulgate 11 ай бұрын

As a white man this movie didn't make me feel represented.

@trey5747 11 ай бұрын

@@ericvulgateyou guys have representation in every major movie, people of color should have equal amounts of good representation in medintoo

@philkensebben157 11 ай бұрын

@@trey5747 oops, you missed the /s

@trey5747 11 ай бұрын

@@philkensebben157 wym

@philkensebben157 11 ай бұрын

@@trey5747 If you seriously don't understand /s, you don't belong on the internet, my sweet summer child. This is your only explanation: /s stands for sarcasm. I realize @eric vulgate didn't use /s at the end of their statement, but it should be clear as glass that was the intent.

@pbh9195 11 ай бұрын

I had no intention of seeing this movie (at not until the contraversy subsides) But when you mentioned that Briona Tayler drop at the end just made my jaw drop in the worst way possible how the exployted a horrible tragic victim of police brutality and somehow work that into this film? Thats just so pathetic

@MicaiahBaron 11 ай бұрын

@@mjwbulich Except that's a lie? She was shot in her sleep.

@whm_w8833 11 ай бұрын

@@mjwbulichthat was self defense. This is a police issue of how they do raids.

@n00bcreeper45 11 ай бұрын

@@mjwbulich Her boyfriend did not get in trouble for shooting at the police because he thought they were not the police. The police were reckless and fired blindly into the apartment from outside after the shooting started. @MicaiahBaron She didn't die in her sleep, she was woken up by the police raid and died in the hallway. You should read about the incident because the police were absolutely in the wrong but if she were killed in her sleep this would be an entirely different issue, one of murder, not criminal negligence.

@Pantsinabucket 11 ай бұрын

@@mjwbulichso it’s not the police’s fault that they raided the wrong house, without announcing their presence, shot first, and then attempted to imprison her boyfriend for shooting back at armed intruders and speaking out about their wrongdoing?

@vrcngtrx3856 11 ай бұрын

Wow. How is it that there are still people believe she was shot in her sleep?

@gumgumdookuin7963 11 ай бұрын

I fear Cyber having to face the greatest controversy by the internet….. the Cleopatra documentary.

@ultrasonic4220 11 ай бұрын

I turned into Anakin when I saw this pop on my notification feed: This is where the fun begins.

@nachoolo 11 ай бұрын

The Woman King feels like the African American (not African) version of Braveheart: a profoundly anachronistic film that serves American nationalism, rather than being a good representation of the people, or events, that they saying that they are representing. Presenting the events as basically black-and-white morality is a good example of this nationalistic lens. As, in the national narrative, there's no place for the ambiguity of real-life. Thus the necessity of purging slavery from a slaver kingdom. That said. The Woman King is not special in this department. If anything, it is sadly the norm. The problem here is that this is the first time we see an African Kingdom be the protagonist of a blockbuster film. And they ended up making Braveheart.

@sacha9593 10 ай бұрын

Bravehart does not glorify slavers as anti-slavery heroes. This is a false equivalency. The Birth of a Nation would be a better point of comparison.

@Valkanna.Nublet 11 ай бұрын

Thank you for a calm, detailed description of the history without overly politicising it from either side.

@EilonwyG 11 ай бұрын

This is such a bummer. I had been so interested in this movie. I mean, badass warrior women in a time and place never really depicted before? I was so in! Now I'm sad by now terrible they actually depicted the history. Thank you for doing this. At least now I know.

@whm_w8833 11 ай бұрын

Welcome to imperial life. Only badass military people are imperial.

@margaretwordnerd5210 11 ай бұрын

I intend to see the movie after doing more research so in my imagination the film is more accurate. Still all the cool movie stuff but with less dishonesty. Too bad I can't save my version to DVD.

@SaltoDaKid 10 ай бұрын

You can still watch it, but learn the history as this just fantasy history, kinda like Viking or Hamilton. I still like those show/movie but they are historically wrong.

@thfkmnIII 5 ай бұрын

They were honestly more of a status symbol for the king as his property, kind of lile Ghadaffi's all-female guard. And in (i tbink) in their only recorded battle, they got wrecked by a French bayonet charge

@sagand 11 ай бұрын

I really didn't expect to ever see new movie made where entire premise seems to be "Make slavers cool again". The mental gymnastics needed to make this movie actually happen with this story and these characters must have been truly unbelievable.

@MrGksarathy 11 ай бұрын

It almost feels like Black Supremacist/Hotep propaganda.

@Crazael 11 ай бұрын

16:16 I think my favorite part of that is how casual it all is. She blocks the bullet, drops her weapon and without even a moment's hesitation, her friend hands her a new one as if this is something that just happens all the time.

@recyclebin 11 ай бұрын

I like how everyone in 19th century Dahomey had a Nigerian accent. Hello, Hollywood! Africa's bigger than just one country.

@wrestlinganime4life288 11 ай бұрын

Sick and tired of that accent honestly we don't speak like that

@GuineaPigEveryday 11 ай бұрын

Its hilarious that movies advertised to be politically correct and writing the ‘real’ history thats been covered up by colonial narratives, instead ends up enforcing the same stereotypes. Weirdly enough that new Cleopatra show does the same thing by the very racist assumption that anyone African must be black, (even if Cleopatra is greek, let alone living in North Africa). Its sad because you even see these stereotypes among the African-Americans community.

@theelectricprince8231 11 ай бұрын

250 million people bro 😭😭😭

@Sedgewise47 9 ай бұрын

Oh what’s next? Are you gonna complain about all the cinematic depictions of British people living in Roman Antiquity?

@NisarKhan-jm1uh 9 ай бұрын

I mean Dahomey is on the land on what is now Benin which is right next to Nigeria

@bobbybooshay5388 11 ай бұрын

Honestly we should probably stop making brutal slave empires look cool in films because they fought good. Still bothers me that Spartans and Vikings get a pass though, even though they did the same things as the Oyo empire.

@DiamondKingStudios 11 ай бұрын

Here in the southeastern US, Spartans are seen as some of the most awesome warriors ever, probably something further spurred on by _300_ and historical documentaries. I feel like the love of Sparta probably goes deeper, given similarities between Spartan society and the antebellum South.

@bobbybooshay5388 11 ай бұрын

@@DiamondKingStudios I've noticed sometimes it really does end at Woah Cool Soldier. But there are others who really like bigging up spartan society and don't like when the helots or the annual kill the smarter helots cullings get brought up.

@wrestlinganime4life288 11 ай бұрын

THANK YOU. 300 was such a bs movie and the depiction of the Persian was downright ridiculous. Yet reactionary don't have a problem with that because iTs JUst a Movie but with this one they scream for accuracy? And don't get me started on the Vikings.

@imyourdaddy5822 11 ай бұрын

@@wrestlinganime4life288Most people are smart enough to know that the real Persian empire didn't have war rhinos, or have goat men playing flute for them or howling murderous giants at their disposal, 300 is very clearly a historical fantasy, The Woman King is very clearly trying to pass itself off as a historical account.

@theelectricprince8231 11 ай бұрын

@@imyourdaddy5822stfu 😂😂😂. Most people (Americans) did not know that.

@captainahab1533 11 ай бұрын

Thank you so much. There are way too few level headed takes on movies like this in general and way too many anti-sjw rage-rants.

@jurtra9090 11 ай бұрын

How about Metatron's video?

@wrestlinganime4life288 11 ай бұрын

@@jurtra9090 he's honestly started to lean into that rabbit hole a tiny bit

@woodsmand 11 ай бұрын

@@jurtra9090 he's considered "reactionary" now

@jurtra9090 11 ай бұрын

@@woodsmand why?

@thfkmnIII 5 ай бұрын

@@woodsmandexplain

@SomasAcademy 11 ай бұрын

Pro-tip for trying to figure out how to pronounce historical African names: Most of the time if they were recorded by Early Modern Europeans, you can find a bunch of different ways of spelling the names of polities and figures, so you can often get a better idea by looking at the different spellings. For example, if you just see the spelling "Whydah," you might guess "Why-duh" like Cypher did, but if you see other spellings like "Hueda," "Whidaw," and "Ouidah," you can more easily guess the vowels. Doesn't always work though, some terms are just too hard to find alternate spellings for.

@LadyTylerBioRodriguez 11 ай бұрын

I definitely know Whydah being pronounced Whidaw. The Whydah pirate shipwreck museum drills into your head its Whidaw

@jtgd 11 ай бұрын

19:28 that’s because the whole movie is a recreation of political views of “black American ethnocentrism” about “Africans fighting back” rather than being “captured by Europeans”. Like I get the mentions of race in America, because chattel slavery in America (specifically the US) was explicitly racially divided and motivated, but that doesn’t mean slavers and the whole triangle exchange was solely to the benefit and solely caused by Europeans. Slavery is wrong period, regardless of who’s doing it. That should be the message of the movie, not portraying slavers, slave traders and slave holders as abolitionists trying to end slavery

@randallrona9618 11 ай бұрын

You know what. I am waiting for the sequel: the Man Queen. 😂🤣

@legitplayin6977 11 ай бұрын

I certainly liked the beginning “historicism used to complain about forced diversity”

@pbh9195 11 ай бұрын

I glad he attempts to separate himself from those Internet grifters

@josecarlosmoreno9731 11 ай бұрын

Why are you people so fucking tribalistic that you will only accept the truth if it comes from people you like?

@MrChickennugget360 10 ай бұрын

@@pbh9195 how do you know they are grifters? and what makes them different than everyone else on youtube? sounds like you are beating a strawman.

@yuriajones 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for making this video and telling the real history of the Agojie. I'd like to play devil's advocate though - Personally, I never saw this film as a historical adaptation, or "based on a true story", or anything of the sort. I saw it as a period film that showcases a little-known tribe of African female warriors. What I mean is, I expected the writers and director to take as much creative license as they saw fit, rather than try to tell the actual story of Dahomey. That said, I do think they went overboard with some parts of this story. It wasn't a 'tight' as a movie's narrative could be. But I think as a fictional film, it was enjoyable.

@sacha9593 10 ай бұрын

Not being historically accurate is one thing: yes a fictional movie can totally ignore historical reality and still be good (like Braveheart). Being negationist like this movie is something else entirely: it deliberately present slavers as anti-slavery heroes for purely ideological purpose.

@thfkmnIII 5 ай бұрын

Good job, you enjoyed the glorification of the african antebellum South

@lord_boneman 11 ай бұрын

Oh I've been looking forward to this episode. Obviously culture warriors ripped this to shred but seeing a historian go after it is even better.

@Astrodam1991 11 ай бұрын

What a coincidence. I was researching the controversy about this movie a couple days ago. This movie is the kind of warning about using the phrase ''based on a true story'' as a marketing tool. But your intro is also right in a way.

@MrNegativecreep07 11 ай бұрын

Ultimately I think the answer is that depicting the role that Africans had in the slave trade, whilst accurate, is just too politically uncomfortable to show.

@pascalausensi9592 11 ай бұрын

I think you could only do it in a movie about the slave trade as a whole, so you don't accidentally exonerate either the slavers, traders, or holders. Then again, such a movie, if done accurately, would be at least as horrifying as Come and See.

@SEAZNDragon 11 ай бұрын

Whenever the African role in the slave trade is brought up I've heard historians brush it off with how there was no pan-African identity at the time. While true it does fall flat when you got an African king trying to curtail the slave trade only to get overthrown by his brother who ramped it back up. And that's before you go into how slavery just sucks in general no matter who practiced it. I also thought the Breanna Taylor mention at the end was telling though. I noticed a trend in the Black Lives Matter movement to call those killed by police Like Taylor "martyrs" which never sat right with me. Martyrs are people who face persecution and death for political or religious beliefs. Taylor was asleep when she was killed and probably didn't even know police were serving a warrant on her. But it's probably call a victim of a senseless police shooting a martyr to give their death some meaning.

@BantuRH 11 ай бұрын

nah that's just your little white mind at play

@frakjohnson2494 11 ай бұрын

@@SEAZNDragon Don't think a martyr always HAS to choose their martyrdom... people can be martyred for a cause, during their lives or posthumously.

@johnxina5126 11 ай бұрын

A good depiction would probably be showing Europeans and Africans actively involved in harmony with each other. Did Africans enslave other Africans and sell them off to Europeans? Yes, but also show the European demand for slaves that served as the incentive for African slave traders.

@THEWORLDROCKSSS 10 ай бұрын

we africans should be making movies about our own history not others

@gerihuginn2143 5 ай бұрын

It's the Dahomey version of Birth of a nation.

@jtgd 11 ай бұрын

1:06 yeah, then they get surprised when you point out people have been playing characters they don’t resemble/share qualities with all the time. Ivan Drago was a convincingly Russian looking guy. In reality, the actor is Swedish.

@jtgd 11 ай бұрын

Wish they’d just be as historically accurate as possible. Make it a realistic reenactment, not a feel good movie. Even if it’s inspired by real history, movies like Glory does a good job in mixing fictional characters in real situations. Saving private Ryan does the same

@Alte.Kameraden 11 ай бұрын

My quote about history which I've used since middle school is "History is the greatest Drama." ie there is no better story than reality.

@InquisitorThomas 11 ай бұрын

I don’t need 100% historical accuracy, and Film is a story telling medium, just for the love of god don’t depict a brutal slaving autocracy as plucky underdogs fighting for freedom, it’s not that much to ask for.

@GuineaPigEveryday 11 ай бұрын

Glory is a brilliant historical film, and absolutely the model to follow, creating great characters that fit within historical events and just being overall respectful to history even if they have to fictionalise some events. Same with Last of the Mohicans, very fictionalised but created within a real historical basis. I don’t know, I don’t mind historical inaccuracies as long as they’re not insultingly excessive or contradicting to the point of being completely fictional. E.g. Enemy at the Gates and Pearl Harbour are examples of just purely insulting ‘historical’ films. Stalingrad 1993 and even Midway are better examples, the latter might not be a brilliant film but it actually seems well-researched.

@Alte.Kameraden 11 ай бұрын

@@GuineaPigEveryday Glory is a childhood favorite. Liked how it showed Northerns being racist instead of just white knighting the Union. That Black people like Denzel's character could also be racist. It was about gained acceptance despite the persecution around them instead of being victims. Film was whole heartedly one of the best Black American films of all time. One of my favorite moments is the look on the Sergeant's face when he ripped Denzel's shirt off, seeing the scars, turning to Shaw giving him that stare. It highlights how many Union soldiers didn't really care about freeing the Slaves, not until they were brutally confronted with it's reality. Basically the Rebel's war only accelerated the downfall of Their "Peculiar" Institution... f***ing Confederates couldn't even say what they were fighting to preserve sometimes hiding it behind Peculiar Institution. But as Union soldiers witnessed it first hand the war evolved into a crusade.

@dx3217 11 ай бұрын

Its incredibly dificult to make a historic movie. Why? well its cause movies needs a antagonist and when dealing with history there is no villains or heroes only perspectives. This results in movies having issues like Brave heart just demonising the english crown. This is a common thing in the movie industry because a antagonist needs to exist to make a message across. History does not care about a story to tell to people. It tells what happened its just, events that happened sometimes connected sometimes they don't even make sense.

@Demolitiondude 11 ай бұрын

Can't wait for queen cleopatra.

@gamebawesome 11 ай бұрын

I've been waiting for this

@HistoryMonarch1999 11 ай бұрын

I’ll be honest I waited for someone like you to review it cause I legitimately did not trust anyone else who reviewed it cause I I knew they’d get really BAD and say it’s about history. Like I know it’s bad history just wanted to hear it from someone who wasn’t Yknow insane

@anybodysouthern9213 11 ай бұрын

I wouldn't mind this kind of movie if its a fictionalisation of history as long as it is not claiming it is "based on a true story" or some other kind of history rewriting. I think using history as a basis of lore can be fun for fiction.

@thescholar-general5975 11 ай бұрын

I totally hear you when it comes to the need to revitalize the study of military history in the west. The problem is that it is not valued in contemporary academia. It is almost impossible to get funding or accepted into graduate programs if the plan is to explicitly study military history. There are a few areas of military history which are slowly being looked at in depth with a much needed modern lens. The study of the mongol empire is probably the best known case, but on the whole this pales in comparison to studies on other topics related to ethnicity, gender, or religion. Those things are important, but I am definitely in the camp of wanting to bring back military history with a much needed facelift.

@Sgtklark 11 ай бұрын

A good film on this topic was Cobra Verde, which is based on the life of Francisco Félix de Sousa. It does no suffer from the delusions of The Woman King.

@ajemison3 11 ай бұрын

That palm oil line was the funniest line of the film to me. It was pretty good but looking back like wow they was wilding.

@Chloesinfrance 11 ай бұрын

Thank you for making a video on this it was really interesting to learn about the history of the actual tribe and the depictions the movie makes that are wrong

@warhammerHighElf 11 ай бұрын

Dr. Cypher! I'm glad you reviewed this film, I did like it, even if the history is basically nonexistent.

@sylviamontaez3889 11 ай бұрын

we couldve had an awesome film about haitian revolution but noo....

@shawnellesmith 10 ай бұрын

Yeah. Just don’t depict the part where the revolution ended with genocide of the entire white French and mulatto population.

@champagnefrank1664 3 ай бұрын

As a black woman in America, I really love that movie but at the same time things that you said seems like it could make sense so I appreciate you for inspiring me to go do more research on the subject because as a black woman in America that movie made me feel empowered #WrongOrRight

@VitoWolf-me3tq 11 ай бұрын

Very informative

@billy32burno 11 ай бұрын

Thanks! Man, please spread this video to any and everybody

@CynicalHistorian 11 ай бұрын

Thank you

@vrcngtrx3856 11 ай бұрын

Netflix’s African Queens series is pretty much doing the same, although not to as extreme of a degree as this film. Now that we’re getting more African history productions, it’s disappointing to see so much absurd revisioning.

@mnk9073 11 ай бұрын

People love to bring up how Europeans "bought" slaves in West Africa and "shipped" them to the Americas but they really hate to be asked who did the "selling" at the West African coast and the "hunting" of slaves in the back country.

@IceAxe1940 11 ай бұрын

There needs to be a market in order for supply to meet demand, without Europeans demanding slaves in the first place the slave traitors in Africa wouldn't have anyone to sell slaves to, which is the reason why they cought slaves was to trade things with European slave sellers.

@mnk9073 11 ай бұрын

@@IceAxe1940 The west african slave markets predate the first Portuguese to set foot on those shores by a long time. Sacrificing slaves predates European contact by a long time. Raiding your neighbours to take slaves and building your economies on their backs is an old and time honoured tradition in the region. The place was called "slave coast" and became one corner of the triangular trade because slaves were already sold there en masse to other African nations.

@TheBlackEsquire 11 ай бұрын

@@mnk9073it also wasn't race based chattel slavery. They didn't raid the coast of Italy after all

@mnk9073 11 ай бұрын

@@TheBlackEsquire You are aware that most Africans saw other tribes very much as "other" and "lesser" and a good part of them still do to this day? Today you lump them all into "black" but go tell a Hausa that he and an Igbo are the same and watch his reaction.

@TheBlackEsquire 11 ай бұрын

@@mnk9073 Still not the same. There has always been tribalism. Race is a construct of Europeans.

@SaintSteven67 11 ай бұрын

Thanks for enlightening me about something I had no idea of.

@ethankillion786 11 ай бұрын

This whole thing feels weird. Like the movie looks cool and interesting, and people are talking about how the performances and spectacle are great... but then tying it to an actually historical group and pretending they were fighting the good fight when they were basically doing the opposite is super odd. If they had just kept it all the same but made the characters and nation fictitious, it would have been so much better. I love the idea of seeing more colonial era movies from African perspective, even sensationalised a bit (like it looks/feels a bit like 300). But this feels like the wrong way to go about it.

@DrWare357 10 ай бұрын

Subscribed!!!!!!! 💯

@lv_coyote 11 ай бұрын

That list of festivities took a hard left

@ratbatnufftime2861 11 ай бұрын

Amazons of Black Sparta: The Women Warriors of Dahomey by Stanley B. Alpern . Came across a reference to this book yesterday in part 4 page 611 of "The Girl who kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson while I was reading it yesterday. Could be something worth looking into.

@faeembrugh 11 ай бұрын

Having lived and worked in Africa, I can state that often the attitude to Afro-Americans or West Indians can be a little...intolerant, due to being seen as descended from slaves.

@faeembrugh 11 ай бұрын

Nigeria and The Gambia and...sorry for for popping your balloon about what views people such as say , the Yoruba, might hold about the slavery of other 'lesser' Africans.

@PrinceZakariyya 11 ай бұрын

are u black?

@SpecialK234 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the nuanced analysis. Great to get a fair reading.

@lustrazor44 11 ай бұрын

This movie is like making a WWII movie about Nazis but they were freeing the Jews. It’s ridiculous.

@tereziamarkova2822 11 ай бұрын

Tbh I honestly don't think it's any worse than 300, but that's not saying much, because 300 is still pretty fucking bad. My only hope is that this movie will inspire someone, anyone to make a movie about the history of subsaharan Africa, but this time, you know. Good.

@redjirachi1 9 ай бұрын

I'm excited to see you analyze/tear into Netflix's Cleopatra. With how so many reviews are made by anti-woke grifters seeing an actual historian tackle it would be cathartic

@Ramondenner1991 11 ай бұрын

What i find funny about american slave movies is how Brazil/Portugal role is almost unexistent. But when you read history things get very dark real quick to the lusophone brothers All the blame goes to US and britain while the lusophones stay silent in the corner trying not be seen.

@ludovicusbathory1715 11 ай бұрын

I mean thats a American trait in general. White americans dont know jack or care about other nations in the context of history and nobody expects them to. Same applies to black Americans when the topic of slavery comes up black americans are only going to talk about what directly affected black Americans. Most wont care about the slave trade that happened to east africans and while some are aware of the slave trade in Latin America. Most simply wont care even the ones that do know wont care. So yeah blame america as a whole for breeding that type of mindset into people.

@140moorest 11 ай бұрын

A quick cursor history lesson on Dahomey debunks the trailer yet alone the movie. Thanks!

@pbh9195 11 ай бұрын

Do that Netflix Cleopatra debuckle

@vrcngtrx3856 11 ай бұрын

They could have easily just made an African version of Apocalypto and it would have been much more successful.

@captainjoshuagleiberman2778 11 ай бұрын

At one point the Royal Navy had a third of the fleet on slavery patrol off both West and East Africa. At first it might have been small but the RN's contribution increased significantly.

@Xyradia 11 ай бұрын

Veritas et Caritas channel did several in depth videos about this movie and the history it claims to portray. Worth a watch if your interested in more history! Oops, sorry! Enjoyable as always Cypher! :)

@michaelkilbride6420 9 ай бұрын

Oh, my goodness I just made a comment on history annoyances about this film, I didn’t realize that this existed 😮

@loner1878 11 ай бұрын

I'm all for pointing out what historical films get wrong, but can't help but notice the people screaming the loudest about the history in this film tend to be the same crowd that gets pissed and uses the "just a movie" line if you do the same to The Patriot or Braveheart lol

@wrestlinganime4life288 11 ай бұрын

Or Vikings. Like seriously the movie is innacurate but it acknowledge that African were involved in the slaves trade, some. Braveheart is just baffling

@thfkmnIII 5 ай бұрын

@@wrestlinganime4life288 you really downplaying this lil bro. Dahomey were one of the main slavers and didnt stop even after the british begged and bribed them. Then naturally the brits clapped them. Dahomey were not da homies to their neighbors and were basically the American South except with ritualistic cannibalism

@jorgezarco9269 11 ай бұрын

Your cat is adorable.

@admiralchancey 11 ай бұрын

I feel like this movie is to African people what Gods & Generals is to Americans

@admiralchancey 11 ай бұрын

@@admirekashiri9879 Yes, but the point still stands.

@admiralchancey 11 ай бұрын

@@admirekashiri9879 all I’m trying to say is this is a misguided attempt at portraying people as heroic figures despite the fact their legacy and reason for fighting being inherently tied to the system of slavery.

@bluegizmo84100 11 ай бұрын

This is frustrating because a large chunk of my history degree centered on Africa and I was excited to see how they approached the region/era. There are compelling historical dramas to be told in pre-colonial Africa, but this wasn't it.

@wrestlinganime4life288 11 ай бұрын

We're talking about Hollywood what do you expect

@Alte.Kameraden 11 ай бұрын

I often compare this film to a Holocaust movie that makes the SS and SD look like the good guys. Which we know would be absolutely bonkers to do, rather than giving us a proper film portraying the Holocaust from say the eyes of the SS which would be an amazing film personally. But I would be just as upset if someone dared to make a film like The Woman King but about the SS and then turn around painting them as something they were not. It isn't 'based on a true story' it's a complete distortion of history itself, and frustrating. I mean I can forgive a film for the sake of story telling for not being accurate, but this film is honestly worse than Gods and Generals, another film which distorts history honestly.

@f.prince6642 11 ай бұрын

The truth is so powerful I wonder why they believed people wouldn’t like it.

@davidm3118 9 ай бұрын

Although tangential to this, it should be noted that the USA refused to recognize Haiti because it was a Carribean state founded by slaves who rebelled and defeated their owners...

@jerranspearman3369 11 ай бұрын

good video

@charliespinks7203 11 ай бұрын

This is the first review of this movie I've watched because it's the first one I was sure wasn't gonna be a dumpster fire.

@bmobert 10 ай бұрын

Have you read the Flashman series? If so, what do you think of them?

@IzzysTravelDiaries 10 ай бұрын

How did I not see this before?

@mkdemigodzillawarrior 11 ай бұрын

Yeah, it was pretty hard to even look at the film once I learned they were activist participants to the slave trade yet the advertisements and interviews were trying to make it like they weren’t. I mean, I would love to learn about Africa before or during Colonialism, but not like this. If they really wanted to do this story, why not have the film focus on the Oyo Empire or any tribe who Dahomey targeted to get more slaves?

@mkdemigodzillawarrior 11 ай бұрын

@@admirekashiri9879 Oh.

@jalejablonsky2396 11 ай бұрын

"Ain't this a bitch." --BlacKkKlansman

@Angrenost02 11 ай бұрын

"Twisted from true history" would be more accurate.

@bandit6272 Ай бұрын

What I don't like (among other things) is that when they purport to bring us historical African stories, but screw it up THIS BADLY; they leave a bad taste in the mouths of the general public, possibly making them less likely to give such stories a chance in the future. Never mind that the historically minded among us will tell them that this bad movie isn't a good representation, the average person with their spare time at a premium may just switch off and not bother. This movie felt like one big "poisoning the well" exercise.

@vintageinidierocker 11 ай бұрын

Hahaha i am west African watch movie in cinema meaning i paid was so funny. I was like this is an Africa America imagintation of African History. I know it was made from a western audience. First they got the naming of the Yoruba incorrect at they keep himself king. Actually using the word king. Also the way the younger girl was talking to the general was very wrong culturally. In American the way she was talking back is seen as value, but in west africa that is seen as moral failing on her part. It is clearly american brave heart but based in west africa

@theshenpartei 11 ай бұрын

I was wondering when you going this movie

@arrownibent5980 11 ай бұрын

The way this movie contradicts history is absolutely distasteful, good job on expressing its absurdity in such a collected way because the atrocity denial made my jaw droo

@ACruelPicture 11 ай бұрын

8:43 - So that's were Cobra Verde came from

@yesyes-yf6jm 11 ай бұрын

Could you review a historical film made in the Philippines?

@prakyathkumar8618 11 ай бұрын

I think there should be a law that commercial film studio cannot make movies based off history like they take a lot of artistic liberties

@wrestlinganime4life288 11 ай бұрын

But what about freedom of expression? And honestly it should have happened a long time ago.

@christianweibrecht6555 11 ай бұрын

Maybe you could make a video Explaining why certain movies and t v shows were band by certain countries Example the star trek episode that Informed us which year of the irish unification will occur was banned in uk

@AbdulHannanAbdulMatheen 11 ай бұрын

👏😐 Very interesting

@jasonbelstone3427 11 ай бұрын

We wasted our time with African Braveheart when we could've gotten a Harem anime instead.

@notani3533 11 ай бұрын

If they ever make movie about Liberia, they'll show that everyone live in harmony before the 'foreigner' ruin them all.

@BlueSkyBS 11 ай бұрын

When cultural parochialism is combined with a local media and entertainment industry that dominates all others, the product can be, at best, misguided. At worst, fuel for the scorn of future historians.