I’m a fan of Taraji P. Henson. I love all the characters he’s played, especially as Cookie on Fox’s Empire. She always exhibits a level of sincerity, determination, and tenacity as an actress. For me, her characters are always very relatable and multidimensional. She is like your favorite cousin, keeping her as a real auntie, friend who has your back. When I saw the Sony/Screen Gems action thriller proud mary Last weekend I was impressed with Taraji again. But not because the movie was great.

I enjoyed the movie but proud mary it was not a box office success, grossing around $14 million in its second weekend amid projections of $20 million in its opening weekend, and debuted in eighth place as a box office opener. The movie did, however, break even, so that’s always a good thing, especially since Taraji has executive producer credits.

There were elements of the movie that were missing (the production quality could have been better, the writing could have been more precise, he would have liked a better construction at the beginning and more action in the middle, maybe his confrontation with another woman, something that her Cookie character does it perfectly), and the acting of several characters wasn’t up to par (what happened with Danny Glover and Billy Brown). But looking beyond all of that to focus on Taraji’s character, Mary, she entertainingly (if stereotypically) plays a fearless, badass, and gun-toting female assassin who displays maternal instincts, empathy, and survival skills to protect the character from Jahi Wilson, Danny. , the son of one of her victims.

As a rare movie buff but an avid supporter of black female lead roles, I always look beyond the entertainment aspect of movies and focus my understanding on the character’s backstory and its reflection of social norms, values, and beliefs. beliefs. Mary’s backstory was not fully fleshed out, but the story was clear enough to determine that she was an orphan fostered by a crime family who had an encounter that woke her up. She decided to take back her life, her goals and dreams as she gave Danny the chance to experience motherly love, hope and stability. Trying to regain control of a patriarchal environment is a familiar script many women face as they navigate their lives, but just like a bad movie, there are always some takeaways worthy of any experience.

• Trust your gut. Mary’s career choice was more about survival numbing her actions and ruling her life. But when she saw the boy in her brand’s house inadvertently playing video games, her instincts told her it was time to move on, but not without curiosity or concern about who she was leaving behind. She thought of the boy often and kept an eye on him. She recognized that a life change was due. As women, we are uniquely gifted and often know when we have a bad job, toxic relationships, and unhealthy life choices. We must remember that it is our divine nature to trust our gut feeling and know when it is time to make a change to do what is right, not only for ourselves, but often for others. Let’s not ignore that annoying feeling or signal that we know is destined to get our attention.
• Be willing to start over. The organized crime family decided that Mary’s destiny was to murder people. She had to leave behind a child orphan to realize that her life was more valuable than that, so she decided to remake it, to live her life differently and on her own terms. Redoing can happen at any time, age, or stage of life, but a person must be willing to let go of the past and anything negative that weighs them down. Unlike in the movie, I am NOT suggesting going extreme and eliminating an entire family, but there is no shame in distancing yourself from people who are keeping you in a bad place due to their lifestyle, actions, dysfunction, and/or attitudes. It is possible to get over people and move on, especially after we have learned the lesson they were meant to teach us in our life.
• You can always make a difference. Danny needed Mary in his life as much as she needed him. He found out that his mother left him and he felt abandoned, and that his father was not a nice guy. Just the bit of compassion she showed him softened it knowing that someone cared for him. We never know someone’s story and the impact life has had on them. Children become the adults we interact with and it’s sincerity and small kindnesses that can make all the difference, like a smile, holding the door for the person behind you, a quick email, a text or phone call to let someone know you were thinking of. them, a genuine compliment, or just pay it back in your own unique way with the expectation of only good karma from the Universe.