Okay I finally have a little downtime and can discuss this. I'm not planning on writing about it. But honestly, the longer I sit with the movie, the more uncomfortable I am with the unreserved praise. https://twitter.com/_ShamGod/status/1340813125663281156

And this is not me singling any one person or critic out. I think an overarching issue I have with how we engage in reviews or criticism is - value affirmation does not, by default, make for a good performance.

like...being an interlocutor for commonly-understood tenets just isn't enough. How is it actually reflected and directed? What choices were made? Who is the intended audience? What implications are made by styling, shots, delivery?

I'm gonna largely focus on Viola but I will touch on a couple other parts. I understand *why* she was chosen - as a renowned performer who already has a personal affinity for August Wilson's body of work - but I really think she should have passed.

For one...she looks ridiculous with the "padding" (didn't realize this is what we called fatsuits now) on and anyone who says otherwise is lying.

Her movements were distractingly awkward - particularly during performances. And the way she talked about putting one on was just so gross. Fetishizing the beauty of a larger body only to run to shed the weight and promote the weight loss in the roll-out.

Add to that the vocals, which were painfully lipsynched and so off the barometer of her actual voice. They basically got what either was or what was instructed to sound like the modulations of a large Black woman to record???? Like why make this even more awkward???

They were actually recorded by the LEGEND Maxayn Lewis so...there you have that.

So many stretches, because of just the awkwardness of mobility around her body and the way they shot her, were honestly hollow to the point of caricature, and at some points very mammifying - to the point that I truly wonder how some ppl perceive fat Black women.

And I didn't want to lead the discussion since I'm not fat but enough fat people have commented now so I just wanted to add on that it significantly weighs down the performance. There are stretches of isolated dialogue that land, but not enough to save it for me.

And the way they acknowledged Ma Rainey's queer identity was LAZY. LAZY AND SLOPPY.

Overall - the best scenes were basically copy and pasted stageplay sets - and done by the men...so you know, an August Wilson play

Chadwick has two standout monologues in the movie - one midway through and one at the end, and it's very much constructed in this upstairs/downstairs dynamic. The way it was shot, the basement felt like a stage and upstairs was a film. Very dissonant experiences.

I don't know if that was done intentionally or not but it felt like that could have been edited better to make the transitions feel more seamless.

Ultimately...August Wilson play has his rep with women characters, so I felt like the least we can do is push to honor and expand their roles as best as possible in film adaptations and this...did not, at all. Viola was a miss. A few truisms here and there doesn't absolve that.

But you know, beautiful gowns, great message, I am sure she will get an Oscar nom.