Sisterhood and Slavery in “The Woman King”

> Ironically, Dahomey’s rehabilitation is undercut by the demonization of Oyo, a fascinating society in its own right.

How naive of me to think the article might also lament the demonization of Europeans, whose role in this conflict was flipped upside-down, from fighting to abolish slavery, to fighting to preserve it. The article excuses it with "Why, then, should “The Woman King” be held to a moral standard ignored by the thousands of period dramas about violent Western states" - proof that even the worst historical lies will be excused as long as they harm the correct group.

> Viola Davis’s new feature is a rousing tribute to the world’s only all-female army. But how true is the story it tells?

To save you reading the drawn-out article and its tepid conclusion: as true as a civil war movie where the North fought to impose slavery on the South.