Ep. 21 - Searching for Healing in THE WOMAN KING
Viola Davis (General Naniska), and John Boyega (King Ghezo) in The Women King: Photo credit: Sony Pictures
In episode 21, we take a deep dive into THE WOMAN KING with Sharon D. Johnson, Ph.D. In this podcast we talk about:
THE WOMAN KING as an example of how historical film offers a form of “medicine” for healing of historical wounds and trauma
The impact of centering “highly melanated” (ref. John Boyega) women in the story and on screen
Sisterhood among the Agojie women as depicted in the film
The Woman King is the story of the Agojie, the all-female warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen. Inspired by true events, The Woman King follows the emotionally epic journey of General Nanisca (Viola Davis) as she inspires the King to take on Dahomey Kingdom’s enemies who are determined to violate their honor and destroy their way of life. On this journey Nanisca meets a young woman named Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) who challenges Nanisca’s authority but is committed to becoming part of the Agojie warriors.
Note: A few Spoilers are dropped in the podcast conversation.
Guest: SHARON D. JOHNSON, Ph.D. - Depth Psychologist, Story Consultant, Media Scholar
“Dramatization is not history, even documentaries. Not history because...a documentary would have to be hundreds of years long to be 100% accurate. No film is accurate”
SHARON D. JOHNSON, PH.D. is a screenwriter, journalist, depth psychologist, and scholar of television, film, and African American arts, literature, and culture. She is a published critical and feature story writer, story consultant and a member of the Writers Guild of America, West.
Dr. Johnson has published and presented her precedent original research on Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, and on the ancient depth psychological practices of dream work and active imagination via numerous venues in the field, including The C.G. Jung Institute, Association for Women in Psychology 50th Anniversary conference, Black Women for Wellness, UCLA Extension OLLI program, KRST Unity Center, Eso Won Books, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, to name a few.
Her essay, “Conscious Daughters: Psychological Migration, Individuation, and the Declaration of Black Female Identity in Daughters of the Dust” is included in the anthology, Teaching Daughters of the Dust as a Womanist Film and the Black Arts Aesthetic of Filmmaker Julie Dash (Peter Lang, 2020). Dr. Johnson is also Editor of the essay collection, Seeing in the Dark: Wisdom Works by Black Women in Depth Psychology (The Malibu Press, 2017).
Currently, Dr. Johnson is a script and story consultant for MASTERPIECE, the long-running anthology series on WGBH. You’ll find our our Sanditon podcast with Dr. Johnson here.
She is also a Lecturer in the Department of Africana Studies at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where she teaches courses on Black images in film, Black popular culture; and African American literature.
THE WOMAN KING
The Woman King is directed by Gina Prince Bythewood (Love & Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees), with screenplay by Dana Stevens, and story by Dana Stevens and Maria Bello.
The Woman King, Sony Pictures official trailer.
