The Woman King

This movie feels much more mainstream than I had expected, which is to its detriment. I wasn’t expecting “Amistad,” but I did expect it to be more emotionally taxing. As it is, there are a few elements to evoke sorrow or anger, but nothing that really impresses the suffering and hardship of injustice onto the audience. Given the events surrounding the story, that perplexes me.

Despite feeling watered down for broader audience appeal, the movie has strong characters portrayed by a talented cast. Davis, in particular, conveys the pain of her character with genuine, sometime heart wrenching, passion. The Agojie represent the intersection of two historically oppressed groups who, here, are in a position where they have the respect of their king, the adoration of their kingdom, and no equal in battle. The female warriors are fierce and, at times, terrifying. Many of the challenges they face seem relegated to a regrettable past, but many others feel far too familiar today. Perhaps it is to leave the audience with a sense of hope that these challenges can eventually be overcome that the movie avoids placing the heavy emotional burden that I had expected.

As is my custom, I will distract from this review with a reflection on something that happened on the way to the theater. I was on my bike, creeping into an intersection on a green light in preparation to make a left turn. An oncoming vehicle preparing to make a right turn came to a stop and the driver signaled to me that I could go first. This may sound like a nice gesture to you and I’m sure that is how the driver intended it. But, it absolutely infuriated me, to the point where I shouted an expletive. Not specifically at the driver, but I’m certain somebody heard it.

First, the action wreaked of disrespect. I often see drivers make effectively illegal stops in the presence of a bicycle because they assume the cyclist will do something reckless. Granted, this is often a safe assumption. But, when the cyclist uses legal hand signals to convey their intentions, then that person knows what they are doing. Yielding when the bicycle clearly does not have the right-of-way just shows that you don’t see the cyclist as an equal on the road because they don’t wield the might of an internal combustion engine.

Second, although minor, the action did violate traffic law. These laws, particularly concerning right-of-way, are largely in place so that vehicle operators can reasonably predict the actions of nearby vehicles without needing to be in communication with the other operators. In my case, I had gauged the distance between the oncoming vehicle and those behind it, determining that I would be able to make a turn as soon as the other vehicle finished its right turn. By coming to a stop at a green light with an empty crosswalk, the driver completely threw off my timing and I had to make a panic judgement whether to accept the unexpected invitation, or to wait for the following vehicles to pass, as the gap I had anticipated quickly diminished. In short, the yielding driver put me at greater risk.

My call to action is that drivers treat bicycles as they would any other slow moving vehicle on the road. If you don’t see any indication that the cyclist will flagrantly disregard traffic rules, then don’t come to a full stop and turn on your four way lights while waiting for the bicycle to pass. If you need to pass a bicycle in a traffic lane, then slow down and match speed until it is safe to pass, then pass safely, just as you would a slow moving semi truck. There is no need to honk. There is no need to shout. There is no need to wave us through the intersection when you clearly have right-of-way. Please, just stick to the rules of the road with which we should all be familiar.