To show appreciation to the strong black women actresses in Hollywood, Netflix has a section on their platform called “Strong Black Women Lead” filled with movies such as Nappily Ever After, Fatal Affair, Fall From Grace, and Deliver Us From Eva.
Nappily Ever After is about a businesswoman named Violet who was obsessed with being perfect. She began to love herself within when she started to date a natural hair beauty hairstylist who taught her to love herself and her natural hair. The cast is filled with strong black women such as the main character, Sanaa Lathan, who cut her natural hair for the role of Violet Jones; Lynn Whitefield, who plays Violet’s toxic overbearing mother, and Daria Johns, who portrays the daughter of Violet’s new boyfriend. Nappily Ever After teaches young black girls that they can be perfect with their natural curls.
The Netflix thriller, Fatal Affair, is about Ellie, who starts an affair with an old friend, not knowing he is insane. Ellie had an almost perfect marriage until she ran into David, an old friend. David’s secret was that he had killed his ex-wife, who had moved on. When Ellie told him she could no longer be with him, David became obsessive and did not want anyone to have Ellie if he could not have her. Fifty-year-old movie legend Nia Long starred as the main character, Ellie Warren. Long is best known for her role as Claudia in the television series Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as Will’s girlfriend. She is also known for her many roles in urban movies such as Boyz N The Hood, Love Jones, Friday and Soul Food.
Tyler Perry’s A Fall From Grace is about a recently-divorced woman named Grace who is wrongfully accused of murdering her husband. Knowing that she could never fight her husband’s power or prove her innocence, she admits to doing the murder. A lawyer refused to let her take the plea deal and wanted to prove her innocence. The two-hour movie is filled with suspense and plot twists. The cast was filled with strong black men and women such as Crystal R. Fox, who starred as the main character, Grace; Bresha Webb, who played the lawyer, Jasmine; and Mehcad Brooks, who played the abusive husband, Shannon. Tyler Perry himself had a role as Jasmine’s boss.
Deliver Us From Eva is a 2000 classic movie about an overbearing, overprotective big sister, Eva, who intervenes in her baby sisters’ marriages until the sisters’ husbands develop a plan to find her a man. At first, Ray goes along with the plan the men had given him, but the more he gets to know Eva, the more he falls in love with her. The cast includes Gabrielle Union, who stars as Eva and retired rapper LL Cool J, who plays Eva’s pretend boyfriend. The sisters are Essence Atkins, Megan Good and Robinne Lee. Gabrielle Union is also most known for her many roles in urban black movies such as Think Like A Man, Tyler Perry’s Daddy’s Little Girls, and Two Can Play That Game. Union is also starring in Netflix’s new show, L.A. Finest.
by Vanicia Gregory
