Viola Davis and Gina Prince-Bythewood.Photo: Santiago Felipe/Getty
The Woman KingactressViola Davisand directorGina Prince-Bythewoodare speaking out about the #BoycottWomanKing social media backlash.
In an interview withVarietyearlier this week, Davis was asked about the film, which some feel “doesn’t address the Dahomey Kingdom’s involvement in slavery,” the outlet noted.
“First of all, I agree with Gina Prince-Bythewood’s saying is you’re not going to win an argument on Twitter,” said theOscarwinner, 57. “We entered the story where the kingdom was in flux, at a crossroads.”
She added, “They were looking to find some way to keep their civilization and kingdom alive. It wasn’t until the late 1800s that they were decimated. Most of the story is fictionalized. It has to be.”
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The Woman King.Sony Pictures
Prince-Bythewood, indeed, did tellIndieWirein an interview published Saturday, “I learned early on you cannot win an argument on Twitter.”
“And I know all of that is going to go away once they see the film,” added the director, 53. “There’s an assumption we’re not dealing with it, and we are dealing with it. So I have to live in that confidence. They’re going to see the film and they’re going to see it.”
Speaking withVariety, Tennon, 68, noted, “We are now what we call ‘edu-tainment.’ It’s history but we have to take license. We have to entertain people. If we just told a history lesson, which we very well could have, that would be a documentary.”
“Unfortunately, people wouldn’t be in the theaters doingthe same thing we saw this weekend. We didn’t want to shy away from the truth,” the producer added. “The history is massive and there are truths on that that are there. If people want to learn more, they can investigate more.”
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The Woman Kingdebuted at No. 1 at the domestic box office over the weekend, grossing over $19 million nationwide,Entertainment Weeklyreported.
Aside from sharing withVarietythatshe’s “totally open to” a sequel, Davis also told the outlet that the “part of the story that hit me as an artist was these women were unwanted.”
The Woman Kingis in theaters now.
source: people.com
