3 chapters across the catalog
The 2019 Universal Pictures film Queen and Slim, written by Lena Waith, is characterized as a piece of trauma-based entertainment propaganda. The plot follows a black couple who become outlaws after killing a police officer in self-defense during a traffic stop. The narrative is described as a symbol of terror and grief designed to resonate with social and political tensions in the United States.
Writer Lena Waith defends her casting choices on Hot 97, arguing that "Black is Black" regardless of nationality because police discrimination is universal. Her claim that all Black ancestors helped build America is challenged as an erasure of the specific history of Foundational Black Americans. This perspective is viewed as a political effort to maintain a "Black monolith" for easier social and political management.
Lena Waith claims Queen and Slim was protected from the "white gaze," yet casting calls for the film used stereotypical descriptions like "Chicken George" and "field slave" aesthetics. This contradiction suggests that even self-identified "authentic" Black stories in Hollywood are often negotiated to be palatable for white-owned studios. These creators are viewed as gatekeepers who commodify the Black experience for commercial gain.
