MOVIE REVIEW

Biracial Girl Boss takes on Vampires

When I first saw the trailer for The Invitation, I was excited. I rooted for Bonnie in Vampire Diaries, Tara in TrueBlood and absolutely loved Queen of the Damned, so a movie about a Black ‘final girl’ seemed too good to be true. Turns out it was. The movie starts with the protagonist, Evie, grieving the death of her last living relative. She decides to take a DNA test. Results are in and (surprise) she has a long-lost wealthy relative ready to save her from poverty. Evie meets with Oliver Alexander, her new-found cousin, and he explains the scandal her white great-grandmother, Emmaline Alexander, caused by fleeing England. To the movie’s credit, Evie makes a joke about Emmaline having to have married a Black man. In their first meeting, Oliver extends an invitation to a family wedding and Evie accepts.

The next scene in the movie depicts five different maids getting out of the back of a dark van. They each have numbers embroidered on their uniform. The camera zooms onto girl number four in an obvious attempt at foreshadowing before Evie enters the stage. The maids drop their glasses and Evie helps to pick them up ,only to be scolded by the Butler, Mr. Fields. Here where she meets tall, dark and handsome Lord of the Manor, Walter DeVille who breaks up the confrontation.

Walter DeVille takes a fancy to Evie, then buys her a gown for the pre-wedding party he is hosting that evening. At the party, she meets two maids of honor, whom I nicknamed Barbie and Marceline. Walter and Evie share a first dance then break away from the crowd. He bares his heart to her and reveals that he is a self-proclaimed bad person. While most people consider that a red flag, our glasshalf-full protagonist doesn’t and leans in for a kiss instead.

Fast-forward, Evie is having nightmares about her great-grandmother taking her own life. She wakes up and sees a ghost sitting in the chair across from her bed. So, what does she do? Go on a run to de-stress, and honestly, she’s so real for that. A few nights later, she wakes up and sees a creature crawling above her bed. Evie crawls underneath the bed to hide when she is yanked out (scary). Suddenly, Walter appears and he stays the night until she falls back asleep. Isn’t he romantic?

Then the plot gets interesting. Marceline and Barbie take Evie to a spa day. Marceline tells Evie not to trust Walter before sucking the blood from a cut on Evie’s finger. I would like to note that Evie was more upset by the potential of Walter not being who he said he was versus the bloodsucking. Despite the weirdness, Evie listens #girlssupportinggirls. Lowkey, it was only because Evie had went snooping and found a file of herself in Walter’s office. When she’s packing, Walter convinces Evie not to leave and they have sex… without a condom. All is forgiven and she agrees to attend a masquerade dinner for the groom and unknown bride that night.

Throughout the duration of the movie, Evie asked numerous people who the bride was going to be and people would give shady answers. She was not suspicious enough for me. Finally, it is revealed to Evie that she is supposed to be the bride. Adding insult to injury, she finds out that Barbie and Marceline are Watler’s wives. Then, Mr. Fields slits the throat of one of the maids. The guests at the dinner party cheer and drink the fresh blood.

The traditional horror movie hijinks ensue. Evie tries to escape and is caught. Tries to escape again and is caught. Finally, she has to go to the wedding. Waiting at the altar is maid number four, who is the last surviving maid. Evie drinks Walter's blood as it is part of the ceremony. Before Walter can return the favor, she uses her new-found vampirehood to burn him and everyone else in attendance. She releases maid number four and begins her final escape.

Of course, things are never that easy. Evie has to fight Marceline and Mr. Fields. Barbie ends up killing both herself and Marceline. Mr. Fields is defeated. Somehow, Walter ain’t die. She has to kill him again. Now, she is safe.

At the end of the movie, Evie returns with her dark skin best friend, Grace, and says something along the lines of: you have never been my sidekick.

As a fan of gothic horrors, the movie had a lot of potential. I understand the premise of looking into the social implications of a wealthy white man praying on young women. I even appreciate the added flair of Evie being biracial. However, the film’s director, Jessica M. Thompson, attempt at social commentary falls flat because of the implications of Evie’s actions.

First, the allusion to burning down the manor to symbolize burning down

old-world systems falls flat when Evie’s biracial status is taken into account. It is obvious that her racial ambiguity serves to make her more palatable. Almost like a reverse one-drop rule. While it could be argued that that is the point, the director did not set out to make that connection. Therefore, it is another case of a poorly Jaz Bryant written person of color by a white woman. Editor-In-Chief Second, the halfhearted comment Evie directed towards Grace to explain that the movie did not fall into the sassy Black side character trope failed. This is one of the moments where showing, not telling, would have been a useful tool. Grace was used as a prop to provide comedic relief when Evie was still crushing on Walter. The scene, which involved Grace being on facetime while Walter flirted, was funny. However, I would have liked to see more of Grace beside her interactions with Evie. At the very least, a scene of Evie explaining to Grace about the vampiric events she had just endured. While focusing on the gender and racial aspects, the movie willfully ignores the class issue. Ironically, the director wanted to highlight this issue. To start, what average Ph.D. candidate or server can just take time off to go on vacation? Next, Evie’s (almost) forced marriage wasn’t the worst gender discretion in the movie. The maids, whom I can only assume were hard on cash, did not have the luxury of being courted. And they were all women. They were sent into the manor like lambs for slaughter. Evie did not notice their disappearances. A focus on how workingclass individuals are put in positions of harm due to the actions of the ruling class would have drove the point home. Or a comment on femicide. In traditional girl boss form, Evie was only able to survive by turning a blind eye to atrocities until she was forced to confront them. The movie’s attempt at radical feminism only showcased how often intersectionality is ignored. The fact that the script was written with a white woman in mind as the main character is plain to see. If I examine the movie outside of the political vacuum it placed itself in, it’s not half bad. I think it will be a cult classic like Jennifer’s Body.

Image From Creative Commons

Wassapened This Week: Sept. 11th- 17th

Ugonna Ezuma-Igwe Managing Editor

Author Note: These are events that happened this week that I chose to highlight. These are in no way everything everyone needs to know. I highly encourage everyone to read the news from reliable sources to develop their own opinions. My opinions have been

italicized.

In this week of Wassapened This Week we focused on Black people winning and succeeding. I was tired of seeing negatives and wanted to shine a light on the great things we Black folk are doing.

Emmy's

On Monday, Sept. 12th, the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards was a historic night for Black women. Only 36 Black women have won Primetime Emmy awards, according to Essence. The awards ceremony honored American primetime television programming released from June 1, 2021, until May 31, 2022. The extraordinary Quinta Brunson, incomparable Sheryl Lee Ralph, admirable Lizzo and groundbreaking Zendaya all won awards that night.

Brunson, creator and star of ABC's hit comedy Abbott Elementary, made history as the youngest Black woman ever nominated as an actress in a comedy, at 32. Also, her three Emmy nominations already made her the first Black woman nominated in three comedy categories in the same year and the second Black woman in the Emmys' 74-year history to win the award for outstanding writing for a comedy series. Not one, not two but three historical moments from one person! My dear, it's not easy, ohh. We hail you!! Though Jimmy's foolish self tried to outshine Brunson with that nonsense comedy bit, he couldn’t even come close. Quinta's accomplishments shine far brighter.

Ralph won her first Emmy on Monday, a legend in every sense of the word. Did you know this woman has been killing it in Hollywood for over 40 years? Not only is this long overdue but extremely well deserved. Ralph won outstanding supporting actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of Barbara Howard in Brunson's hit sitcom "Abbott Elementary." She's the second Black woman to win the award; she got it 35 years after Jackée Harry won for her role on "227" in 1987 and 1988.Lizzo, the

Graphic By ugonna Ezuma-igwe

multiple award-winning musicians, won the award for the outstanding competition program. Lizzo won the award for her Amazon series "Lizzo's Watch Out for the Big Grrrls," which documented her search for backup dancers. Lizzo has kept true to her word and has been a champion for Black women, the LGBTQ community and women of all sizes. She said she wasn't going anywhere and she meant that sh*t.

Zendaya, the multiple actress-winning actress and star of "Euphoria," made history again when she won the Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a drama series. Did you read that correctly? She did it AGAIN; this is not the first time. Don't talk to her anyhow. She's not your mate at all. With this win, she became the youngest actress to win for acting at the Emmy Awards twice at 26. Also, she is the second Black woman, only after Viola Davis, to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama. You thought I was done? Well, I'm not. Abeg, keep reading. Zendaya was also the youngest producing nominee ever and the first Black woman to receive songwriting and acting nods in the same year. Remember when I said she was not your mate? I meant it. Theatre

On Monday, Sept. 12th, the once "Cort Theatre" shun for the first time as the "James Earl Jones Theatre." This name change was first announced in March as the Shubert Organization pledged to rename one of its 17 theaters in honor of a Black artist. This is truly a full circle moment as Jones gave his first onstage Broadway performance at the Cort Theatre in 1958 in the play "Sunrise at Campobello." Jones had also performed in 14 theatrical productions at Shubert theaters and starred in 21 Broadway shows. The renaming makes it the second major Broadway theater named after a Black artist. Jones' six-decade career has easily cemented him as one of America's most renowned actors. Throughout his career, he has earned numerous awards and accolades, amongst them but not limited to two Emmys, a Grammy, an honorary Oscar and two Tonys. He has achieved the highly coveted EGOT status. An honor attained by only 16 other people. I love seeing people receive their flowers while they are still alive. Oftentimes, people aren't praised till they are gone. I always thought, does it truly matter if the praise recipient never gets to see how much they are loved? Also, it's refreshing to see a Black man praised for his accomplishments and contributions to the world. Woman King

On Friday, Sept. 16, "The Woman King," the historical epic directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, was released to much praise and critical acclaim. The film chronicles the story and life of the Agojie, the all-female warriors that dominated and protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey, modern-day Benin, during the 17th to 19th centuries. This is not the first time Hollywood has pulled inspiration from the Agojie, as the Dora Milaje of Marvel's blockbuster "Black Panther" was also based/inspired by them. I loved that the main cast was all dark skin women and men. I don't know the last time I've seen so many dark skin women kicking ass on a cinema screen. MY GOD, it was amazing. Before I watched the film, I was aware they were advertising it as a Black female empowerment film, so I knew that the film would not be completely accurate considering the complicated history of the Dahomey Kingdom. I was still able to see the beauty in what they created cinematically while also understanding the importance of not basing my entire understanding of historical moments on cinematic depictions. They did exactly what they said they would and I think they did a fantastic job at it but as always, I highly encourage everyone to learn history from reliable sources.