The Woman King (2022 Movie)

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Fetch The Smelling Salts, I'm Alice and I'm Kim. And this is a podcast all about historical dramas from movies and TV shows to mini-series from every era and all around the world.

[00:00:23] Speaking of all around the world, we have been a podcast for almost a year now. Yes. Bringing you stories from every era and all around the world. But we've not had one single period drama from Africa yet, from the end of the year. Yes.

[00:00:41] And I continent continent of Africa. And that changes today because we're talking about the 2022 Violet Davis joint, The Woman King and I'm stoked. I know it was so much fun watching it. Such a, I just felt so empowered. Like I was like, yeah, it's bitch.

[00:01:01] Just screaming, yes bitch. The entire new Miss Dialogues so you have to go back. I know. But then you can help it. You have to keep screaming. Yeah, I was bad. Oh, gosh. Okay. I heard of this film.

[00:01:14] We tried to research other African period dramas but there aren't a lot out there unfortunately. Yeah and we wanted one that was easily accessible for our listeners to kind of watch. Yeah, so yeah. I've spent some time in a couple African countries in Uganda and in South Africa.

[00:01:39] And especially in Uganda, I found that just like on TV playing in bars they would have these like dramas. Some set in present time, some set in the past that were more like the period dramas that we kind of see in from depicting European cultures.

[00:01:59] Like where you have family, strife and their stuff about romance and marriage. And sometimes royalty and all of these other tensions. But it seemed like with African dramas first of all they weren't as prolific as they were kind of just like on TV in Uganda.

[00:02:16] And I wish I had paid more attention because I know that Nigerian film industry puts out a lot of stuff that just isn't readily available in the West. And second of all the stuff that is available in the West just seems to be focused mostly on war.

[00:02:31] Yeah, and to be fair so does the woman king. And when I looked for other kind of American-made options it was a lot of the same kind of thing like such in such a warrior which we're just not into war as a topic as we're in our way.

[00:02:49] Yeah, we need to push more into it because it's worth it if you get things like the woman king which I only heard of from the period drama's subreddit. Ah, wow!

[00:03:00] Which is crazy because I realize we're not in the States we're in the UK, the both of us. But how did this not reach us as such a huge film and it did a big budget? And it's new, it's from 2022.

[00:03:14] So I'm embarrassed that we didn't find it but we found it now. Yeah, and it is accessible-ish. Yes, it's on Apple TV. Yeah, so I'd heard about it but I was so damn busy. Okay, I'm really bad at going to cinema to watch things.

[00:03:32] We haven't been to opera or we haven't seen anything that's in the cinema after wait till it comes to streaming. Exactly, exactly. I'm just as horrible as the movie. I'm like, come on baby, you know?

[00:03:45] So I was like, yeah, I heard about it and I was like, even if it's in the cinema, I kind of go anywhere. I have no bloody time. So, and then I forgot about it.

[00:03:54] But I remember like clocking it going, oh, this is something I want to watch. And then so I was so glad when you suggested it, I was like, yes. All right, shall I get into the summary because we got lots to talk about? Yes, please.

[00:04:07] Okay, we opened in the Kingdom of Dahome, in West Africa in the year 8023. And I told that the enemy Oyo Empire has teamed up with the Mahi people to read Dahome villages for the slave trade to Europeans.

[00:04:22] The Oyo have allied with Portuguese laborers and equipped with guns and horses. In the first scene, we have a group of Mahi men seated by a campfire. And then one badass moment, well, like, you know.

[00:04:36] So badass, right? Yeah, ambushed by the Agogy and elite group of Dahome women, warriors. And they just pop up out of the grass like pop up, pop your fucked. I know that's so fucked.

[00:04:50] So they successfully attack the Mahi camp, slaying the men, losing some of their own, but ultimately freeing the prisoners. They return triumphant and we see the extent of the respect that Dahome people have for them.

[00:05:05] We are introduced to another central character, the young woman now we, whose father tries to sell her off and marriage to a richer older man. And happy with now he's defiance, the men strikes her causing her to retaliate.

[00:05:18] This leads her father to take her to the Agogy and where he abandoned her to be trained by them. So he's like, not, see ya.

[00:05:26] So in the palace, we see King Gazoo and his court. His head wife Shandai is jealous of the sweet and nanny ska has over her husband.

[00:05:34] And he's especially unhappy when nanny ska tries to persuade the king to stop engaging in the slave trade and selling the archaptives to the Europeans. And so she says that they should trade their palm oil instead.

[00:05:46] So King says he will pay this last tribute to the oil and ask nanny ska to show him how much palm oil they can actually produce. So he can kind of consider the suggestion. So back in the Agogy training camp, we see second in command Izogi.

[00:06:03] Oh, my new crush. I am okay. So obsessed with her. Like I would not do for Izogi. I know, I know. I know. I know. I know. I was like, yes, I will follow you to the ends of the earth. I'm so lucky.

[00:06:21] So Izogi, like oh my god, she's so fucking hot. Okay, so right. So Izogi and Amanda, so they line up the new recruits nanny ska address us them and explains the court of the Agogy. They will fight for their king. There are people in their sisters.

[00:06:39] They will not take any husbands or bear any children. And in return, they will be paid for their work. Have their opinions heard and they will be revered by the people.

[00:06:48] So amongst the new recruits, a young, that homemade women like now we are the women rescued from the slave trade like Fumbe and Margi captives like Odin. So now this guy gives them all the choice of either staying or leaving.

[00:07:04] She says, you know, if you want to leave, that's fine. You can leave now. Some women leave but many like now we Fumbe and Odin stay and they form this like little friendship group. So the next day training begins and because no training is complete without a a

[00:07:22] training montage. I'm fucking love a training montage. So more and more badass. It's so badass, right? So we see all these drills, the young women are put through and it's just like it's nuts.

[00:07:34] And then so now we, you know, she has a tough time because of her defiance and inability for the others. So she's called out a lot. But she's however taken under the wing of my crush, Izogi, who mentors her and gives us some background in Aniska's past.

[00:07:50] So we find out that as a young soldier, Aniska had been captured by the oil and you know, thought to be dead. Instead she returns with what I assumed to be the balls, I think of the oil men hanging by her belt. Yeah. I did not clock that.

[00:08:07] Yeah, I mean, no, no, so in the description she uses a word, right? That homemade word but obviously I don't know what I didn't really catch what it was. So I don't, but I think from context, you know, from context clues, I'm thinking, you know,

[00:08:24] so she says, oh, you know, she comes back with the blank of the men hanging by her belt. So okay, so as long as I didn't miss like a visual of a belt, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It was a visual of balls.

[00:08:39] No, I would never forgive myself when I was to ball side belt. Exactly. He's a no ball set belt and he's no visual of that. So yes. I really apologize, I just did not catch that word. Or as I would have looked it up.

[00:08:54] So something, something that belonged to these male captors of hers. she kind of like, you know, slate them, had them hanging from her belt, total badass. So speaking of Nanska, we see her confiding to her friend, Amanda about this nightmare that she's been having.

[00:09:11] So they consult the electa oracles and, and Mensa wants Nanska let's summon from her past. It's like coming. Nanska kind of like this viscous this all is just like, woo, she's like, whatever.

[00:09:23] So sometime later, the oil soldiers arrive at the homey, and when Nanska sees their general over, she has a horrible flashback. So we see that she was actually raped by him. So the oil are unhappy with the size of the tribute and wanted to be supplemented by 40

[00:09:42] agogy warriors. So after consulting with Nanska and the leader of the infantry, which I forget forgot to say is all men. So here, so like, the king has his like, elite force

[00:09:53] of agogy. He also has his like infantry and you all kind of like training. Like the rest of the military, the rest of the military and then all the oil dudes are dudes. I do it. Yeah exactly.

[00:10:05] But like the creamed like ram, ram, like ram, right? They're like the agogy. So anyway, so he consults with them and then he proposes that right, he will send 20 agogy off their own choosing instead.

[00:10:18] However, he won't be giving them up now, but instead we'll take them to the part of we da and we're about agrees. And so Nanska selects her 20 and now he is one of them. You're like, no, she's giving away now because she's so rebellious and exactly,

[00:10:33] and you're like, how could you do it? Yeah. So over at the port, the Portuguese led by Captain Ferrarra arrived. He's a company by his friend. He's guy called Malik. We find her from Brazil and he's half da homey. Since Malik's first time in, you know, in Africa,

[00:10:51] I'm like, in general, you know, just pissed her right with his buddy. Hit the right and he's just like visibly shocked to see the enslaved people in the market. So Nanska arrives with her 20 warriors,

[00:11:04] but instead of surrendering them, she kind of throws all about his basket full of severed heads of what I presume were all your men. You know, and she's like, there's a crabe here. And like at her signal,

[00:11:16] they, uh, go to the dispersed and then leaving her to fight with Ober. So now he decides to stay at help. And Russia does she does. She cuts down this rope. It was holding up the gate

[00:11:27] and so the gate falls down and it prevents the other or your warriors from entering the market square. So Nanska and Ober fight. However, just as the oil man minutes to lift the gate,

[00:11:38] now we in Nanska flee and they just like, yeah, I'm full, you know, from the port. Jump into the sea below where the other agogia waiting with the boats. I love not seeing

[00:11:48] if I'm just running and leaping. You're just like, you don't know. Just the water is there. No, you're just like, what the hell are they doing? It's like leaping up this crazy as well. It's such a beautiful moment. Oh, so amazing. Like, this is so many beautiful, like,

[00:12:02] hair, standing, you know, like, moments, you know, you're just like, oh, good bump. So they go, um, you know, they be robot sure. And Nanska, chest sizes now we for not following her orders.

[00:12:15] So apparently it was a plan plan there. They all made this plan and then now we didn't follow it. And she was taking matters to her own hands. So Nanska, you know, schools now we walk away,

[00:12:26] but a man's a quietly calls out, Nanska for not following her own plans and choosing to fight stay in fight robots that Nanska says, you know what, fuck off. You know, my only plan is to cut off his head

[00:12:38] and that's it. When they return to abomin, we're just like the capital city, right? So Shantai tries to suck up to Nanska. We see he's right through her bullshit and Nanska wants again tries

[00:12:51] to convince a king not to engage in the slave trade by showing him the palm fields or production, etc. He's pretty impressed. So back in the port, um, Malik overhears Ober's plans, you know,

[00:13:03] to attack the capital city together with Mahian Ikbar people. As he and the rest of the port he's clan, uh, traveled to abomin to meet with King Ezo. Now we stumbled upon him bathing in a pool

[00:13:17] and they kind of like meet and introduce themselves. Malik explains that his mother was the home and, you know, so he's here at a base of he wants to see his mother's people. No man but no,

[00:13:30] no man but. No man. Just like, man, chest man. Not a man. Yes, men like, you know, he's just set there. He just stood there awkwardly covering his bits. Oh yeah, I forgot

[00:13:42] that. He's just like, the cross cover. The crush cover and then he's just like, uh, can I have my well, this is PG-13. So in a guess in PG-13 films you can show

[00:13:55] crotch cover. Yeah. But I don't know about me. Well at that point, I was clearly texting out this going right. So Malik is hot but still he's so gifo me and he's the only one who's the one for me.

[00:14:12] There's this and this is a film full of beautiful, hot, hot people doing hot things. I know all just like their muscles and their agility and it does us. Everyone's beautiful but yeah,

[00:14:23] no she's she's she's queen of that castles. Yes. Right at the top. Yeah. So Ferrarah meets the king and he and Malik are invited to watch the final test of the Agorgia recruits. So now we and the other

[00:14:38] recruits have to go through the series of tasks. This involves like walking through like, you know, rambles of crazy thorns and climbing up this massive wall fighting off some men and then eventually finally striking up the head of the straw man. So despite going back

[00:14:54] to help film Bay with a task now we finish us first and it's like awarded like sort of, you know, victory by the king. As Nani Ska looks on, please give everything. So that evening, however,

[00:15:07] while examining Naui's wounds, Nani Ska sees a strange scar on the back of Naui's left shoulder. So now we explain that you know she's an orphan and she has had this scar since she was a baby,

[00:15:21] you know. So this piece of information seems to distress Nani Ska and as she talks to a man's as we find out that Nani Ska actually become pregnant after she was abused by the oil

[00:15:33] and that a man's had given a way to infant Nani Ska's request. So clearly Nani Ska is like thinking shit, it's not we my child, you know. So meanwhile Naui and Malik can like speak through

[00:15:46] like the palace gates, you know. And Malik asks her to meet up with him later that night, you know just a chat. So the recruits having successfully completed their training, the undertaker, the blood off ceremony, where they are like properly inducted as like fully

[00:16:01] fleshed members of the agogy and they mean blood oaths. They're just like slicing, I mean it's such it awesome ceremony, you know. And you just like see them all coming together and like bonds with

[00:16:14] sisterhood and yeah there's a lot of carving up in this that's a lot of but also that beautiful song that he's saying, you know that a man's a like leads, oh she's such an incredible voice,

[00:16:29] such an incredible voice yeah that was really powerful. Yeah so after the ceremony Naui sneaks out to meet Malik right who tells her about all bus blocked to attack. She returns and speaks in

[00:16:42] Nani Ska who confront her about you know even fertilizing with Malik in the first place because she's like you're agogy now, you know this is Yukon. You know Nau has been no man nothing. She then

[00:16:52] goes on to explain that when her baby was born she had embedded a piece of shot tooth in the child's left shoulder, the back of the shot's left shoulder. So the shark tooth was the only thing that I

[00:17:03] had beef with in the whole film really because it's weird first of all you could just make a little cut on the baby and I'm sure this power would be kind of identifying enough. Why do you have to

[00:17:15] push some gross tooth in there and also babies are ridiculous healers. They're basically like vampires and they just like you watch them heal in front of you basically that baby would have

[00:17:30] pushed that shark tooth right out of her little shoulder I think. And I was like how did it heal around it? Why wouldn't it? Why wouldn't it be known? Yeah it wasn't even pushed out so like you see

[00:17:39] all right she breaks off this piece of shot tooth that's on her one on her necklace. Yeah so this thing I was thinking I was like okay so she's had this with her you know if she breaks

[00:17:48] this piece of shot tooth and then she like cuts the baby the little tiny little infant and just like shums it in there and just like it's done. I have to say again you know I hate anything

[00:17:57] that bad being done to baby or a child in a film. I was okay with this yeah. The baby is so cute. The baby's all cute. Yeah but that's a dirty that's a sweaty shark tooth you just gave birth

[00:18:13] wearing that shark tooth. It's not a good idea in the first place and I don't see how it would work you're healing around it and then she can just like you'll get to it I'm sure but you know

[00:18:25] just like pop it like a pink or yeah so exactly so yeah this is what I'm going to get through next right so she actually explains that she has you know embedded this piece of shot tooth right

[00:18:36] in the child's left shoulder she didn't like reaches over like cuts into now we scar and it's like pops it out you know and I'm just like ah yeah happening you know I was fine with all of this

[00:18:49] other meter I was like all in the plastic and everyone cleaning arms yeah great yeah but then she cuts at that shark tooth yeah what I know at least they're already in the bath yeah yeah that's true

[00:19:03] yeah so so she reveals that she is oh yeah and then that's the whole point that we're overlooking it this this is the big reveal that she's got her exactly so like confused like now we

[00:19:16] run the way I don't blame her so anyway next scene we see Nana's girl kind of like hatching a plan to launch a surprise attack from the oil so the attack is a successful you know you should

[00:19:27] fight scene and the oil retreat however some agogy including now we and Fumbea they can captive now we manage as to how Fumbea escape but when she's taken to the barric ones itself

[00:19:40] she sees that isoghi is one of the captives now like a spinole her arm is broken a spirits of broken just given up hope she's like right I'm gonna kill myself you know turn it like you know

[00:19:52] it's like in this like moments when she's like recite her words back at her now he convinces convinces isoghi not to give up and like very painfully shubs like isoghi's broken bones like

[00:20:04] back and through um which I know and it hatched as part of escape so meanwhile King Gaze O has declared his decision to his console to declare Nani's guy the woman king obviously Shanty is not happy

[00:20:22] so Fumbea has also returned with the news of Nani's capture Nani's guy like obviously you know just wants to go and rescue her immediately along we know with the other um uh captives but it

[00:20:34] Kings is no it's like no he just got to like cut your losses Nani's guy doesn't care she's like screw this and she kind of like sets off and secret and then you have this like amazing Z right

[00:20:44] so she's just there like like jogging like so she's like running and like you know and I don't know I'm looking at it I'm like I can never run so I'm like I can even run for the bus oh lord

[00:20:55] and I'm like is she singing to herself I don't know if she sounds like it first she like doesn't have an iPod Nano exactly and yeah and in the camera pens and then you actually see that obviously

[00:21:10] you know the other agorgie and some infantry men alike like just like running in like a line oh my god you just want to cry like they're just like following her and like follow you to the end of the

[00:21:21] year of general I love that the boys do so like so she just like yeah I'll take cool I got my people with me so back at the barricones um now we and Izogi are brought to the slavers block

[00:21:33] function. Bray right you know you little fucker this is like negotiating purchasing Izogi when an enraged mallet like rocks up like what are you doing to this gives now we and Izogi

[00:21:47] the instruction they need to disarm the guts so in the uns and sewing struggles now we is caught so Izogi's like he's almost out of there man she's you know but she goes back for now we

[00:21:59] and like you know in like in kind of like a parallel scene to when she saw now we go back for boombe during like the test you know she goes back to save now we and but as she's going back

[00:22:12] she is shot and killed and he's like horrible thing I'll go out and I will say actually that as she dies right she's like you know you move like a sloth and I was thinking I was like

[00:22:25] unsloss native to South America she definitely does not know what a sloth is exactly and I was like I don't think you would have seen a sloth even known off his sloth right this she's she's getting

[00:22:38] paid or she's getting stuff from Brazil like whiskey and yeah to backo and stuff like that maybe I don't know if you got a little book about sloths maybe I don't know if you have some drawings

[00:22:52] yeah so okay you know she says yeah she's like like a sloth and now he's like like what the fucks us sloth no it's not a really fast animal yeah great so anyway it's really sad she dies

[00:23:07] now he is like you know crazy to straw it out of her mind and I was too oh yeah so I didn't cry when Zogi died but I did cry actually when Zogi came into the cage and you could see her arm

[00:23:25] was broken and you just took the look in her eyes and you kind of know even after now he talks her out of like cutting her throat then and you know she's not she's not gonna say the rest of this

[00:23:42] once that arm is broken she's she's already like she's got one foot in the next world and she portrays that so well silently it's so good I know yeah you're right like that yeah yeah

[00:23:56] it's all in the eyes right they're just kind of like she's like lost like just lost all the will to live you know so and her face so so she dies um then Malik you know ends up like buying

[00:24:14] now we kind of slits save her now he is obviously not happy about this but like Malik's like no I'm not like I don't all knew I'm just doing this just get you out of here look and I bought us tickets

[00:24:26] to England you know we got to run away blah blah blah and I'm in my head too I was like what do you think was gonna happen in England you know I think you didn't go to live happily ever after

[00:24:34] really seriously exactly I was like you guys in England in 1823 anyway so you know that was his plan and I was like I don't know it's not gonna work I don't want this meanwhile Nanniska and the Agogy arrive

[00:24:53] at a baracunce and not only do they feed the captives they like literally burn down the fucking slave market right so there's a stand-off so satisfying there's a stand-off between Obern and Nanniska and where she successfully slates him and she's like you don't remember me

[00:25:11] but now you will never forget you know and then um however just as she was going to be attacked herself now we come to save Nanniska right and she's just like dressed because I was thinking oh

[00:25:23] I was like why she's gonna wear so like earlier you're like you know it like a scene earlier she's she's you know she sees that the Agogy and FF come and she's like right I have to go

[00:25:32] I'm I'm gonna go help my sisters and then my legs like all your clothes are covered in blood like what you're gonna wear you know and then he's like he gives you to her there's like dress just like

[00:25:42] crazy really European dress I bought you clothes and the whole bunch of stuff right including like undergummen's and whatnot and then like now he's like look you know this shit

[00:25:53] I was just laughing I was like oh man I want to I want to see what what they do with this I expected her to come out wearing the dress I don't know why but me too

[00:26:04] me too I was like said so instead you know she very you know smartly just comes out like in these like basically white undergummen's you know yeah she's like fucking shit up and

[00:26:16] bloomers yeah bloomers and like but if she has like like a belt with her sword all you know around and she's just like a bloody badass bitch right she exercises yeah so can I ask a question

[00:26:29] yeah I'll quick those so she's not wearing her clothes at the point and that is because they were smooch they were smooch and right you know this I was wondering because I was like yeah

[00:26:44] yeah exactly I think they got off with each other yeah must be right and then she went and fucked everything up and in some ladies underwear yeah yeah that's exactly what I was thinking

[00:26:58] too because like you know she kind of like climbs out the window right to see what's help what how's going on and she's like like like you know kind of like covering herself up in the sheet

[00:27:06] and I'm like okay yeah so anyways she comes right dressing bloomers fucking kills everybody you know badass as she is saves daniska and amolic dan also decides right I'm gonna do this

[00:27:20] so he and frees the other at slave people and like oh such a good so satisfying right he's like fucking allows for he doesn't kill for her himself but he allows for her to be killed

[00:27:32] by you know these are captive men so as the triumphant ago do you walk away Malik and now we exchange just like you know look of like acknowledgement so you're presumably he then goes off on his little passage during Glen or whatever bye yeah

[00:27:48] he's very mature about it oh he's just like yeah okay I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do you do you tried yeah over in capital shanty has convinced the king to go ahead with the

[00:27:59] coronation thinking that now she will be crowned the woman king in daniska's absence however daniska and her badass warriors arrived just in time to come in the crowd goes while starts chanting daniska's name and although he chastises daniska like you know quietly for the

[00:28:18] disobeying his orders and daniska's like yeah yeah I will resign my post you know he's he probably keep proclaims her the woman king so sorry shanty so after the ceremony now we and daniska convigorate over the death of izoghi daniska apologises to now we for banditing

[00:28:38] her and tries to kind of like claim her as a own but like now we now we isn't having it right so she kind of walks out however during what I'm calling the after party you know like now we

[00:28:51] comes around and invites daniska to dance calling her mother the embrace and party and have I just say viola davis got moves you can see her like you know it's like oh dude loving what you're doing the end yeah now we need some like all the elation

[00:29:13] yes I know right I can't do it I can't do it yeah yeah that's what we need or them chanting uh goji yeah oh I did see so I guess somebody so many awesome izoghi scenes right you know the

[00:29:28] bit well like she's like this is like this kind of like game so the agogy are playing with you know infantry men and he's like you know facing off his beard thing this fear thing and

[00:29:39] she just like mm-hmm I mean I don't feel a little pain in the house this very Hollywood everybody be getting cut up and then their bones are gone in the scene yeah unless they're

[00:29:53] they're like making a show of bandaging something yeah yeah other than that like she didn't have that I was like that's gonna that's gonna you know it's gonna be for a while yeah but I did notice

[00:30:07] that they put some so nineska got that big cut like a backpack and then you see all this moss packed into it yeah I like yeah that was cool okay so this film took a while to make

[00:30:21] the screenplay is by Maria Bello and Gina Stevens it's directed by Gina Price Bythwood who's also written on some some interesting stuff and they had filed the davis involved in the project really early but despite that they had a lot of trouble getting someone to pick this up

[00:30:41] they started as early as like 2016 and they were originally offered just a five million dollar budget and it was stagnating until 2018 and the success of Black Panther so you may remember that Black Panther's door of melodia regimen was inspired by the egoji and after that after the success

[00:31:06] of that film suddenly they were greenlit with a 50 million dollar budget oh yeah so the director Gina Price Bythwood did extensive research on the egoji and hired a consultant historian Leonard Wanchikong apologies for any mispronunciation which will probably happen again

[00:31:28] so historian Leonard Wanchikong is from Benin and he is a descendant of actual egoji warriors oh my god no yaa so together they tried to really make an effort to depict the egoji

[00:31:45] like training and selection process accurately as well as like some of the weaponry and even the fighting styles not necessarily the styles because I think they used a lot of kind of Hollywoody

[00:31:57] like martial arts yeah for a lot of their fighting but more like they're popping up unexpected like pre-done to take enemies by surprise that kind of thing mm-hmm so they filmed the whole thing

[00:32:09] really quickly like 63 days it was filmed in South Africa which is the home of Thusum Bado who plays Naui and it was filmed all around the cape so you know when I lived in South Africa

[00:32:24] I'm quite familiar with that particular area like Cape Town and then a bit further south by the cape Namiska and Naui are both names of real documentidgoji women but wow basically all the characters

[00:32:38] are purely fictional except for in Gaiso who is played by John Boyega from Star Wars so before I get into the historical background I'll tell you a little bit about the sources I used I've got a Smithsonian article by Mailin Sali a time article by Laura Zonoza

[00:33:00] a Los Angeles Times article by Sonei Akeli and a Guardian article by David Smith and I'll post those on our Instagram but also for a longer history of the Egoji you should listen to the podcast it's a continent there's an episode from January 2022

[00:33:24] called The Egoji De Homi's Warrior Women and they go further than I'm going to into like the origins of The Egoji and then what happened to them as the kingdom of De Homi changed and then ceased

[00:33:40] so the kingdom of De Homi itself dates back to approximately 1600 it's like a little hard to tell because you know like people be fighting everybody and then you don't know exactly when the kingdom is

[00:33:51] established itself and it's like final form but it existed in what is now the West African country of Benin and the De Homi people were ethnically fawn and spoke the fawn language as well as your

[00:34:08] rubah but in the film they use some fawn words so like whatever whatever they say that means testicles or whatever she cut off from those dudes that'll be fawn word for.

[00:34:22] So we could learn the fawn word for ball sack which would be nice. I have got a re-watch movie again just and just to try and just find out how to pause it see just really look at her belt

[00:34:34] and then when Malik is speaking to the king he tries to speak to him in Portuguese and the king says no you speak to me in my language so he continues to speak in English then but

[00:34:46] we're to understand that he's speaking fawn yeah and the action of the film takes place between the De Homi capital of Obomi as you said which is kind of inland and the port city of Wida

[00:35:00] which is a full ass like one-y four hours on foot so they're going back and forth that is that is a long ass walk so it's a long time to be jogging and singing but it's Hollywood it's fine

[00:35:17] yeah you can pretend it's like two hours away. Records first mentioned the goji by that name the goji in about 1729 when this core of women fighters were brought together to fill out the ranks

[00:35:31] of the army the normal men's army in battle. This is because the De Homi fought so many regional conflicts that their military lost a lot of men along the way so just this one battle they were like

[00:35:44] shit just sends some of these tough ass women we'll just fill it in make it look like we've got a big army and then they were so badass they did such a great job that they made them into a regular

[00:35:58] core. So they could be a bit older than that though in 1716 we've got Queen Hongbei who is the daughter of a king and had an all female guard who were probably pretty tough and some think that the

[00:36:13] origins of the goji go back to 1645 with a group of all women elephant hunters. Oh wow! The film The Woman King is set in 1823 which is a very specific time in the history of

[00:36:28] De Homi as a kingdom and the goji as a fighting force so it's no accident that they chose 1823 to set this movie in. So first of all in 1823 King Gaiso has been on the throne for about five

[00:36:43] years after overthrowing his brother Adam Dozon in a coup in 1818 which he did with the help of the goji as they kind of make mention of and with the help of a Brazilian slaver. Gaiso's reign

[00:37:01] was known as a golden age for De Homi as a kingdom in which they built up wealth and power. The kingdom also had this really good bureaucratic structure which I know is so exciting

[00:37:12] and this is like a movie about super action and awesomeness and I'm talking about bureaucracy but the point is that they were really really well organized kind of advanced kingdom with a standing army which wasn't very common and ministries. So ministerial offices

[00:37:34] all of which had women as a strong presence in the standing army and in the ministries. That's amazing. In the military about 30 to 35 percent were women they were all a goji and in government minister positions including the prime minister had a male and a female role

[00:37:53] that were like mirrors of each other. The pojito the queen mother and concert was another these roles. It was like the female counterpart to the king rather than just his wife because he had a lot

[00:38:06] of wives. Yeah, it got a lot of wives. Also I think I wouldn't mind being one of his wives because there's that scene where we first meet him and some of his wives they all just look really comfortable

[00:38:17] and pretty nice clothes that he's walking past them going my love, my love. And that was pretty much the extensive my responsibility in being right to the king. Exactly. Right.

[00:38:30] I don't see to get on. Wait you call me a nice name. I'm gonna go back to bed thanks. That's awesome. So this duality between the roles of the men and the women comes from the local religion voodoo. That might sound like voodoo because there is a connection

[00:38:51] but don't let me get into it because I went on a day drive and we'll both forever but there are you know links between kind of voodoo and West African voodoo and there's this whole thing about

[00:39:04] voodoo and Christianity because there are loads of British missionaries in this region at the time but into homie they were really rejecting the British missionaries at this time. And the local religion was still really strong and in that local religion you have Malisa which you might remember

[00:39:27] from this introduction to King Gaze who they call him Gazeu, the ninth monarch of the Dehomi people descendants of the leopard agasu beloved of the twin gods, Mauu and her brother Lisa. So they call them the twin gods. They're also referred to as basically one god with two

[00:39:50] dualities, two houses, two faces even. It's this male female divine figure in which Mauu is the moon, Mauu the woman is the moon and Lisa the man is the sun. So the woman king

[00:40:05] is supposed to represent the Mauu to the king's Lisa. Right Gazeu the king was also known for investing a lot into the military and building up the ranks and the status of the agogy.

[00:40:19] So at their height there is an estimated 6,000 agogy warriors and they were all called the king's wives, a hostie and they would participate in council meetings as we see in the film. So they had

[00:40:34] status within the kingdom as well as social status. They did live within the palace walls which was mostly women only space after sunsets except for the king and then the king's son and the unix.

[00:40:51] They weren't allowed to marry since they were like ish wives. They were called like third hand, not third hand. They were called third degree wives. Okay. There's like a tear of whifeness. There I won't say they're at the bottom. They're just called third degree because they don't

[00:41:10] usually have sex with the king. Oh, I should have said I was. You know like here's the thing this whole like no sex rule disputed how closely it was followed. My thinking is

[00:41:25] it was probably followed as much as a no sex rule in these situations ever is. Yeah, but I get the sense that some of the drama that we have about now we going out to meet Mollick and getting our

[00:41:38] end away with him and maybe like smooching him by the lake or whatever that wouldn't have been really an issue. Right, I think it seems like you could go and you could have your fun but you can't get married.

[00:41:52] And those were kind of different things. Which makes sense because you know you're like yeah you don't want to have anyone you don't want to have dependence and people you know you like you

[00:42:01] take your attention away from what you have to do. Yeah and by the same token they ago she get a lot of freedom they get a lot of stuff I mentioned then through the slave trade they get a lot of

[00:42:11] stuff from Brazil and Europe they get whiskey they get money they have their own money and so kind of makes sense that you know if they want to go away and have a lover they can you know

[00:42:21] slip of the gates come back just as long as they can still you know fuck people up. Yeah So what I'm hearing you say yeah is that I could have been Izugi's lover they don't even go

[00:42:36] into the whole question of whether you could have lovers amongst your your people in the Egoji I think that that oh I'm so lame I'm not even going to be a you're not going to be an Egoji

[00:42:49] I mean come on just I can't run for the bus you're from your family. Yeah I'm just a boring old villager yeah you're a villager who is and they like helping them you know creating that you

[00:43:02] to pumble oil and stuff yeah yeah you're not running after your cattle no everything no running no running at all but you'll sneak up to the gates yes if Izugi's willing to come

[00:43:15] and meet you okay no that makes sense. Actually we're gonna come back to that so put a pin in that women and girls were selected from volunteers captives orphans and rebellious girls

[00:43:31] given up by their parents. What is I shown as much in the film is that the Egoji had regiments because there were so many of them and not all of them were really fast runners

[00:43:42] okay cool so the small ones might just get put into a different regiment and each regiment had their own uniforms which I'm kind of sad we didn't get to see yeah so I'm going to tell you

[00:43:54] there are four regiments and you have to tell me which one you would be in okay okay here we go okay are you going to be a huntress so they're hunting elephants mostly which also why I mean I guess that it makes you really tough but

[00:44:11] are people really eating elephant? I don't know I'm like it. Although if they did it would it would feed a lot of people yeah I just haven't really ever heard of it.

[00:44:21] Well I mean too but so anyway are you going to be a huntress or rifle woman because although the movie says that they didn't have any guns at this time they actually did.

[00:44:32] I'm really good at shooting I'm just saying that's weird and I feel like we should unpack that sometime but okay she well yeah shooting late okay okay okay sorry my caveat is shooting lame BB guns in in street vests but really good. That counts I mean when you're

[00:44:52] working with a blunderbuss or whatever they got archers. Okay that's pretty cool too yeah you don't have to run cool you you're just standing far far away yeah what we don't get here is like a spear thrower is that just under archers because we have that one

[00:45:10] I'm I'm we having them and the huntress got a big spear. I'm assuming the elephant hunt is the one to dispears. Oh all right and then finally we have the reapers or razor women

[00:45:24] and without knowing exactly what that means it seems like I think our hair winds are all reapers right they're the ones who are sneaking up on you yeah like you've still learned some of our

[00:45:37] people we're here to get them back we are popping up. Okay so I would be rifle woman or an acha. I'm not sure how good of an acha I would be. I'm really peck you as a rifle woman then.

[00:45:54] Yeah all right cool I don't know what I would be I'm also a really slow runner and I don't want a kill in elephant. I know maybe maybe an archer. All right cool yay you can hang out here's another

[00:46:08] reason 1823 is so important so in this year Dehomi had been part of the oil empire for ages so if you look at a map we've got Dehomi kind of on the west side and then it's encompassed by

[00:46:24] the oil empire which extends north and to the east loads. Okay that is mostly what is modern day Nigeria but in 1823 King Gazo decided to fight the oil and end tributary status

[00:46:43] so they're not going to be part of the empire anymore they don't have to give an annual tribute and that's the conflict at the center of the film. So the oil had been selling people into slavery

[00:46:54] within its empire including Dehomi people so whenever it would capture Dehomi people it would sell them into the transatlantic slave trade. Once the Dehomi had defeated the oil they ensured that their own Dehomi people stopped being sold into slavery. So that was their interest and that's why

[00:47:13] we see the Egoji rescuing captives at the start. Right but at this point in history Dehomi's economy had already been reliant on a cycle of warfare and slavery. Overall throughout the entire history of the slave trade they provided approximately 5% of all enslaved people. That's a huge number

[00:47:37] and they were sold mostly to Brazil interestingly they had no trade agreement with the U.S. ever and they enslaved people domestically both to work on farms and as part of these annual ritual

[00:47:54] human sacrifices. Oh wow okay starting in the 1820s King Gazo was feeling pressure to end slave trading both from the citizens of Dehomi themselves like me. I think Nyniska kind of represents them in that

[00:48:10] way but also the British missionaries who were all up in this area and King Gazo did explore expanding their palm oil production instead. Also weirdly this is where my very niche knowledge

[00:48:23] of the history of this region kind of comes into play so it's cool after my master's degree I worked as a quote unquote research assistant for this lecture in Oxford who was like going away

[00:48:39] for field work and he was working on this book and he needed someone to just do like a bunch of scanning and like a digital archiving for for the book and the book was about British

[00:48:52] missionaries like in what is now Nigeria but was then Dehomi and the war empire. It's so random. So yeah so I'm like I have this like very tiny proximity knowledge which is mostly relevant

[00:49:11] only because I know that there were so many British missionaries at the time in what was then like Dehomi and the oil empire and Dehomi was resisting missionization and the oil empire, the rest

[00:49:25] of the oil empire kind of was not and there's this other okay there's this other people in the empire called the egg bay and they were the palm oil producers and the British were helping them

[00:49:37] so they were really really good at it they had all of this British support because they were missionized because they converted to Christianity. And so when Gazo decided that he was going to try to do palm oil production he couldn't compete without having to compete with Christianity

[00:49:55] so because he couldn't be the biggest palm oil producer in the whole region he decided to just give up and keep doing this live trade who's like no this isn't even worth it.

[00:50:04] Okay interesting yeah so he tried he gave up in the 1840s and then a few decades after that everything collapsed and I won't go into what happened to the Egoji in the Dehomi after

[00:50:24] but do go back and listen to it's a continent the podcast it's a continent if you're interested in hearing more about the history of the kingdom and about the Egoji because it's really really

[00:50:37] fascinating and they fight some more pretty epic battles that's awesome all right I'm going to even more exciting than my information about palm oil production. Yeah in the next one British Nishunary history yeah also just in a side I've seen some criticism that the film isn't

[00:50:58] historically accurate and that it like paints the Dehomi as heroes and liberators of slaves rather than what there's sometimes known as which is Warmongers who perpetuated the slave trade and used the Egoji to do it and I think that's valid criticism because the fact is the Dehomi

[00:51:17] it was very active player in capturing and enslaving people for sale to Brazil for domestic slavery for human sacrifice and this story definitely takes place against the backdrop of the transatlantic slave trade but I guess my question is does that mean that the film should make

[00:51:35] the horrors of slavery it's focus and this was actually also addressed by Leonard Wanchikan the historian who worked on the film and his point is the one that I take away and agree

[00:51:50] with the most I think which is that we can we look at say the kingdom of Britain or any of these colonizers in Europe and we can tell compelling beautiful stories about them even the leaders

[00:52:06] like we have so many films about Queen Victoria and those children and Churchill and these films aren't about the monstrous systems that they perpetuated and we're okay with that yeah no exactly why not why why not extend this to you know all all other cultures and places of

[00:52:27] people yeah exactly director Gina Price by the wood and viola Davis have admitted that it's not like historically accurate story in that all of these characters are fictional and they're not based

[00:52:42] on true events or like the history of of someone's biography except for a little bit about King Gaiso the point of it was to bring a story of the igogy as African women warriors to the screen

[00:52:56] and tell a very personal fictional story about these women as characters and for that I just think that they did an amazing job and I love this film I just then have a bullet point list that says

[00:53:10] stuff I liked okay cool let's go to okay so first of all just seeing women warriors and learning about the history of the igogy hmm seeing women I can't tell you and I'm sure

[00:53:23] I'm speaking for a lot of women out there how important it is how much I need it to feed my soul to see women depicted on screen with a big Hollywood budget is f***ing up everything around them

[00:53:44] just stabbing and slashing and jumping around and stomping on everybody's heads and and piercing your eyes we've just we've just put funny font nails oh yes absolutely unfortunately I don't I didn't find any evidence that those were real does not matter is a meta

[00:54:05] so the depth of the women's character development and the relationships I love that we get stories of young women but also older women like mowl the Davis is in her 50s I know right she's either playing much younger which is cool but she's clearly not 19-20

[00:54:25] like yeah she's over 30 she's like over 40 and she's still this protagonist warrior she's not like the general who's sitting on the sidelines she's a general who's doing everything but we get these like mentor mentee relationships with this mother daughter relationship oh I love it

[00:54:46] and I loved how like in that same vein I loved how much it felt like a classic Hollywood story with these Hollywood story beats yeah I get really got the Hollywood treatment with like the

[00:55:01] montage no montage you know training montage you got like if not a love story like a bone story yeah and then you have like you know all of these like you know moments yeah

[00:55:15] like your goose bumpy moments right you know and then with like complete with like appropriate sound track to come with it you just be like oh swelling music and yes the death of the mentor oh yeah

[00:55:32] I also like the romances down played you've got like all of the men including the king are either peripheral or they're like obstacles yeah there's just like people whose next need to be broken

[00:55:48] um but I do like mollek as a character yeah I like to be get him as someone who is like the son of an enslaved woman who's no humbuck and is trying to grapple with his identity

[00:55:58] I guess that we get a little bit of that mostly I just like they he's a respectful boy I know oh oh it's like death nice yeah yeah and gaysaw is a funny character like

[00:56:12] he's not depicted as villainous but he's definitely not like a hero you know a good guy he's kind of weasely and wily like he's just a king he's like any other king who's a horror

[00:56:26] yeah similarly to the men being there to be killed like all the white slavers that basically hardly any of them got lines like usually in a story like this you'd have a lot more

[00:56:40] emphasis on like the white slavers as characters mm-hmm yeah but here like nobody even got their sad card for this like I didn't have speaking roles they're just like no redemption for these guys no like complicated like arches no arches no character is actually like just killing like

[00:57:03] forever bad guy that's it you know yeah you like bait you barely remember him as a bad guy character he's on screen just long enough for you to be like pleased when he gets his face pushed into

[00:57:17] the yeah oh so good I already mentioned that I cried when is Oki comes into the cage with their program arm the only other part I cried and I should say I'm not a movie cryer mm-hmm is toward the beginning when they're all coming in to the

[00:57:35] town and this little boy looks up while everyone else has their heads down and Zogi spots him and she comes over to him and she's great! he gives him a little head scratch like Oki little scamp

[00:57:55] yeah and I don't know why that got to me so much it I think because I have little boys mm-hmm the idea of this boy being so excited and so honored to see these women and to

[00:58:08] happen with these women actually come up and speak to him yeah the idea that that could happen and that we could be living in a society in which boys could have that kind of reverence

[00:58:22] for women yeah is very motivating yeah when that you know when that scene happened I mean you know aside aside from the fight out I was like oh he's Oki you are beautiful and time

[00:58:35] mean you know beautiful badass and time I'm like ah he perfect he even has nice to children I know it's like oh so um I remember thinking you know when recently when they had like the

[00:58:49] women's world cup right me was last year and I think there were a lot of coverage around it about how impressed people were by the amount of you know like the fans and how how people were

[00:59:01] so if so into it right I mean you're specifically you know everybody watches the men's world cup which is like just known as the world cup right football and then there are even women's not that much and then but then they were I remember there was

[00:59:13] us something at red and they were talking about because basically this is like badass British Goli right she's such a badass you know and then she like they were they were showing like

[00:59:28] little little boys wearing you know T-shirt saying like I want to be like her you know I want to be her and you're just like yes you know showing that you know yes um yeah so yeah

[00:59:43] yeah I had that moment to watch I really hope that they make more films like this even though I don't really want to I don't love a lot of war films as we talked about it but I will watch

[00:59:55] every I usually tune out at battle scenes yeah I tell you I watched every kickstamp and stash in this film I was riveted yeah I wanted to know what happened to all of these characters because

[01:00:10] they spend enough time even though there are a lot of a goji characters yeah you get a sense of enough of them that yeah battle scene you're watching out for everybody yeah and you're

[01:00:21] recognizing them and so it's not just a oh they they had a battle and all of these yeah dudes that I was able to care about I guess I did now and that's sad for them but here you really

[01:00:35] are invested and so I'll watch more more war movies like that but at the same time I hope that we get more historical stories like this because if you didn't know the goji existed yeah think of how

[01:00:51] many other stories are coming out of the next time and I like the idea of you know them showing like women in groups not in a way of like you just you know just intrigue and bitchiness and stuff like that

[01:01:04] you know yeah turning on each other yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah you know so you have like because you know you have so there's so many so many like you know sports movies and all of that stuff

[01:01:16] right we show us a lot of like men in groups coming together let's hope brotherhood and yeah and like you said the different kinds of relationships like men talk and he blah blah you know

[01:01:26] and I that's why I really appreciate that for this um I also was also thinking as I was watching this that there are so so many other cultures which have women warriors um and I think like

[01:01:39] I'm hoping that more movies will be made you know again not not that women warriors are the only way you can show you know women in groups but I'm saying that I think it's it's useful

[01:01:53] to introduce I mean to introduce people to this historical fact you know there are enough history podcasts out there now that focus either entirely on historical women or feature enough of them like something big like stuff you missed in history class they cover loads of women in history

[01:02:16] that made strides in history big and small and so so many of their stories could be told also just you could take a historical backdrop like this and have something completely fictional you could

[01:02:33] you don't have to do kind of biopic of someone important who did something groundbreaking and because she's a woman and although those are really interesting and important you know give us something more

[01:02:48] imaginative yeah set in Africa what's going on you know in the 17th century in West Africa like before this slave trade started yeah you've got like the establishment of these kingdoms talk

[01:03:02] about intrigue hmm that we so much going on there for sure so do you have any awards I had a few okay um in mind I had a few in mind mm-hmm and one of them I couldn't really figure out how to

[01:03:20] place but it was basically it turned out to just be my favorite line in the movie which is uh you move like a sloth no it was you're nuts we're finally right yeah it's not a very funny movie

[01:03:44] I'm except for someone there's like joking around I guess or whatever but like that is truly hilarious the other one that I thought about but reconsidered was mallick or most anacronistic pecs

[01:04:01] because you will notice he has gigantic man and yeah and I may be wrong historians may dispute but I'm going to put myself out there and say that no man anywhere on the planet in the year 1823

[01:04:18] had pecs like that and it had to go out big yeah but what ultimately won out for my award for this film goes to the Egoji Reapers for Best Manicure oh nice I my award goes to

[01:04:38] Izogi and Maniska for like best I was you know smoothest like smoothest and coolest battle sea like you know a battle moment right so this is this happens in the battle with the

[01:04:55] oil um you know like when when you have to surprise attack and the last battle the last battle yeah the last battle with with the oil you're ready like you know finally over throw them right before

[01:05:09] they go to the barricade so you know it's a fighting I think fighting and then it's a bit where like someone is like shooting at nannisca and then she she kind of like whips out her sword to kind of

[01:05:22] like be fact deflectable it so you know like just that moment she so she does that so the bullet hits her sword the sword goes flag and it like happens you know like not bad thing and I

[01:05:35] did right you know um Izogi gives her her sword just like yeah you go you know and we just like we're walking and I'm just like I don't know man it was just so fucking smooth it's just like the

[01:05:47] two of them like badass women just going boom boom boom mean just like oh yeah and here you go I just like you know flick the bullet off here yeah I moved this fighters yeah it's like oh

[01:05:58] I am clearly obsessed with her but yeah and well I gotta go find some nuts axe to hang in my belt all right you've only got like three great on battle right

[01:06:17] straight now I better go practice my rifle shooting if I'm gonna be a rifle woman yeah you better can I just tell you something exciting for a second yes we have a new little thing which is

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