When I saw the trailer for Shirley, I quickly checked if there has ever been a female president in the United States of America. And I couldn’t find any. This gave me an idea of how chaotic the movie was going to be, especially because it’s about politics.
Shirley is a 2024 movie, based on the real life story of the first black congresswoman who later decided to run for president of the United States. Shirley wasn’t from a rich home and her husband wasn’t financially stable yet she was determined to do that one thing she set her eyes on. As if that wasn’t enough, her sister didn’t like her just because she thought Shirley was her dad’s favorite and she wasn’t.
I loved Shirley so much in this movie. As a woman, it was so nice and heartwarming to see a woman stand up to intimidation and bullies. Most women were brought up with the mindset that they were limited in life and couldn’t attain certain heights but Shirley’s acting did a lot of women empowerment.
Her husband also did a great job. In fact, all the actors were so good and even though I’m not familiar with political terms, I could still understand everything that was going on. There was so much emotions in the movie and that was what made me like it. Even though, Shirley played a significant role, she didn’t neglect the fact that women are mostly led by emotions and are vulnerable when those emotions engulf our way of thinking.
I liked the theme and setting of the movie. Even though it was a 2024 movie, they made sure to bring all the details that needed to make the movie an excellent one. Nothing like recent cars or houses were mistakenly spotted in the movie.
The one thing I wasn’t satisfied about was how Shirley never showed weakness. She did show emotions as a woman but if we’re being realistic, we all sometimes become tired or scared in times like that. And I was genuinely looking for a time where she cried to herself alone but still showed up in public smiling. To me, these things remind us that, the fight for your dreams might get tough but the important thing is to cry and keep moving.
As someone who has zero interest in politics, I really was expecting to sleep off at one point but I didn’t. I was so empowered after watching this movie to the extent that I went back to work on something I abandoned about 2 years ago. I watched this movie to feed my curiosity but I’m so glad I got more than that. Anytime I feel down, I’m definitely going to rewatch Shirley and I’m giving Shirley 8/10 because she is the real deal.