Self Made: D'après la vie de Madam C.J. Walker

It is clear in the movie that Addie Munroe is a portrait of the real life figure of Annie Malone, Madam CJ Walker's mentor. Why is she portrayed so negatively? In real life she was a successful business woman alongside CJ Walker, philanthropist and equal rights advocate. Is there really no space for 2 successful business women alongside each other? It is a pity that something marketed as a biography has such a major misrepresentation. Otherwise it was a good movie. Interesting contrasts between the old time setting and modern music and scenes.

This show had great entertainment quality and the actors did a good job. I was very stoked to hear about this series and to see Octivia Spencer and Tiffany Haddish being part of the cast. The actors did a fantastic job. I loved the sets and clothes as well. I love myself some documentairy mixed with drama based on true historic events, but unfortunately, after seeing this series and reading about the inspiration for this miniseries, I was very dissapointed in the way the writers represented Madame C.J. Walker, Addie Monroe (who's character is based on Annie Malone) and other characters. It's not necessarily a bad thing when you add something of your own into a series that's based on real events, but it is when you put in too many inaccuracies or big ones. In this case, we were given a mixture of both. Too bad, since they had one hell of a cast.

The entertainment value of this series was really good. It kept my attention, and I thought it did a decent job not overly painting Madame CJ Walker as a flawless she-roe. However, it really does a disservice to the historical truth about her story. I gave it a 7 for its entertainment value, but I'm begging you, if you REALLY want to know the truth about Madame CJ Walker, who WASN'T the first female self-made millionaire (Annie Malone was - Walker's boss), please READ and not stop at watching this made-for-Netflix series. Revising history for entertainment isn't fair to the descendants of these great people. And I'm sure our heroes themselves wouldn't appreciate it either.

Was very happy to see that a miniseries about Madame CJ Walker was in the works. Unfortunately this series did not live up to expectations. The writers focused on the more soap opera aspects of her life and completely shorted her on all of her accomplishments. I know that no biography is going to stick 100% to the facts but this one took a great many liberties, all to the detriment of its subject. Madame CJ was a big success long before this series portrays that. Was expecting a much better treatment of this icon.

Rule#1: Never rely on films & TV to learn history - that's what in-depth reading & research is for.

I would hope viewers would watch this and then get inspired to delve deeper & research the real life of Madame C.J. Walker. As an entertainment piece & catalyst to inspire further learning I give it 8 stars.

I do have a particular dislike of hearing modern contemporary music in period pieces. I like to feel transported to the time & imagine the America my grandparents & great-grandparents experienced. When the rap lyrics start - it kills the mood of the period - Like Christopher Reeve thrust back to the present after seeing a 1979 penny in "Somewhere in Time"!

I know some productions like to do this (Example - WGN's "Underground" series). I can only imagine this is designed to attract younger audiences who may not find historical films as appealing - but I find it very annoying. Can't imagine "Downton Abbey" with a Beyoncé or Taylor Swift soundtrack!