Why “Nappily Ever After” Is Not The Happily Ever After For Black Women
Spoiler alert
I really wanted to love Nappily Ever After, despite my initial misgivings after the trailer dropped, and I seemed to be distracted by the fact that Sanaa Lathan’s hair texture probably wouldn’t be an issue for Black women who share my unforgivably “nappier” texture.
But weeks later, after actually watching the Netflix entry, it became clear that the issue of relatable hair textures doesn’t really factor into this prized narrative that has been beaten to death and brought back to life, more times than we dare to count.
The most disappointing aspect of Nappily Ever After, is embedded in it’s lackluster shell and generic delivery, and how it fails to summon the depth that’s required to give the main character the validity she deserves — in order to make her journey memorably profound.
The romantic comedy is based on the book by Trisha R. Thomas, and it focuses on Violet Jones, a marketing executive, who is driven by her unrelenting need for perfection, and how this never-ending hunger dominates both her professional and personal pursuits.
When we meet Violet, she’s cozied up in bed with her perfectly handsome boyfriend, Clint (Ricky Whittle), who as we later find out when he speaks, possesses the perfect British…
