Girls Trip and Bronx Gothic: Two Visions of Post-Obama Black Empowerment

Upward mobility, freedom, and fun — or grim self-loathing and complaint

Part of the mess that Barack Obama left in the wake of his two presidential terms is the utter confusion that has descended upon black Americans who still feel stressed despite the media-promoted privilege of witnessing “the first African-American president.” That delusion deserves a lengthy, in-depth essay, but a movie column must provide a portion of it through this week’s contrasting releases: Hollywood’s black feminist comedy Girls Trip and the independent art film Bronx Gothic. Black female self-confidence is examined in Girls Trip’s story of four black girlfriends who attend an Essence Festival (staged by the magazine of that name) in New Orleans. Bestselling author Regina Hall, Internet entrepreneur Queen Latifah, nurse and single mother Jada Pinkett, and tough-talking office worker Tiffany Haddish mix business and partying (they “trip”) as they clear away the conflicts and changes that separated them in their transition from youth to maturity.

Black female self-confidence is examined in Girls Trip’s story of four black girlfriends who attend an Essence Festival (staged by the magazine of that name) in New Orleans. Bestselling author Regina Hall, Internet entrepreneur Queen Latifah, nurse and single mother Jada Pinkett, and tough-talking office worker Tiffany Haddish mix business and partying (they “trip”) as they clear away the conflicts and changes that separated them in their transition from youth to maturity.

Bronx Gothic is more obviously political, translating the subject of black femininity into the now fashionable project known in academia as “the black body,” explored here …

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