Ma Rainey was a formidable woman, and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is a juggernaut of equal force, a film that will most likely garner a lot of attention come awards season. Ma (Viola Davis), a famed singer from the 1920s, struck fear into the hearts of white music producers at the height of Jim Crow, when most black people wouldn’t even dare talk back to a white person. But Ma knew her value, and threw her weight around both figuratively and literally, refusing to cave in to white people for demands as big as her song’s arrangement, or as small as having a Coca-Cola before she sings.
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Ma Rainey was a formidable woman, and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” is a juggernaut of equal force, a film that will most likely garner a lot of attention come awards season. Ma (Viola Davis), a famed singer from the 1920s, struck fear into the hearts of white music producers at the height of Jim Crow, when most black people wouldn’t even dare talk back to a white person. But Ma knew her value, and threw her weight around both figuratively and literally, refusing to cave in to white people for demands as big as her song’s arrangement, or as small as having a Coca-Cola before she sings.