A Review of Straw by Tyler Perry Exploring Themes and Dynamic Performances

I had the blessing of watching “Straw” by Tyler Perry with my mom.

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Let me start off with the most important fact. You NEED to watch this movie. Tyler Perry really outdid himself here. From the script, to the twists, to the cast... every detail was intricate. He didn't miss as thing.

We screamed, we laughed, we cried but most importantly… we bonded.

As a single mom, raised by a single mom who was also raised by a single mom … it hit home for both of us. We could relate to the feeling of everything is going wrong. When the movie started, I immediately thought to myself this is a woman with the whole world on her shoulders! I can relate to feeling like I have to figure it all out for myself. It is that type of movie. It reminds you that there are people who have the whole world on their shoulders and one more "straw" will break their back

There is a profound moment in the movie when they say:

“Black women always have something to get over”

Which I think is true. Essentially, we all have something to get over. However, for the purpose of honoring this movie... it spoke to the difficulty of being a black single mother in America. Between motherhood, racial issues and social norms black women continue to find themselves within the difficult space of juggling a lot more weight than is sometimes realized. Tyler Perry did a phenomenal job bringing forth the many layers of that with he police officer and the FBI treating Janiyah so much more ruthless than needed to be.

I loved all of the antagonists Tyler Perry placed throughout the movie. Janiyah had a realtor up her back and a disrespectful and hateful boss breaking her down. One of the officers on her case considered her guilty before taking time to do his proper due diligence. Janiyah ran into a hateful cop who threatened to kill her and when the FBI arrived on the scene they made things worse instead of making them better. Lastly, when the other women hostages began to understand Janiyah's story there was one who remained hateful the entire time. These difficult characters were the reason why I was screaming throughout the movie.

I could go on and on defining the profound moments throughout this movie but I will just call account to one: This one meant so much to me because I know what it feels like being a single mother and not thinking anyone notices your hard work and sacrifices.

There is this moment when Nicole (Sherri Shepherd) says to Janiyah (Teraji P. Henson) character “I notice those things”. She was encouraging Janiyah that she was a good mother and affirmed her by calling out the things that she had seen her do.

We all need that. We all need someone to say I see you and you're doing a good job.

When I saw the "star studded" lineup for this movie I already knew I was going to love it. I think so highly of women like Teraji P Henson & Teyana Taylor. They really come into their roles and fully engulf themselves in the character they are playing. And once again in this movie they did not disappoint! I felt like all black women needed to protect Janiyah and I was so happy that Detective Raymond (Teyana Taylor) & Nicole (Sherri Shepherd) were there to do so.

This is a great movie to watch with your sisters or your mother and remind them that no matter what... you got their back.

I will be publishing a second review of this movie to talk about how Tyler Perry provided a thought provoking ideology about Grief and how it affects a person.