The Stream: Typical movie about racism, and it does more telling than showing

The Big Screen: Great costumes and history that deserves highlighting

The Final Bill: Tyler Perry shining light on a great untold story in American history.

– S2S: Movie Review
Director: Tyler Perry
Writers: Kevin Hymel, Tyler Perry
Stars: Kerry Washington, Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Dean Norris, Sam Waterston, Oprah Winfrey,
Genre: Drama, History, War
Rating: PG-13 (some strong language)
Runtime: 1 hour 57 minutes
Production Companies: Netflix, Georgia Department of Economic Development, Tyler Perry Studios
Platform: Netflix released December 20, 2024

Welcome back, Streamers, and Happy New Year!  This week, I was finally mentally prepared enough to sit through the newest Tyler Perry project, The Six Triple Eight. During World War II, 855 women joined the fight to fix the three-year backlog of undelivered mail. Faced with discrimination and a country devastated by war, these women managed to sort more than 17 million pieces of mail ahead of time. Military racism and Black excellence hijinks ensue.

After watching the trailer, you already know where this story is going.  First glaring fact, this is a Tyler Perry production. If this weren’t a historical event that he’s bring to life, I’d be hesitant, but with this I’m not.  As much junk as TPerry puts out, the respect he shows to Black history is always there.  That same reverence is here. LeTyler Perry has brought a never-told story of how Black women once again put this country on its back thanklessly and given it the major motion picture treatment.  Of course, it was not enough for them to be to be good at their task, they had to be perfect.  While I did feel we learn the story, unfortunately we only get a glimpse of what it was like to actually decipher and ship the sum of 17 million pieces of mail. I felt left wanting more from the story, but I guess that’s what documentaries are for.

Next glaring issue, unfortunately, is the historical racism storyline.  How many times can people watch this and not get tired?   This is one of those movies you know you should watch but you have to mentally prepare yourself for being back in the reality that the country hasn’t been for the uplifting of Black people and specifically, in this case, Black women. Nevertheless, the story is a nice one and one that never makes the history books, similar to Hidden Figures.

Lastly, the cast was solid.  Don’t get me started on the poor acting of Kerry Washington and her shaky cry yelling. Overall, I do believe this was one of her better performances, but she falls into old habits as well.  The rest of the cast are fine but often the characters fell right into the typical tropes. Why does the dark-skinned busty one have to be the fun, overly sexualized, loudmouth one who can sing? If it’s real that’s, one thing, but if it’s not, it’s just annoying and lazy writing and direction. The rest of the cast are solid.

Long story short, Tyler Perry has taken the chance to educate those of us about 855 Black women who did something incredible in a time of war that our country has chosen to overlook. The movie is not perfect, but it is important for the memory of those women. Grab a big bowl of popcorn and learn about the 6888.