Black In Beauty Review

On October 24th 2024, world-renowned and award-winning actor and director Tyler Perry dropped

his 8-episode Netflix original series “Beauty in Black”. The series follows a woman who is being

hold. Recently, Tyler Perry has been highly criticised for his projects—whether it’s his old projects

being offensive and stereotypical, specifically to Black women, or his new projects being of low

acting and writing quality—and “Beauty in Black” is no different. The series accumulated a

disappointing 48% on Rotten Tomatoes. Many viewers took to TikTok to critique the rather bleak

portrayal of Black women within the series, which seems to be a trend within Perry’s work, with

complaints that Black women are always evil or suffering in his movies. Whilst I agree with this

critique of Perry’s writing, I personally felt the plot for “Beauty in Black” was engaging; however, the

unnecessary sex scenes felt like they were more for shock value and didn’t really add any substance

or development to the plot.

Despite this, Malorie’s family own a relaxer brand from which they have accumulated generational

wealth, as Malorie claims it is a “100-year-old business.” In episode 2, we are introduced to the

controversies surrounding this relaxer as protesters swarm the family’s building to speak out against

the relaxers causing cancers. This alludes to a much bigger issue outside of the series with relaxers

and texturising products. Many people become so wrapped up in the social aspect of Black hair care

and relaxers that we forget to highlight the drastic health implications they also come with. In recent

years, relaxer products have been discovered to have strong links to cancers found within Black

women. A 2022 study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that women who frequently

used chemical hair straighteners had a higher risk of developing uterine cancer compared to non-

users. Additionally, many relaxers contain chemicals like phthalates, which are endocrine disruptors

that affect humans, impacting Black women’s ability to reproduce. Whilst everyone’s relationship

with their natural hair texture is different—and I have always advocated for women to wear their

hair in whichever way best pleases them, whether that is straightened or in its natural state—there

is something deeply insidious about a product that was initially made to assimilate Black women into

Western beauty standards while actively harming them as well.

I think the biggest takeaway from this series was the portrayals of the underground strip club scene

or what can more accurately be called sex trafficking. I believe the most common conception of sex

trafficking is being violently kidnapped, perhaps taken to a foreign country, and forced into a lifestyle

of sexual slavery with little to no contact with the outside world. Whilst these violent scenarios are

unfortunately all too common, the coercive way in which characters like these were trapped into a

lifestyle of stripping and then further prostitution was what I found most interesting. The three

characters found themselves in trouble for a drug-related crime, which stemmed from their poverty

and desperation. As opposed to being kept in physical captivity, like one would expect from

trafficking, the dancers found themselves bound by financial debt, which forced them to remain in

this lifestyle. They were free to go home, build lives, form relationships, and live normal lives

whereby, on the outside, it looks as though their occupation is one of choice, when in reality, they

are being coerced into adult entertainment and prostitution. For me, it really highlighted how easy it

is for one to fall into such a situation. For example, for Kimmie, all it took was her being kicked out of

her mother’s house for her to slip under the influence of the wrong people.

Out of the 424,000 children missing in the United States, about 37 percent of those children are

Black, even though Black children only make up about 14 percent of all children in the United States.

In the United States specifically, but also here in the UK, the issue of missing children is a pressing

one that is unfortunately not discussed enough, especially how it disproportionately affects Black

children. In the UK, the number of children that went missing grew from around 24,000 last autumn

to about 33,000 this autumn, and despite only taking up 6% of the population, Black children

account for 16% of all missing children. These figures point to a disproportionate lack of protection

and systemic neglect faced by Black children, leaving them more vulnerable to exploitation,

trafficking, and abuse. In both countries, the rates of human trafficking victims have been steadily

increasing, and that only accounts for those we know of. It’s not far-fetched to think these highly

concerning figures are linked, and I think “Beauty in Black” highlights how easy it is for children to be

exploited when they are left vulnerable and unprotected.

In conclusion, whilst imperfect in its execution, particularly with the less-than-flattering portrayal of

Black women, I believe the series does address some important issues within the Black community.

As much as I question Perry’s writing and intentions at times, I cannot deny that this is one project of

his that prompted me to think more deeply about the challenges faced within our community.

Printed by Rachel