Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker

Rule#1: Never rely on films & TV to learn history - that's what in-depth reading & research is for.

I would hope viewers would watch this and then get inspired to delve deeper & research the real life of Madame C.J. Walker. As an entertainment piece & catalyst to inspire further learning I give it 8 stars.

I do have a particular dislike of hearing modern contemporary music in period pieces. I like to feel transported to the time & imagine the America my grandparents & great-grandparents experienced. When the rap lyrics start - it kills the mood of the period - Like Christopher Reeve thrust back to the present after seeing a 1979 penny in "Somewhere in Time"!

I know some productions like to do this (Example - WGN's "Underground" series). I can only imagine this is designed to attract younger audiences who may not find historical films as appealing - but I find it very annoying. Can't imagine "Downton Abbey" with a Beyoncé or Taylor Swift soundtrack!

The contemporary music and the boxing match in a period movie are unnecessary and plain wrong. This was supposed to be an excellent inspiring period series.

This show had great entertainment quality and the actors did a good job. I was very stoked to hear about this series and to see Octivia Spencer and Tiffany Haddish being part of the cast. The actors did a fantastic job. I loved the sets and clothes as well. I love myself some documentairy mixed with drama based on true historic events, but unfortunately, after seeing this series and reading about the inspiration for this miniseries, I was very dissapointed in the way the writers represented Madame C.J. Walker, Addie Monroe (who's character is based on Annie Malone) and other characters. It's not necessarily a bad thing when you add something of your own into a series that's based on real events, but it is when you put in too many inaccuracies or big ones. In this case, we were given a mixture of both. Too bad, since they had one hell of a cast.

It is clear in the movie that Addie Munroe is a portrait of the real life figure of Annie Malone, Madam CJ Walker's mentor. Why is she portrayed so negatively? In real life she was a successful business woman alongside CJ Walker, philanthropist and equal rights advocate. Is there really no space for 2 successful business women alongside each other? It is a pity that something marketed as a biography has such a major misrepresentation. Otherwise it was a good movie. Interesting contrasts between the old time setting and modern music and scenes.

I appreciate the retelling of her story while also taking some creative liberties (it is the 21st century and Netflix).

There was one goof obvious to Spelman alumnae. They mention "Spelman College" and at the time this film was set it, the school has not made it's name change yet. I believe they should have just said "Spelman" or "Spelman Baptist Seminary" as it would not become Spelman College until 1924.