"Proud Mary" Heroic Analysis of Mary
"Proud Mary" is a critically underwhelming film that I personally enjoy for what it brings to the table climatically. It was directed by Babak Najafi, most recently known for directing "London Has Fallen." Mary (Taraji P. Henson) is certainly a heroic protagonist, and I would argue is the best part of this film. Taraji's acting and chemistry with the other characters in the film is refreshing to see in a genre flooded with over the top action sequences. I went into this film expecting something "Kill Bill"-esque, however what is presented is a tried story of escaping the life of a gang, or more generically, a life of servitude.
The writing leaves a metric ton to be desired as there are not any new lines crossed, nothing more than the standard seen-it-all-before stuff. Mary is a hit woman who wants to escape the life of being a hit woman, and who successfully does so by the end of the story. There are two highly generic rival gangs, one of which Mary is a part, and the villains are all flat characters who are villainous for the sake of plot. You know the types, que rusted old sage voice "our territory is our territory because it is our territory and we can't let the enemy gang have any new territory" so on and so forth, with a splash of "we do this for the family."
However, what is good about the film, in addition to Taraji's outstanding performance, is the fact that we gain one more Black hero, and not only that, but a female black hero who leads in her own film and saves it with her presence. There simply are not enough leading roles for Black people in film, and so I was not surprised that this film went completely under my radar until the week of its release. Hell, looking at the first weekend of box office numbers - not great! It is hard to complain that there are not enough roles for Black people to lead in films, when these are the box office numbers. However, you can't complain that box office numbers are abysmal when neither the production company NOR the community support and promote the films being made that represent us, and I would say that this film is a positive representation. All that being said, I would love to dive in and compare Mary as a character to the many other heroes who have come before her.
DEPARTURE & SEPARATION
In Mary's Ordinary World, she is a professional hitwoman for a crime family, led by Benny (Danny Glover), who is also Mary's adoptive father. After a life of working as a hitwoman for Benny, she desires to be free of this life, not because she cares about the people that she has to murder, but because she simply wants to be free of a life of servitude. She believes that even though Benny has raised her and kept her from a life of poverty, she needs to move on.
Because of this, and unlike a lot of heroes, Mary is ready for her Call to Adventure, though this does not mean she does not Refuse it. When Benny, presumably, puts a hit out on a man, Mary successfully completes her assigned hit, but in so doing discovers that she has turned a young boy into an orphan. The film does not do a great job at giving us appropriate information in a timely manner. However, later in the film we learn that this hit violated Mary's personal code of ethics, where she doesn't complete jobs that involve children. For a year she does nothing but sit tight in her life as a hitwoman - in essence Refusing her Call via her inaction, but she always regrets this hit and what she has done to the child. She finally Accepts the Call when she rescues Danny (Jahi Di'Allo Winston) from bleeding out in an alley.
Mary finally Crosses the First Threshold once she kills Uncle (Xander Berkeley). At this point, most heroes usually have a Mentor, and/or some sort of Supernatural Aid, but we don't really get this for Mary in a clear way. We don't know why she is as skilled as she is, however she is skilled with weapons and stealth assassinations, so that can be considered her Aid. The Mentor, in this case, would need to be Benny, the man who helped raise her into this life of ... hitting?
INITIATION
Subjectively the weakest part of Mary's Journey is her Initiation. The film really drops the ball when it comes to explanation, details, and motive. There are so many things that we need to assume or just take at face value that it cripples the film in this area - the largest part of the film. It starts and ends strong, with a focus on Mary and Danny, and Henson's and Winston's acting and chemistry in this film is perfect. It is unfortunate that the writing for the middle of the film is not as good as the (at most) mediocre writing of the film's beginning and end.
Mary has her Road of Trials, or her tests if you will. We get more insight into who her enemies are, and to some degree, their motives. Mary must do a lot of things. She must keep Danny safe and secret. She must cover up her murder of Uncle. She must exist in a crime family where she had a relationship with Benny's son, Tom (Billy Brown), and she must do what she can while continuing to do hits for the family and prevent a gang turf war.
Her Woman as Temptress is Tom, and throughout the film many of her struggles come into play when he is concerned. He loves her, and she used to could love him, but she no longer does, and this is a life she wants to escape. His role as the Tempting figure here is that he represents the life that she wants to leave, though staying is an easier option. This is by far the weakest section of this film, in the weakest area of her journey. Their chemistry is not great on film, and the film presents their former love absurdly, to the point where it does not work. The film never tells us what they were like together in love, what made her stop loving him, why does he still love her, so on and so forth. The only time they work together on screen is when they are literally working together on screen. There assassination mission is well filmed and succinctly acted. I believe that these two characters had worked together in the past. I believe that they are so skilled that just the two of them could take on a mansion of goons 007 style. But I do NOT believe that the two of them were ever romantically involved. And the film only tells, and fails to show.
Mary's Atonement with the Father stage can be symbolically represented by a couple of things. She murders Benny when he refuses to free her from her life. Through this action, she kills her oppressor, her surrogate father, and earns a life of freedom. This complicates her escape, however, as the more direct Forgiveness needs to come from Danny, whose father she murdered. In this scene, Danny learns that Mary murdered his father, so Mary must atone for this action (somehow, I know WILD). She does so once she rescues Danny in the films epic final battle and provides him with a better life.
Additionally, it is through this rescue that Mary has her Apotheosis, and after killing Benny she can finally realize that her life is no longer about her, but is about the protection of Danny. The movie fails here, but I would like to believe that her decision to finally kill Benny was not so that she could flee her life of a hitwoman, but was because she was now forced to protect something other than herself.
Lastly, her final moment in the film as a hero is when she defeats Tom and saves Danny, and in this case her physically saving Danny allows her to metaphorically Atone for causing him to be in this situation in the first place. She can then gain his forgiveness for the murder of his father.
THE RETURN
After Mary rescues Danny, the movie just ends. We don't get see Mary Refuse the Return, and we don't get to see what her life is like now that she is a Master of Both Worlds. We can only assume that, because she has defeated all of her enemies, she can live a life of peace with Danny. Her Boon being that of gaining Danny's forgiveness and her freedom from her life as a hitwoman.
MY THOUGHTS / FINAL OPINION
"Proud Mary" is a film that, with the flaws it has, works for me. I can't say that I did not enjoy the hour and a half that I spent watching it. I like it enough to want to write this blog post, after all. Henson is amazing here, and so is Winston. Their chemistry is the best mother-son chemistry I have seen on screen in a long time. The way she portrays a mother-like character to him, who is tough, brave, and witty, is an excellent example of strong Black Mothers in cinema. Henson reminded me a lot of my own mother the way that I see her as a hero - Strong, Proud, Fierce. The little moments are the ice in the glass of whiskey. Their interactions in the clothing store, in her apartment, are warm and beautiful.
The villains are all terrible. The rival gang is comically bad and incompetent. Danny Glover's Portrayal of Benny is weak and un-frightening, seeing as how his is the head of their crime family. Brown's portrayal of Tom was okay in some moments, like the butt-kicking, but down right cartoonish in others. The film did the opposite for Black men than what it did for Black women.
Outside of the Henson's and Winston's acting, the best scenes in this film are the action ones. They are not over the top, but you feel every shot. When people die, you feel them go down. When Mary is shot, she does not wolverine away her wounds, but she is injured by them in a way that adds weight to the film, in a way that adds repercussions and real, palpable danger. Mary's skills are also not exaggerated, so the final climactic scene of her badassery is earned and believable (and also, AMAZING to see Taraji being a gun slinging bad-ass).
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