Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise – Overview/ Review (with Spoilers)

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise is like reliving her books but with the added benefit of Dr. Angelou speaking and her friends and family chiming in on her story.

Characters & Storyline

Dr. Maya Angelou. For many, she is an inspirational figure whose poems like “And Still I Rise” as well as “Phenomenal Woman” penetrated their primary education and left their mark. For others, her books ranging from I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings to her collection of poems, that is how she left a mark on their life. Perhaps it was one of her many interviews, especially with Oprah Winfrey, which left a lasting impression. Everyone has a different story as to how Dr. Angelou came into their lives and this documentary is about how Dr. Angelou became the person who has become so revered. From her humble beginnings in Stamps, Arkansas to her various occupations before writing and speaking engagements became a stable source of income, you get but a taste of an incomparable life.

Collected Quote(s)

Everybody needs somebody in their life who can you can go all the way there with. And with her, you can go all the way. There’s nothing so dark, so deep, so dirty, so anything that she can’t hear it, understand it, and help cleanse you from it.

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[…] I know I’m not perfect and whatever, but it’s something that she can look at me and she can kind of put the picture together. She knows I’m just a dude trying to figure it out.

Highlights

It’s A Cliff Notes Of Her Life

This is kind of a negative and positive for me. Focusing on the positive part, being that I’ve read all of her books but the last one focused on her mother, I liked being reminded of what happened in her life. But what this documentary has is the added benefit of not just her rehashing what was in her books, but having outside perspectives. One of the big highlights for me was Guy talking about some of Dr. Angelou’s ex-husbands and also his takes on being the only consistent man in her life. For while Cicely Tyson, Alfre Woodard, Oprah, and others have an interesting insight, it pretty much is all praise. With Guy, he still has his mother on a pedestal, but he helps push the idea that she, despite her accomplishments and how people talk about her, was still very much a human being with faults.

The Focus on Her Relationship with James Baldwin

One thing which came as a surprise to me was how her relationship with James Baldwin was portrayed. It is well established that Dr. Angelou likes to have parties and was both friendly and approachable, but in the books, it seemed only Guy was a consistent person. So to learn of her relationship with James Baldwin was new information to me. Also, and perhaps this is the writer in me, it made me wonder what were their conversations like and had me imagining two individuals taking on these strong personas, like in a play, and just speaking of the times, life, love, and work.

On The Fence

If You Aren’t Already Familiar With Her Story, I Don’t Think This Fully Captures What Made Her So Great

As noted, you are given but a taste. You get to experience just a taste of her infectious spirit, her method of storytelling, and while I realize being a fan clouds my judgment, I don’t feel like this documentary gives you enough to push people to understand why you love her. She is sort of touted as an intelligent Forest Gump. Someone who often was at the right place at the right time so she found herself engaging with some of the most prominent black figures of the 20^th century. Yet she was so much more than a go-to friend for advice or marvelous speaker. Which is slightly noted in how her book opened the doors for Black women to speak on the abuse and perseverance they went through, but this is perhaps one of the few documentaries which seemed to put too much effort into humanizing the central focus.

Overall: Positive (Worth Seeing)

It’s hard to talk about this documentary since I feel like I know more than what it offers. So with it rushing what happened with her husbands, her life in Africa or with the SCLC, or her relationship with her grandmother or mother, and seemingly just focusing on how she touched all these famous people’s lives, it’s upsetting. For, just speaking on the importance of Maya Angelou in my life, before reading I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, I thought, like many kids in high school, I just didn’t like to read. But thanks to that book, and her follow-ups I quickly consumed thereafter, I learned the problem wasn’t me not liking to read. No, it was that my various English teachers, at damn near ever school I went to, didn’t push a book which spoke to me, my background and story, much less my culture. So while I mark this as positive, for you are given a speed run through Dr. Angelou’s life, I can’t recommend it for it doesn’t feel thorough and seems to be more about the quantity of the topics, and recognizable names it can fit in the documentary, than the quality of stories and events it chooses.