Even though she’s not on the $20 bill (yet), Harriet Tubman remains one of the great American crusaders of all time. At this point in our history, there’s so many larger than life stories about this amazing woman, she’s at least a folk hero, and maybe even a superhero. The movie Harriet seems to understand this, and leans into portraying Tubman with the reverence people feel for her.
Before she became Harriet Tubman (Cynthia Erivo), Underground Railroad Conductor, Minty was a slave owned by the despicable Gideon Brodess (Joe Alwyn) family. The minute the sadistic Gideon took over the family klan, Minty knew she had to get out of there, so she fled her cruel master by herself. She miraculously traverses the 200 miles or so to Philadelphia, where the anti-slavery society including William Still (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Marie Buchanon (Janelle Monae) help Minty get on her feet, and give her a new name. The now free Harriet Tubman wants to go back for her family and to reunite with her husband John (Zackary Momoh), but along the way she finds her new purpose: to help EVERY slave find their way to freedom.
Harriet Tubman isn’t even a hagiography. It’s basically fan fiction with some real life events sprinkled in. Harriet Tubman famously was afflicted with narcolepsy, which means she could fall asleep involuntarily at any moment. This movie takes that fact and blows it out: these narcoleptic episodes aren’t just random: God was directly speaking to Harriet, and giving her premonitions about the near and distant future, explaining how she was so good at evading captors. It’s a bold swing, for sure, but it feels like the writers want to present the Harriet Tubman they see in their brain when they think of her. As a storytelling device, this swing robs the movie of large chunks of its dramatic tension, and inadvertently becoming unintentionally funny and silly. Thankfully the superpowers are introduced early enough to let you recalibrate your brain and go along with Harriet’s reimagination, but it takes a while to get there.
Maybe Harriet Tubman’s life is better suited for a mini series than a movie. There’s SO much rich history to this amazing historical figure that Harriet only has time to barely touch on: we get bascially the bullet points. The Underground Railroad stuff is obviously the highlight, as the stakes get higher and higher as Tubman has to travel further and further to get people to freedom. However, the end of Harriet’s life glosses over some other truly amazing accomplishments, like being one of the few women to actually lead an American military battle. Might have been fun to watch a John Wick-like Tubman laying siege on her previous oppressors. I guess I’ll eagerly await the mini series for that.
Harriet is the result of drunken 3 AM dorm room conversations. I’m picturing some kid, having to write a paper on Harriet Tubman, and putting it off to watch Black Panther while having a couple Bud Lights. BOOM! The screenplay practically writes itself. I’m sure all the narcoleptics might have something to say on the matter though.