Tag: Taraji

One of the most cutting moments in Taraji P. Henson‘s new movie What Men Want is when her character, Ali, is overlooked for a promotion she thought was hers. It’s an embarrassing scene—her boss tosses a football to the man who’s getting the job, but Ali intercepts. There’s an element of slapstick here, of course, but the feeling is something women know all too well: losing an opportunity over “boys’ club bullshit,” as Ali so accurately puts it.

What Men Want addresses this injustice with humor…and a little magic. After drinking a Haitian tea brewed by a questionable psychic, played by Erykah Badu, Ali gains the ability to read men’s thoughts. She uses this power to get into the minds of the guys she works with and, soon enough, she’s on top. That Ali has to develop psychic abilities to get ahead at work is baffling, but it illustrates the uphill battle so many women face in their professional lives.

“The message of this movie is ‘the fight continues,'” Taraji P. Henson tells Glamour. “Just like so many women before us fought so that we could sit here. Now’s not the time to drop the torch. We have to continue fighting so that the ones coming behind us—maybe one day this is not their narrative. So we have to keep fighting. It’s an important enough subject matter for us to write a movie about it, so it’s very real.”

Real, and also timely. What Men Want is hitting theaters in the middle of #MeToo and Time’s Up, two movements aiming to end sexual harassment and gender inequality at work. The movie addresses the former head on when Ali’s boss tells her, “If it weren’t for #MeToo, I would fire you.”

“You know men are thinking that. You know that,” Henson says. “It’s the first time I actually heard [#MeToo] spoken [in a movie]. I hope that this will spark more things to be written. The only way we can change it is if we deal with the truth. You can’t change anything and ignore the pink elephant in the room.”

But What Men Want isn’t anti-men—Henson wants to make that very clear. “I don’t want to bash men,” she says. “We don’t want to make this a male-bashing film. I love the men in my life. We want them to come see the movie and laugh and learn, as well.”

And they will. The film does an excellent job at highlighting blindspots men often have when interacting with women, either professionally or personally. One great example is Ali’s father (Richard Roundtree), a widow, who admits in an emotional scene that raising her was difficult without his wife. “[He realizes], ‘Wow maybe there are some places that I did fault, or maybe there are some things that I didn’t equip you with [because I’m not a woman],'” Henson says. “Him coming to that realization and being man enough to say it—that’s beautiful. That, to me, was one of the most beautiful scenes in the film.”

Another important scene is when a character played by Tracy Morgan tells Ali he doesn’t trust women who don’t have spouses or children. It’s yet another example of the disparity between women and men (who are usually seen as cool bachelors when they’re single). Henson, however, thinks both genders experience the judgment her character faces.

“It’s that way with men too,” she says. “My fiancé [NFL star Kelvin Hayden] says people don’t take you seriously unless you’re married. Even men in business: The tone changes when you say, ‘Oh, this is so-and-so, and he has a wife.’ I see them light up. I think it’s both sides.” Hopefully, What Men Want helps break this stigma.

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