Celebrity Coverage
Tyler Perry’s “Beauty in Black” is a mesmerizing soap opera full of excess, evil and utter absurdity – the essence
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What does it really mean when something or someone is called “evil”? This is what is disputed in Tyler Perry’s latest series on Netflix.
In , Perry takes viewers on a glossy, seedy journey into the fictional world of high-stakes beauty industry corruption. The series is about an elite cosmetics company that is each morally bankrupt and wealthy, and is rumored to sell products that really cause cancer in black women. It attempts to make clear the dangers of unchecked power and wealth through exaggerated characters and shocking stories, but its message is hidden beneath its own excesses.
From the start, it plays out as an over-the-top drama featuring a solid whose predominant flaws are extreme flaws. While Mallory (played by Krystle Stewart) and Kimmie (played by Taylor Polidore Williams), two women caught in the vortex of the dangerous allure of a beauty empire, offering occasional glimpses of empathy and resilience, moments like these are few and far between. Instead, the show leans heavily on the “bad guy” archetype for many of its characters, whose personalities are so absurdly ruthless that they border on melodrama. Perry seems to suggest that wealth and power inevitably result in corruption, but fairly than explore the topic with any real depth, he opts for spectacle.
Kimmie and her friend Rain (played by Amber Reign Smith) are trapped in a life of prostitution under the control of ruthless pimp Jules (played by Charles Malik Whitfield), who can send them back to prison with one phone call. They also dance at a strip club that is part of the same operation. However, Kimmie hopes to flee by applying for a scholarship to beauty school with Mallory, the CEO of Beauty In Black. Rain is skeptical, believing they’re doomed to this life, and warns, “At some point you’re going to have to face the fact that we’re human.”
Drama unfolds when Kimmie is scolded by the club’s managers and insults a VIP client, while Mallory reveals her cruel side after a public event, criticizing her staff and running away from an accident. Meanwhile, Body (played by Tamera “Tee” Kissen), a “downstairs whore”, hosts a back alley BBL for Rain in their motel room, run by Daga (played by Ts Madison).
The series revels in absurd situations and twisted relationships that may seem almost satirical. it has all the hallmarks of a soap opera – a web of secret connections, betrayal and drama at every turn. The show is undoubtedly over the top and it knows it. This over-the-top approach, while sometimes fun, can be exhausting. At 45 minutes per episode, the format sometimes drags as the plot repeats the same conflicts and character weaknesses without much plot progression or character development. This repetition seems like filler fairly than substance, distracting from any attempts to construct suspense and suspense.
What it lacks in subtlety, it makes up for in sheer boldness. The series takes viewers into a world full of gratuitous nudity and limitless profanity, intended to shock fairly than contribute to the story. Sexual content in particular often feels unnecessary since it exists mainly to boost the appeal of the show. As an adult woman, I felt the sex scenes were a bit over the top.
While much of the show could seem hole, the predominant solid brings even the most melodramatic scenarios to life. They fully commit to their roles, delighting in embodying each character’s moral ambiguity and indulgence of wealth. However, the supporting solid – probably as a result of their short screen time – don’t all the time match this energy, and their contributions are sometimes lackluster. As such, the show’s dramatic moments turn out to be predictable, with many of the side characters merely acting as plot devices to drive the predominant characters’ stories.
One of the biggest flaws is the lack of any characters which might be truly replaceable. You cannot even remotely discover with anyone in the solid; either they’ve gone too far morally or they’re too determined to self-destruct. This leaves the viewer without a real anchor, a character to root for amidst the chaos. A villain permeates every plot thread, and every character seems to follow a pattern of making the worst possible decisions. As viewers, we remain detached, watching almost as in the event that they were caricatures fairly than real, complex individuals.
And yet, for all its faults, it has moments of merit. It doesn’t pretend to be anything it’s not, accepting its role as “good, memorable entertainment” with joyful humility. This is a series for viewers who like campy dramas in which logic takes a backseat. When viewed with the expectation of pure escapism, it provides a decent dose of indulgent, outrageous fun. The sheer audacity of soap opera plot twists and relationships can have a strange appeal, especially should you enjoy chaos.
After all, this is a series best appreciated as a guilty pleasure, not deep television. It presents a distorted mirror of society’s obsession with wealth and power, but does so in a way that makes viewers wonder about the story itself. There is no nuance here – just a merciless grind of betrayal, money and sex. For anyone on the lookout for thought-upsetting television, this show might not be enough, but as an exercise in mindless indulgence, Perry actually delivered.
Final Verdict: This is soap opera in the biggest, most over-the-top sense – a guilty pleasure at best, a forgettable spectacle at worst. While Perry’s studio has brought significant advantages to the industry and community, the stories told on this platform can sometimes overshadow the issues they’re intended to deal with. Instead of inviting viewers to have interaction deeply, the show can turn out to be immersed in spectacle, raising the query: Is the goal to encourage thought?
In this fashion, Perry’s ambitious content strategy reflects the tension inherent in his work. On the one hand, his work increases the visibility of Black history and cements his position as a powerful force in Hollywood. On the other hand, the sensational elements of his storytelling may threaten to simplify and even trivialize his stories, which leads us to query whether these stories function authentic social criticism or as high drama escapism. For those willing to take the show for what it is, there’s dirty, over-the-top entertainment to be found in Perry’s campy universe.
“At that time we only had acrylic,” Angie Aguirre says Essence, who puts ESPY-Jones in the primary episode. “We didn’t have a number of things we have today.” Starting the series, in honor of the Black History of the month, Aguirre, nail artist Sha’carri Richardson, resembles a black story for extremely long nails-at the identical time spreading techniques from the past.
From memories of curved acrylics on Flo Jo of the Eighties to the red manicure in Donn Summer, and even the nail of Stiletto from the Nineteen Thirties about Queen Nenzim from the Democratic Republic of Congo, manicure for construction has a wealthy history hidden behind every decorating extension.
Using the attention shadows as a substitute of the airbrush machine (which within the Nineteen Nineties was a big, loud pedal machine), she recreated one of the vital popular styles that has since appeared today as a preferred look.
Often appropriated in popular culture long, loud nails are historically called “ghetto” as an offensive statement after they wear black women. Meanwhile, they are sometimes seen as fashionable after they wear white celebrities.
“We usually set up trends [and] People kick, “says Aguirre within the film while painting about traditional nail art visible within the Nineteen Nineties.” When pop culture gets it, they change what they want to be like that. ” However, “black women wore these nails long before social media.”
Now that the nail industry is to succeed in USD 36.27 billion until 2032Aguirre explains the influence that black women have on beauty and what the longer term of those historical manicures will seem like. “Nail game has become very innovative,” he says, with latest products reminiscent of Gel-X. “[It’s] It is very different from what was during the day. “
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images
On Monday, at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills A Who’s Who of New Stars, Hot Talent and Legends was at hand to honor the best in black talent on the screen for the American Black Film Festival awards. Honores for the Night to Aaron Pierre, who received the Rising Star award (while the crowd sang: “Aaron Pierre, to Mufasaaaa”), Essence Black Women in Hollywood Honree Marla Gibbs, who received the Hollywood Legacy award, Keke Palmer caught the Renaissan prize. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor received the same honor for girls.
Many people got here out to have fun, including presenters Ava DuverNay, Anthony Mackie, Boots Riley, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Regina King. But in Hollywood there have been many stars and massive names, which also got here out with their partners to enjoy the annual event. They began a blue rug with sweet PDA and good vibrations, able to enjoy an important night.
From Larenz Tate and Tomasina’s wife to Dondre Whitfield and Salla Richardson Whitfield, Loretta Devine and husband Glenn Marshall, Lance and Rebecca Gross, and newlyweds Yvette Nicole Brown and Anthony Davis, Love was in the air. (Another essence of black women in Hollywood Honore, Teyana Taylor, was a supporting Aaron Pierre there, and there are rumors that these two enjoy their company, which, for which we’re here.) More couples appeared to this event than since the prize season. Scroll to see and feel all love.
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Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Sophia Rose McDowell
Los Angeles, California – 17 February: Kelvin Harrison Jr. And Sophia Rose McDowell take part in the seventh annual American Festival Black Film Festival in SLS Hotel, the luxury collection hotel, Beverly Hills on February 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo Kayla oaddams/wireimage)
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Loretta Devine and Glenn Marshall
Los Angeles, California – February 17: Loretta Devine and Glenn Marshall attend the seventh annual awards of the American Black Film Festival in the SLS Hotel, luxury collection hotel, Beverly Hills on February 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo Kayla oaddams/wireimage)
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Yvette Nicole Brown and Anthony Davis
Los Angeles, California – February 17: Anthony R. Davis and Yvette Nicole Brown participate in the seventh annual American festival Black Film Festival in SLS Hotel, a luxury collection hotel, Beverly Hills on February 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo Kayla oaddams/wireimage)
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Salli Richardson Whitfield and Dondre Whitfield
Los Angeles, California – February 17: Salla Richardson Whitfield and Dondre Whitfield are collaborating in the seventh annual American Black Film Festival festival in SLS Hotel, a luxury collection hotel, Beverly Hills on February 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo Kayla oaddams/wireimage)
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Founders of ABFF Jeff Friday and Nicole Friday
Los Angeles, California – February 17: Nicole Friday and Jeff Friday take part in the seventh annual American Black Film Festival festival in the SLS Hotel, a luxury collection hotel, Beverly Hills on February 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo Kayla oaddams/wireimage)
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Lance Gross and Rebecca Gross
Los Angeles, California – February 17: Lance Gross and Rebecca Gross attend the seventh annual Arman Black Film Festival awards in the SLS Hotel, the luxury collection hotel, Beverly Hills on February 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo Kayla oaddams/wireimage)
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Lenengreen dies and Tomasinain Frig
Los Angeles, California – February 17: Larenz Tate and Tomasina Parrott attend the seventh annual awards of the American Black Film Festival in the SLS Hotel, a luxury collection hotel, Beverly Hills on February 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo Kayla oaddams/wireimage)
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Charles D. King and Stacey Walker King, founder and CBO Macro Media Company
Los Angeles, California-17 February: Stacey Walker-King and Charles D. King take part in the seventh annual American Black Film Festival festival in SLS Hotel, a luxury collection hotel, Beverly Hills on February 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo Kayla oaddams/wireimage)
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Michael Jai White and Gillian White
Los Angeles, California – February 17: (LR) Michael Jai White and Gillian White take part in the seventh annual Honorary American Festival Black Film at SLS Hotel, a luxury collection hotel, Beverly Hills on February 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, Kalifornia. (Photo Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
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WME COO Dan Limerick and Dawn Limerick
Los Angeles, California – February 17: (LR) Dawn Limerick and Dan Limerick, COO, WME take part in the seventh annual Honorary Film Film Film Film Film Film at SLS Hotel, Hotel Luxury Collection, Beverly Hills February 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
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Chris Spencer and Vanessa Spencer
Vanessa Spencer, Chris Spencer during the seventh annual American Black Film Festival festival, which took place at the SLS Hotel on February 17, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo of Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images)
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Teyana Taylor and Aaron Pierre
Aaron J. Thornton
(Photo Marla Aufmuth/Getty Images)
In a world that always tests our confidence and beliefs, Laysha Ward reminds that real leadership begins from the inside. As a former executive vp and director of external involvement in Target, she spent many years of supporting diversity, equality and integration, while helping leaders to adapt their goal with their influence. This summer, Ward was honored as a black woman in business at the Essence Culture Festival, recognizing her trailblazing work in the field of corporate leadership and strengthening the position of the community. Now with her recent book, Drops the jewels About navigate the goal, Imposter Silence team and constructing an appropriate support system to develop. From honoring the lessons of our ancestors to the authenticity of navigating the corporate spaces, Ward shares the strategies that shaped her journey – and the way it helps others in doing the same.
We met Ward to speak about the power of management based on the goal, the relationships that shaped her success and the advice that the younger Self would give.
Essence: What inspired you to put in writing?
Laysha Ward: I wrote this book to serve on a big scale-to assist more people live a living. I desired to help readers depend on their purpose and direct the meaning-the world really needs passionate, based on the goals of leaders who act with honesty, intention and humanity.
How do you retain authentic as a frontrunner in corporate spaces?
LW: I offer three steps that serve me well: 1) Stay faithful to your goal and values, irrespective of what the work environment throws you at you. 2) holistically manage your life and profession; You are just one person. Breake the wall between personal development and skilled growth so which you can make deliberate selections which are in line with your profession and life goals. You are the general director of your life and profession – you call what is true for you. 3) Care relationships – provide your kitchen cabinet, personal and skilled advice of directors, with many trusted advisers, from cheerleaders who create your noise team after pretenders who provide you with heavy love and push you to development.
What is the most influential relationship in your profession?
LW: Because I’m in favor of watching my life and profession, my answer is dual: first, Mr. Bill Kiffmeyer, my husband and driving on a die, who enabled me to live and lead in a way that’s in line with my goal to serve. A life partner isn’t required, but in the event you determine to have it, your selection is incredibly necessary. It will help or make your ability to conduct meaning and goals. The second is Mrs. Coretta Scott King, the wife of the deceased Martin Luther King, Jr., a member of my kitchen cabinet, who pushed me towards my purpose in key moments in my journey. Both are necessary parts of my history.
How can young professionals defeat the Imposter team?
LW: Always keep in mind that you might be worthy of space you enter. Put on and invest in you. Know which you can and you’ll learn to simply accept and succeed in situations that cause fear and anxiety. Once you undergo fear and doubts, you’ll gain confidence to maneuver through it. Still. This tingling of fear will grow to be an old friend, and a way of conquer fear will grow to be equally familiar, if no more familiar than fear itself. A goal to progress in perfection. To sum up? Believe in yourself, and others will imagine in you too. Even if not, stand in your purpose and power.
How can leaders increase the importance of Dei’s efforts?
LW: With an entire change in pressure, noise and politics, one thing that leaders can do is remain steadfast and assured knowledge that diversity, justice and integration are good for business, team, community, and ultimately for shareholders. Don’t quit. The best firms and organizations in various sectors use their goal and values to administer their strategy and decision making. And I still imagine that organizations and bands that create an actual sense of belonging – with cultures that value diversity, equality and integration – provide much stronger results and performance over time, serve their clients and construct the best teams.
What leadership lesson remained timeless for you?
LW: Many lessons I even have learned over the years got stuck with me. But at this point two stand out: first, listen and be interesting. True curiosity opens the door, and listening creates a path for higher solutions. Secondly, be open to the possibility that even those that are very different from you have an interest and interesting – and may even be people with whom you might have common things. Don’t just surround yourself with individuals who appear to be you, behave such as you, think such as you or talk such as you. Don’t live in the echo chamber. To listen. Be interesting.
What advice would you give to the younger?
LW: I’d say Little Laysha to always remember what mother and pa taught her to do the best, helping others and show gratitude. I’d tell her: It won’t at all times be easy. You will meet with many obstacles that could make you’re feeling like throwing, but not, because now we’ve got come too far to offer up. As great -grandfather at all times says: “We are not where we want to be, but we are not where we were.” This is what they call immunity and progress. Always keep in mind that you might be the wildest dreams of our ancestors. We are all pleased with you and we’re looking forward to seeing the amazing things you’re going to do.
What next after this book?
LW: I’m working on people to be prepared to effectively lead at the moment and all moments ahead of us. To expand the impact on readers who need to deeper, I even have established cooperation with global experts in the development of leadership in the room to create No online tool costsDesigned to get to know you where you might be. No quizzes, results or long exercises, without pressure to be perfect – only a commitment to make progress.
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