‘Self Made’ Uses Great Energy to Chart the Rise of Madam C.J. Walker

Alci Rengifo

One of the favorite trends in American biography is the story of self-made success. It’s become a bit of a cliché now, to see these stories of the hard-willed dreamer who brushes doubt aside to become fabulously wealthy, but Netflix’s engaging limited series “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker” stands out by using the impressive rise of an entrepreneur to explore issues of race in early 20th century America. Themes of hard work, staying true to your ambitions and reaching one’s potential have a universal appeal, but the story of Madam C.J. Walker has a social resonance that makes it even more endearing.

We first meet Walker (Octavia Spencer), originally named Sarah Breedlove, in early 1900s St. Louis where she works as a laundress. One of her early employers is Addie Munroe (Carmen Ejogo), who has a very personalized hair care business, tailored for black women, with a specific formula of her own making. Walker tries to get Munroe to let her become a salesperson for the product but very vain Munroe refuses, dismissing Walker as, among other things, ugly. With the support of hesitant husband Charles James Walker (Blair Underwood), from whom she takes her namesake, Walker decides to go out on her own. She develops her own product by perfecting Munroe’s original recipe and starts a new business. Dreaming of expanding Walker pushes Charles and grown daughter Lelia (Tiffany Hadish) to move to Indianapolis to fully start a new business. But just as she gets started Walker is astounded to find that Munroe has followed her, determined to also claim this area for her product. The resulting feud will continue as Walker turns an idea into a business empire that will turn her into a trailblazer both as an African American and as a woman.

“Self Made” is based on the book “On Her Own Ground,” written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles. It never takes on the tone of an expose or work of iconoclasm. From the beginning it sets up Walker as a heroic figure pulling herself up from the laundromat world to the halls of big business. Spread out of four episodes, this energetic limited series uses Walker as more of a symbol for how an African Woman could compete with the fiercest male capitalists of her time, including Nelson Rockefeller, and bring a new level of respectability to the theme of black women’s hair care. In the 1910s black entrepreneurs were on the rise but like their white counterparts kept much of the business world very male-dominated. Walker has to struggle to get heard at events where someone like Booker T. Washington (Roger Guenveur Smith) promotes black economic independence, but in private tells Walker women cannot be allowed to surpass men. Some of the writing’s more melodramatic flourishes also have bits of sober, social observation. Charles may love his wife, but his sense of patriarchal masculinity eventually gets threatened by both her ambition and the need to focus on building up the business. When his eye begins to wander to a young, attractive prospect, it’s more out of selfish pride. C.J. defines independence, which in the era of this film is in itself a revolutionary act. Yet C.J.’s own traditional sense of things is challenged by Lelia, who begins to explore her own sexuality and falls in love with another woman.

The series is also peppered with an array of great supporting characters. Garrett Morris is wonderful as Charles’s father Cleophus, a former slave who witnesses everything from a corner, laughing and giving advice. Tiffany Hadish as Lelia becomes the daughter who refuses to be ladylike, posing the dilemma to C.J. of how her own independent spirit carries on in her children. J. Alphonse Nicholson as Lelia’s bore of a husband John is that required snoop in every business family, doing little other than getting tempted by the other side to trade information. That other side is gamely played by Carmen Ejogo as the cold and ruthlessly jealous Addie. 

But dominating the screen for all four episodes is Octavia Spencer. Her usual, down to earth likability here becomes a combination of vulnerable and relentless force of nature. She is a natural go getter, but the writing gives her complexity when it dares explore some of her insecurities. She is making beauty products while carrying the stigma of being considered unattractive, at least by her abusers and detractors. When Charles proposes an ad campaign utilizing an attractive model on a bicycle, for Walker it becomes a metaphor for her own fears regarding looks. These moments are welcome because they turn Walker into more than a mere historical icon to revere. Even captains of industry are human.

The only slight fault in the technique of “Self Made” is its urgent need to try and feel contemporary. Transitions are scored to songs like “Harlem Shake” for example while some moments swerve from focused, clean editing to sudden, music video-like montages. A period piece is a period piece, and there would have been nothing wrong with just celebrating the times Madam C.J. Walker inhabited, particularly since the past is the harbinger of the present. However none of this takes away from the sheer enjoyment of the series. A lot of it works also as an exciting business drama with Addie always trying to find a way to stop Walker’s rise or an investor unwisely trying to round up the money by betting with gangsters running numbers. At times the narrative can be absorbing with just the details of attempting to open a factory or give workers fair treatment (Rockefeller’s advice to Walker is to just fire any troublemakers). 

“Self Made” tells a worthy story. This is its highest value. Anyone seeking a more revelatory take on Walker’s life should go read the autobiography. As drama this series captures the stress and hard work to achieve something. It is never harder than when one is marginalized. C.J. Walker proved gender and race should never be barriers to groundbreaking success. With Octavia Spencer’s performance binging this one is even less of a tough demand.

“Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker” begins streaming March 24 on Netflix.