I read Roxane Gay's "An Untamed State" about a year ago. It was a difficult read. Without giving away the entire plot, "An Untamed State" recounts the nightmare of an affluent Haitian-American woman kidnapped in Haiti and the days she spends being tortured and raped repeatedly to the point that her reproductive organs have to be surgically repaired. It ends on a positive note but I do fear how Haitians and Black folks in general will be represented in this film. For one, in the novel, all the ruthless "bad guys" (down to the victim's own father) are Black folks (Haitians) and the knights in shining armor who nurse her back to wholeness are White.
I am happy to see Gina Prince-Bythewood in the director's chair for this project and am elated to see her team up with Gugu Mbatha-Raw again. Both are phenomenal. I'm a big fan of Roxane Gay as well. "Bad Feminist" is one of my favorite pieces of literature. "An Untamed State" is more about the protagonist's grit and unflinching resolve and less about Haitians and Haiti. Still, it left me reeling for a number of reasons. Read it for yourself before the movie is shot and released. Let me know what you think.
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