‘Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words’ director Nneka Onuorah talks unveiling the superstar’s vulnerability
Nneka Onuorah helps Megan Thee Stallion showcase the power of vulnerability in the new documentary “Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words”
Like many Black women, Grammy Award-winning rapper Megan Thee Stallion, born Megan Pete, wears a mask. A shield, a protective armor she developed as a teen to protect her from the unexpected pain and hardship that arose in her personal life. However, what happens when that armor is pierced by something affecting both Houstonian Megan Pete and superstar Megan Thee Stallion? Prime Video’s “Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words,” directed by Nneka Onuorah, dives into the star’s rise to fame and how her vulnerability became her ultimate superpower.
“I view Megan as a feminist icon,” Onuorah said in a conversation with theGrio. “She represents the dichotomy and the multifaceted nature that Black women have all in one. “And showing us that we don’t only need to just show our strong side, showing vulnerability can empower us to get through anything, embracing our emotions, our feelings, that does also make us strong.”
However, the “Savage” rapper was not initially thrilled at the idea of revealing the young woman behind her confident, unflappable public persona. When they began filming the documentary in 2022, the star was reportedly reluctant to open up and allow people to see the trauma underneath the surface of her brand, “Megan Thee Stallion.”
Though the film explores Pete’s grief of losing her father shortly as a child and her mother during the rise of her career, as well as her experience with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and thoughts of suicide, Onuorah realized that the two were building a bond during a conversation about jalapeno kettle-cooked potato chips.
“So there’s a scene in the film where Meg is, you know, talking about jalapeno kettle chips, and she gets really stressed out,” the award-winning director recalled the moment that occurred in Las Vegas ahead of Billboard Awards. “Me and her are interacting in that scene, and [it was] the first time I [had] ever seen Meg without her hair and makeup team there, her glam team. She was just always working and having people in her face. So I said this is an opportunity for me to go back with her [to the hotel] and it just be me and her by ourselves.
“She just had a spiral from some jalapeno chips, and we related … we laughed, and I think that’s the first time we opened up. She opened up to me in an emotional way, and I just let the camera run,” she continued.
In addition to highlighting Pete’s journey to stardom, the documentary gives an inside look at how Megan Thee Stallion handled the public scrutiny that came from her altercation with rapper Tory Lanez. In 2020, Lanez, born Daystar Shemuel Shua Peterson, shot the “Body” singer in the foot, which eventually led to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office pressing felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm charges against Peterson.
Despite being the victim in the case, Pete had to deal with social media trolls who questioned the validity of her claims. From popular industry commentators like Joe Budden to local delivery drivers on TikTok, the documentary shows the outsize animosity the star faced online for Peterson’s trial.
“Sometimes you need understanding, especially in a world with social media and so much chaos and opposition, she just needed somebody to be by her side and rock with her,” Onuarah explained. “We had a true connection. I think I offered myself as a safe space to her, and I let her know that I [was there] to support and protect her and to help amplify her voice. … We kind of laughed through the pain sometimes. Those intimate moments made us closer.”
Ultimately the film should be a reminder of the star’s humanity. As “Megan Thee Stallion,” she represents a multitude of things to many people — an advocate of mental health, feminism, body positivity, bold confidence and more. However, Onuorah explains that the young woman behind the fame is no different from her fans who watch her online.
“I wish, as Megan Pete, that [people] understood that this girl is under 30, and she’s just a regular human being who has to do stuff just like us …without any parents. There [were] times we shot on the holidays, and she [didn’t] have any family to spend the holidays with. All these things happening, she’s just a regular human being going through it … that’s something people need to empathize with,” the director told theGrio. “She’s still a young girl trying to figure it out, and people are allowed to be figuring it out.”
Ultimately, Onuorah believes that everyone, especially Black women can learn something from the duality unveiled in the film.
“I think because Megan Pete and Megan Thee Stallion were going through something at the same time, she couldn’t rely on Megan Thee Stallion, her mask. She had to really get Megan Pete to step up and be empowered … now she has true strength,” she added. “I feel like a lot of women need to hear that and see that our power doesn’t only come from how tough or how much we avoid things. But from how much we embrace pain and grief and how that can be transformative to us, to rise from the ashes and toward Phoenix.”
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