What Tyler Perry hopes others take away from the remarkable story behind ‘The Six Triple Eight’
Tyler Perry’s “The Six Triple Eight” tells the story of the largest all-Black woman unit to serve in the U.S. military during World War II.
Tyler Perry’s highly anticipated World War II drama “The Six Triple Eight,” starring Kerry Washington (who also executive produces), Oprah Winfrey and Ebony Obsidian, has officially hit Netflix.
The film, which follows the story of the largest all-Black woman unit in the U.S. military to serve during World War II, isn’t like your typical war movie.
“There’s a lot of different kinds of history that make up American history,” Perry told CinemaBlend ahead of the film’s release. “And it’s all very important, and all these stories matter, every one of them.”
In fact, Perry hopes viewers come away from the film, above all else, understanding the importance of diverse storytelling and what happens often when Black people, especially Black women are underestimated.
“I think for little girls to know that 855 women were in World War II, little Black girls, little white girls, I mean, this speaks to the value of what women can do,” he added.
Tasked with an impossible duty to somehow sort through and deliver 17 million pieces of mail to U.S. soldiers within six months as enemy bombs can be heard overhead and their own fellow U.S. soldiers subject them to racism, the roughly 850 women who made up the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion defied the odds.
“They did not send us because they thought we could do it. We are here because they are sure we cannot,” Washington’s character, Charity Adams, who led the operation, tells her unit in the film.
However, they succeed. Their story was brushed under the rug until historians began to dig it up, including Kevin Hymel, who interviewed surviving members for the article “Fighting a Two-Front War,” which Perry subsequently adapted for his film.
“They’re bonded not just from the common journey of becoming soldiers together,” Washington told People magazine. “They also were united against the forces of misogyny and racism within our own armed forces. So there was an unbreakable sisterhood.”
One of the 6888 members now immortalized in the film, Lena Derriecott King, (played by Ebony Obsidian in the movie), died in January of this year at the age of 100. Before her death, Perry was able to visit with her and show her the film, he told People.
In addition to her becoming emotional and saluting the movie as he played it for her, she said, “‘Thank you for letting the world know that Black women contributed.’”
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