By Alexis Alex and Kala Fogg

This summer’s highly anticipated comedy, Girls Trip, debuted on last weekend and it is undoubtedly one of the hottest movies of the year. The movie follows four college besties letting loose for Essence Festival weekend in New Orleans and reconnecting after years of separation. The film has an all-star cast including Queen Latifah, Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Larenz Tate, and hilarious new comer Tiffany Haddish.

On opening weekend, the movie brought in $30.4 million dollars in sales surpassing box office expectations and exceeding its $20 million dollar budget. The film’s director Malcolm D Lee, has directed films like Soul Men, Roll Bounce, and The Best Man, and has struck gold again with this box office hit. Often times films packed with award-winning actors and actresses like this can leave the audience a bit skeptical about how all the stars will blend together on screen; it’s can become really hard trying not to focus on the big-name stars throughout the movie. But, Girls Trip happened to be the exact opposite. Surprisingly, the breakout star of the film is undoubtedly Tiffany Haddish, who brings on the funny for the entire 2 hours and 2 minutes of the movie. Haddish’s unforgettable performance definitely earns her a spot on Hollywood’s A List and hopefully we will begin to see her face more in future projects.

The movie has received excellent reviews from Rotten Tomates, CinemaScore and Black Twitter has given it classic status already. Which leaves the question: What is so great about Girls Trip? Girls Trip is special because it unpacks and displays the beauty of black womanhood and friendship, and how we use our friendships as our backbone to guide us through the rough times. This movie is so relatable it’s frightening. We’ve all had the crazy friend, the conservative friend, the “down for whatever” friend, and the friend who “has it all together”, this film emphasizes why these elements are key to an amazing companionship. Often times in Hollywood, Black woman characters either portray stereotypes or undergo various hardships in film. What makes Girls Trip so refreshing is the fact that there is no major hardship, catastrophe, or problem for the women throughout the film. It doesn’t resort back to the typical “Black women struggling in America” storyline that has been exhausted, and it demonstrates that there are way more important things on the black woman’s agenda than arguing with a “baby daddy”, trying to find a man, or being loud and angry. The problem is not that those stories are not the realities of some black women but it is not the reality of all black women. It is important to have diverse representation of Black women in film because the stories of all black women deserve the be told, not just the stereotypical ones. Black women are extremely capable of graduating college, writing books, landing major deals, running their own blogs, and most importantly having a good time and that is what the film celebrates. Girls Trip is the black women’s equivalent to The Hangover and Bridesmaids and its success has proven to Hollywood that Black women can carry a comedy by themselves. Black woman are just as capable as the “Zach Galifianakis’s” “Kevin Harts”, and “Melissa McCarthy’s” when it comes to “being funny” and standing alone when it comes to comedic relief.

Although most theaters were roaring with laughter, serious issues were also exposed in the midst of all the genius comedic lines. All women can agree that in today’s society concepts like cheating, divorce, lack of employment, and financial crisis’ are commonly being dealt with, however not discussed as often. In today’s society women are expected to “have it all together”, but the truth is, that is not an obtainable reality. Girls Trip is therapeutic because we get to see women not only reveal that they are not perfect and don’t always have it together, but we are able to relate in the sincerity behind the words written. We get to see the power of women who’ve lost themselves on the journey to finding themselves which is the film’s underlying beauty. Black women starring in their own movie is a rare occurrence in Hollywood, but the success of Girls Trip proves this the type of movie we deserve to see more of in Hollywood.