Mastoukas' Queen and Slim (2019): The Epitome of Love and Theft

Black Americans make up less than 13% of the American population, yet they are “killed by police at more than twice the rate of White Americans” (“Fatal Force,” WP). As such, Melina Matsoukas’ film Queen & Slim (2019) is just as prescient in predicting the deaths of Black Americans the year after the film came out—George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubrey—as it is reflective of the fatal shootings hitherto the movie premiere.

Using the style of the Depression-era runaway film, Queen and Slim subverts the racial order by pushing back against the political reality of Black death by the police.

The film begins with Queen and Slim on a Tinder date in Ohio—it’s their first date; they don’t know they’re in love yet. On their ride home, a police officer pulls them over and asks Slim for his license and registration and later explains this is because he “failed to execute a turn signal” (Matsoukas, 5:00-6:00). The encounter escalates quickly, mirroring the treatment of Black people by the police in real-life scenarios: four years prior to the release of Queen and Slim, Sandra Bland was pulled over in July of 2015 for failing to execute a turn signal (Fieldstadt). In the movie, the police officer demands that Slim get on the ground, and when Queen asks why Slim is under arrest, the officer shoots her in the leg and pins Slim down on the street. Slim takes the officer’s gun from the ground. Subverting the typical scenario between an encounter between a Black person and a police officer, Slim grabs the officer’s gun and kills him (Matsoukas, 11:00). Immediately, Queen and Slim are criminals. As Black bodies in America they are guilty, even before they were pulled over.

The film mirrors the style of a runaway movie, the genre which originated during the Great Depression as a form of escape during a time of turmoil. Depression-era movies and their successors reflected the American people’s desire to escape during a time of widespread poverty, confusion, and fear. This sentiment is akin to the outrage of the fight for Black humanity. As Queen’s uncle puts it, when the pair arrives at his home when they flee, Queen and Slim resemble “the Black Bonnie and Clyde” (Matsoukas, 37:44). While the movie premiered in 1967, it is inspired by the real relationship between two white outlaws in love during the 1930s (“Bonnie and Clyde,” fbi.gov; IMDb).

Many films coming out following the Great Depression like the Grapes of Wrath (1940) told the story of migrants who could not really migrate, or like Busby Berkeley’s escapist musicals, they were entirely fantastical and escapist in nature (Corey, lecture). In this case, Queen and Slim are trying to escape a reality there is no escape from. The pair is escaping the consequences of shooting a cop (which are albeit far worse because of their Blackness). They are figuratively escaping the burden and doom of having Black skin in America.

By the end of the movie it is evident that Queen and Slim literally cannot out-run racism; their ploy to escape to Cuba and live as exiles was destined to fail before they even began their journey. They were destined to die before they were even born, destined to have Black skin. The media’s sensationalization of the shooting snowballs throughout the movie, hinting at Queen and Slim’s inevitable fate of being caught. We hear about their story on the police radio when they are in Kentucky (Matsoukas, 32:00). We see Slim’s ‘wanted’ picture on the front page of the newspaper at the gas-station in Kentucky (34:00). We hear about them on the TV at Queen’s uncle Earl’s house (46:00). Earl remarks that the police “are like slave-catchers;” he is spot on like his niece was in the opening scene—their escape route might as well be the Underground railroad (38:38). It is no surprise to Queen’s uncle when he hears about her death on his TV at the end of the movie (2:01).

Black skin in America has been a ticket to being slain for centuries. Another parallel to Bonnie and Clyde and the movies coming out of the Depression is Queen and Slim’s love story, which perhaps is the ultimate way for them to escape or, rather, forget about their impending doom. In moments of fear, their love blossoms. This is evident when they take a detour to hear some live music performed by Black musicians and dance together (Matsoukas, 58:00-59:00). “You’re safe here,” the bartender tells them, and for a fleeting moment on their journey, they have discovered a safe-haven where they can embrace Black culture and enjoy the music which is theirs (1:00).

For a moment, in the Black-owned bar, they are safe. Their love blooms in the face of despair.

The themes of Black love and Black death are juxtaposed throughout the film. This duality culminates when the film moves back and forth from a violent Black Lives Matter protest to Queen and Slim having sex for the first time (Matsoukas, 1:24). They both reach orgasm—there is no better symbol for the pinnacle of human desire—at the same moment in which the Black child they met at the car repair shop kills a Black cop at the protest. But the situation sours further: the child is killed by the police (1:27-1:29). In an attempt to be subversive, drawing inspiration from Queen and Slim, the child is killed because of the racist system.

The most profound juxtaposition between love and theft, or, in other words, desire and destruction is when Queen and Slim are shot dead on the tarmac before they can get in a borrowed plane to make their escape to Cuba. When the police arrive they hold hands (Matsoukas, 1:56). As soon as Queen says the words “can I be your legacy?” to Slim, the police shoot her dead (1:58). Instead of obeying the officer’s orders to step away from Queen, with tears in his eyes, Slim takes her in his arms and holds her dead body up to the cops so they can see what they have done (1:59). The police shoot him dead with an excessive amount of bullets; their dead bodies collapse on top of one another (2:00). They don’t let go of each other. The character’s love for one another is most evident at the moment of their death, the ultimate theft.

The theme of love in the face of death is age-old; it goes back to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. But, on a political level, everything has been taken from Black people. The end of the film is an effort to reclaim Black life. Even if you take the most precious thing—human life—from a Black person, you cannot diminish Black culture, and Black love. Queen and Slim love each other, even in death.