Queen of Katwe Themes Essay

The film, Queen of Katwe was released in the year 2016. It is an American biographical drama movie which was directed by Mira Nair. It is a Ugandan film which is based on a true story starring David Oyelowo and Lupita Nyong'o which majors on a young woman's success. It centers on a family that endures poverty and comes out of it a happy family. The paper discusses several themes that are found in the movies. The themes include poverty, perseverance, and Family. The paper explains how and where the above-named themes are used and what purpose they serve in the film.

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The film, Queen of Katwe is set in the slums of Katwe in Kampala. The film shows the remarkable story of rags-to-riches of Phiona Mutesi (Madina Malanga) who was among the best female chess champions in the history of Ugandan sports regardless of all the probabilities. She rises meteorically from poverty to glory. Her family constantly struggles with poverty and her coach had an unflinching belief in her chess prodigy thus forming the whole story. Phiona, a 10-year-old girl and her siblings coming from a poor family sell maize for survival. However, the world around her changes when she meets Robert (Oyelowo) in a missionary program. Robert is a soccer coach and also tutors poor children on how to play chess since they can be injured playing soccer. Phiona being a curious girl follows her brother to learn the game. As the year's pass, she gets successful in competitions thus leading to bigger competitions, identity, and stress issues. She needs to learn more than chess as she is exposed to life outside her slums. Both her formal and informal education continues as she pursues the dream of escaping poverty for her family and herself.

The major theme in the film is the theme of perseverance. It is used to show the audience how everyone can overcome the circumstance in life. In Queen of Katwe, most characters have stories of how they have managed to overcome the odds. In the film, when Robert Katende gets injured while playing soccer, he sees a doctor who tells him that the injury will prevent him from playing. Robert Katende is a college-educated man who also rose from the slums and became successful. Another instance where perseverance is shown is when Phiona is able to surpass gender stereotypes to be in a competition with, she ends up winning against the boys. Throughout the movie, Phiona's family deals with hard situations that are inclusive of hunger, poverty, and homelessness. The family is seemingly trapped in a poverty cycle since Phiona is seen going to the streets to sell maize to not only the wealthy Ugandan children but also to chess players from the international world. At this stage, she did not know how to read or write. .Even when she surpasses all the hardships and becomes a champion in tournaments the theme is still prevalent. She starts to straddle in two worlds; the world where she comes from and the wider world that has been exposed to her while she was traveling to play chess.

The family is also a big theme in the film Queen of Katwe. The story revolves around Phiona's poor family. Her mother struggles to unite this family and most importantly to give her offspring a kind of a future. The family does not have so much in terms of wealth but they have each other's back and the way they relate with each other in the family becomes one of the most moving and interesting parts of the movies. Phiona's mother (Lupita Nyong'o) plays a character that is an amazing mother whose love for her children is immeasurable and wants nothing but the best for them. Phiona's mother simultaneously portrays the pride of a widowed mother who struggles with her children. Although she does not understand chess quite well, and the opportunities that it can grant her daughter at the beginning she does not discourage her from learning it. The relationship portrayed by Phiona and her mother is unanimously powerful and the bond between her and her brothers is touching.

Another theme is the prevalent display of poverty. It is shown that Phiona and her family come from the slums. The film portrays the slums as a place where the less fortunate poor people struggle to sustain their families. The poverty begins where it is shown that Robert Katende (David Oyelowo), also grew up in the slums. That explains why he has a passion for uplifting children from poor backgrounds. He acts as a mentor to the kids and has a strong dedication to see these children rise. He portrays an understanding and helpful character. Poverty is also depicted where Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) is said to be a silent young girl who lives in Kampala Slums with her Single mother Harriet (Lupita) along with her siblings. It is shown that due to the poor living conditions, for Phiona, she viewed her future as a choice between getting herself a sugar-daddy like Taryn Kyaze her elder sister did or struggle with the hard life of hawking maize in the streets. But this lasts until she makes a discovery about chess when she met Robert. Poverty is shown where Robert chooses to teach the poor children chess. He does this because, since they came from poor backgrounds they hardly had any money to treat injuries that could be caused by harder games like soccer. The art of chess can be mastered at a young age and also has a way of equalizing income, education, and class. It is then that Robert realizes that Phiona has a special gift in chess thus gives her more attention.

From the above it is clear that the themes and setting that portrays the daily struggle faced by Phiona's family may seem foreign to some western viewers; however, the story is an inspiring African story that reflects on the African society. The film, Queen of Katwe is a true success African story. It is all about individuals making themselves better as well as their communities. Regardless of all her situations and problems she faces, Phiona seizes the opportunity at hand to learn and better her ability in chess not only for her own benefit but for the sake of her family too. She lives up to her dreams and uses her opportunities to tag her loved ones up with her. It is through perseverance and her family encouragement that she is able to become a champion. The underdog film is mainly on a journey filled with confidence where an underestimated person manages to beat all odds and become a champion. Although it takes quite some time for Phiona to believe in herself, she eventually makes it become a champion and get her family out of poverty and slums. Her road to success and self-worth is timely and powerful and reminds one that young women can belong and matter.