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Janelle Monáe: ‘Antebellum’ Is a ‘Kick in the Stomach’ to White Supremacy
Monáe explains why she took on this tough role and how Black women can care for ourselves amid trauma
Making Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz’s Antebellum was always going to be a challenge. Films set in the plantation South press against open wounds that are still present in the 21st century. The film follows Veronica Henley (Janelle Monáe), a race scholar who finds herself trapped in a horrific dream where she lives out her days as an enslaved woman named Eden living in the Civil War period.
Haunting and brutal scenes from the period are juxtaposed against the picturesque Southern landscapes in direct contrast to the late 19th century’s reality. Antebellum is a mind-bending narrative that presents the country’s racial horrors as they truly are and what Black women, in particular, have had to endure for survival.
Monáe’s spellbinding performance as a woman caught between two worlds has never been more timely at a moment when everything for Black people is at stake. It’s a searing reminder that our stories must be told in all of their vast nuances, no matter how painful they might be.
On the eve of Antebellum’s debut, Monáe spoke with ZORA about overcoming her fears about the role, activism, and why telling the truth is more important than anything.
ZORA: What intrigued you most about the story of Antebellum?
Janelle Monáe: It scared me. It absolutely frightened me and touched on so many timely conversations that we’re having now around white supremacy, systemic racism, and oppression. What happened in the script could occur in reality. I didn’t know if it was art imitating life or life imitating art. That confusion was something that I leaned into. I leaned into Antebellum being centered around a Black woman. [My character] finds herself in this horrifying reality where she has to confront the past, the present, and the future before it’s too…
