I don’t watch many movies from Hollywood. But something about Straw, a Netflix movie, drew me in. I didn’t know the actors’ names. I didn’t even read the reviews prior to watching it. I simply watched it and empathized with the main character.
Taraji Henson, who played Janiyah Wilkinson, a single mother struggling to make ends meet and to care for her sick daughter Aria, gripped my heart from the first scene. I didn’t care what critics said. Who needs them when we can form our own opinions? Watching Janiyah in that moment, she was like many mothers I’ve known. There are countless mothers out there who are facing the struggles of motherhood. They have fought, broken, and somehow kept going. I had never heard of Taraji Henson before this movie, but her portrayal in this film will stay with me.
Straw brought me to a world that was unfamiliar to me in some ways: an almost all-Black cast, a peek into lives and difficulties shaped by a reality I don’t live but deeply empathize with. It was a story of survival, love, and the crushing burden of systems created with little regard for people at the bottom. And at its core was Janiyah, a single mother who awoke that day believing she could handle everything, only to find herself in one difficult circumstance after another.
I saw myself and many of us in her. Though I admit that my problems may pale in comparison to hers. I made no judgments about her that moment she snapped. How could I? I understood the never-ending cycle of striving to earn enough, care enough, and keep it all together in a society that keeps asking for more and more and giving so little in return. The dysfunctional healthcare system (healthcare that costs so much more than most people can afford is pure evil), the lack of emotional support for moms, and the feeling of being invisible in a world that only sees what it wants to see.
Motherhood can be so isolating. It impacts mothers' mental health and contributing to exhaustion. Even when we are surrounded by people, we may feel alone in our struggles. And when there is no one to support us through the most difficult times, the weight of it all can feel intolerable. That is what Straw conveyed so powerfully for me and also what I wanted to honor in this reflection.
I’m not writing this to offer solutions. As a mother, I understand that no one can fix what we’re going through. We don’t expect anyone to. We don’t ask for handouts or miracles. But sometimes what we want most is to be seen. We want to hear someone say that they see us and our effort. They see the fatigue we endured and that we aren't invisible or forgotten.
That is why I began making emotional support materials for mothers such as poems, printables and art (available on my Etsy shop). I know they don't fix the problems but maybe in some small way, they might shine a light on a dark day.
If you're a mother, I highly encourage you to watch this movie. I watched it with my daughter and it was an eye opener for her to the suffering of others. She even shed some tears. Taraji Henson did a great job in this movie and I absolutely recommend it to anyone (not just mothers).
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