Movie discussion: The Smart Money Woman

Women and money

Hi, it's Wemimo from the smart money tribe. Oops, I meant to say Wemimo from Feminist inc. Pardon the misplaced identity, The Netflix series, Smart Money Woman left a huge smart money effect on me and I can't help but spread the gospel of this amazing movie.

The Smart Money Woman is an adaptation of Arese Ugwu's book "The Smart Money Woman"(a best seller). It tells the story of five African women navigating life and money.

Judging by the society we live in, money seems to be a sensitive topic among women. Women are taught to see money in a different light than men. The Smart Money Woman series depicts this money dynamics with five, very different African Women.

The first on the list is ZURI. She is a Real Estate executive. She earns good pay, lives in Lives in Lekki, and drives a nice car. She is also a "spendaholic". She wears designer clothes, and she loves luxurious vacations. she is practically living her best life. Only her "best life" comes with huge monetary debts. She becomes broke as a result of living above her means. The series shows how she was able to slay her debt and become a smart money woman.

There are lots of women out there working so hard to make their money but people still attribute their riches to men or their pretty looks.

Looking at her role from a feminist angle, I love the fact that she was used to expose the disturbing stereotypes that society has against beautiful or rich women. There was a scene in the movie where her landlord accused her of not being able to pay her service charge because her "rich sugar daddy" dumped her. As small as this may look, it shows the sad reality of our society. There are lots of women out there working so hard to make their money but people still attribute their riches to men or their pretty looks.

The second on the list is ADESUWA. She is a big shot lawyer and the sole provider of her family-which is strange seeing as her husband is a very traditional man- She is wife to Soji and mother to SJ. She is portrayed as a conservative and submissive wife. In her bid to meet the demands of what society expects from a 'perfect' wife, she downplays herself and falls victim to her husband's lies, emotional and financial abuse. They have a joint account and he takes advantage of her submissiveness and her need to be seen as a perfect wife. Their relationship eventually ends when he clears the money in their account and elopes with his side chic.

Women who have been conditioned to keep on taking rubbish from their husbands. All in the name of being a 'good' wife.

Looking at her role from a feminist perspective, she is quite similar to most women in our society today. Women who have been conditioned to keep on taking rubbish from their husbands. All in the name of being a 'good' wife. A lot of women downplay themselves just to please men. However, these women should not be blamed since we are in a society where women have been conditioned to put their husband's happiness over theirs.

The third on the list is TAMI. She is a fashion designer and what you will call a "trust fund baby". This babe lives her life on daddy's money. Her fashion business is also funded by her daddy and her very interesting boyfriend Bobby.

Things take a different turn for her when her business faces a financial crisis that causes her to lose money. A smart money woman does not wait for financial surprises; she systematically saves toward her emergency fund because she knows that this is the foundation of her financial journey. Tami's loss came as a financial surprise to her and with the help of her friends, she was able to make smart money decisions to save her business.

Photo by Valentina Conde on Unsplash

The fourth on the list is LADUN. She is the perfect description of a fabulous housewife. She got married to her husband immediately after NYSC and she has been living her best life ever since. However, things take a left turn for her after her father-in-law dies leaving behind bad debts and no will. Since she had no financial support aside from her husband and his family, she had to make certain money decisions to save her family. This sad event made them move from a luxurious mansion in Ikoyi to living in Sango-tedo.

The fifth on the list is LARA. She is a tough oil and gas babe and definitely the richest of them all. She also happens to be financially smarter than her friends. However, the problem with Lara is her "black tax". Ever since her father died, she has shouldered her family responsibilities. She had to cater to her mother, her brother, and her sister. Her financial frustration in the movie was her brother who kept on spending his school fees(money from Lara of course) to sponsor his "football dreams".

women can slay at handling money.

The Smart Money Woman talks about how friendship and societal pressure affect how women spend money. It teaches how women should learn to invest themselves amidst romantic and financial losses. Also, it discusses the sad challenges women face with societal pressure and the desire to meet up with standards.

Women and money are not a popular phrase in the society. But the movie highlights the facts that women can slay at handling money.

Big ups to everyone involved in making this awesome, educative, liberating, and interesting series.

If you have not watched this series, you should probably check it out on Netflix. And if you have watched it, tell use what you liked about it in the comments.