'Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker': Who was Annie Malone from whom Madam Walker stole her recipe?
Spoiler alert for 'Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker'
Netflix's 'Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam CJ Walker' stars Academy Award-winner Octavia Spencer in the lead role, as the pioneer of the African-American hair care industry. A hardworking dedicated entrepreneur, Sarah Breedlove, or Madam CJ Walker, did not only go on to become America’s first female self-made millionaire but also overcame post-slavery racial and gender biases and betrayals to build a ground-breaking brand that revolutionized black hair care.
The series is inspired by the book 'On Her Own Ground' written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles.
But Madam CJ Walker's journey wasn't an easy one. In the show, her toughest challenge comes from her biggest business rival Addie Munroe (Carmen Ejogo), who goes out of her way to sabotage Madam Walker's prospering business. She also indirectly affects Sarah's marriage with CJ (Blair Underwood), although that is a product of multiple factors.
Addie's character is based on the real-life Annie Malone, who again went on to become one of the first African-American women to become a millionaire. The entrepreneur founded and developed a prominent commercial and educational center for African-American beauty.
Much like real life, Addie and Sarah, in the limited series, first meet by chance when Addie is selling her hair cream door-to-door. The magical hair cream works wondrously on Sarah, who like several African-American women of that era was struggling with severe dandruff, baldness due to skin disorders and lye.
With Addie's cream, Sarah regains her confidence and wishes that African-American women everywhere know the power of their hair. So she proposes that Addie and she work together with Sarah becoming a saleswoman. But Addie laughs off her idea and dismisses her proposal of working together. Being light-skinned, Addie doesn't want 'someone like you [Sarah]' associated with her product.
This, however, might have been tweaked for the sake of the series because it is documented that Sarah Breedlove was one of Annie Malone's selling agents and operated in Denver, Colorado until Sarah left the company.
The revelation made towards the end of the series — that Madam CJ Walker stole Addie's formula — is true.
When Sarah left Annie Malone's company, she took the original formula and created her own with it. This led Malone to copyright her products under the name Poro.
In the series, Addie and Sarah's competition is highly dramatized. Addie goes out of her way to bring Sarah down, even employing someone in her care to get her hands on inside information. She also poaches Sarah's top saleswomen rendering her without reliable staff.
The finale episode features a heated conversation between the two, where they lament of time lost — time they could have worked together.
All four episodes of the limited series are currently streaming on Netflix.