Octavia Spencer, left, stars in “Self Made,” along with Blair Underwood. Photo/Amanda Matlovich/Netflix
Netflix series about Madam C.J. Walker should have cited her generosity
By Tyrone McKinley Freeman The Netflix series “Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker” brings to life part of a fascinating rags-to-riches tale I’ve been researching for the past 10 years. Walker, widely documented to have been America’s first self-made female millionaire, made her fortune building an Indianapolis-based beauty products company that served black women across the U.S. and overseas. Today it offers a product line through Sephora.
Nathan (Robbie Amell) and Ingrid (Allegra Edwards) attend a digital funeral in “Upload.” Photo/Amazon Studios
‘Upload’: Life can be messy; so can the afterlife
By Linda Brooks If you die and buy your way into your own customized heaven, would it be better or worse than living? If you can still contact your real-life friends and family, how will that change you — or them? Does it bring you closer to them or is there resentment that life is somehow on hold? That is the premise behind “Upload,” a new Amazon Prime series that premiered May 1. Described as a comedy-drama-satire-science fiction, it falls into the latest genre of series giving us different views of what heaven or the afterlife might be like. But unlike the “The Good Place” or “Forever,” this is an artificial afterlife — with a dark side.
