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Shirley | 2024 | PG-13 | – 1.5.5
Why is “Shirley” rated PG-13? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong language including racial slurs, brief violence and some smoking.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a few kisses, a shooting that leaves the victim paralyzed, several attacks on a woman and her campaign property, many arguments, discussions of racism and inequality of representation, and about 3 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.
The film follows the life of Shirley Chisholm (Regina King), from New York school teacher to first Black woman elected to Congress, to her U.S. presidential bid in 1972. Also with Lance Reddick, Lucas Hedges, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Christina Jackson, Michael Cherrie, Andre Holland and Terrence Howard. Directed by John Ridley. [Running Time: 1:57]
Shirley SEX/NUDITY 1
– A man and a woman kiss in three scenes. A man and a woman hold hands briefly in two scenes. We hear that a woman is a single mother.
Shirley VIOLENCE/GORE 5
– While giving a speech, a Black woman is attacked by a white man shouting obscenities and saying, “I’ll kill you”; the woman’s security team takes her away as other men grab the assailant and we hear that the police arrested him; the woman has a flashback of the incident while washing her face later, and tells her husband she is angry that he did not try to help her, even though he was there.
► Several police officers drive fast, get out of their vehicles with guns drawn and shouting and they ask a Black woman if a white man is attacking her; she says no, and they say that the governor has been shot and she later goes to visit the injured man in the hospital, where we see him with two IV bottles suspended by his head and he says that a bullet still in his spine will keep him in a wheelchair for life (she prays for him and he cries and thanks her).
► A Black woman approaches the white House Speaker and asks for her committee assignment to be more useful and he tells her, “Don’t make a fuss and do as you are told”; we later hear that she was given the committee assignment she wanted. ABC, NBC, and CBS all deny a Black woman candidate to debate the white men running in the 1972 primary elections; she sues the networks, loses in court, but wins on appeal.
► Several men try to intimidate a Black female candidate into dropping out of an election, but she refuses. At the Miami Airport, a carton of fliers and bumper stickers for a woman candidate is defaced with big black Xs. We see a dartboard covered with the face of Richard Nixon full of darts. We hear that contributions to a Black woman’s campaign were stolen and that donors want their money back, men and women argue briefly, but we do not hear the outcome of the theft. A propaganda flier depicts a Black woman candidate and a right-wing male governor as the couple in the painting “American Gothic.” A woman’s sister belittles her several times in the film, snubs her, and seems envious. A Black woman Congressperson and presidential candidate sees a Black male Congressperson on television as he urges all Black candidates to release their delegates to a white man; the woman candidate cries.
► A woman argues with men in several scenes, some scenes with the woman and at least one man shouting. A woman and her husband argue with him shouting loudly about being in her shadow, and crying (we hear that they divorced a few years after the campaign ended). Two women argue in a few scenes. A woman and a young man argue briefly. A woman argues with a male employee for several seconds very loudly and she fires him. Two women cry and hug each other for several seconds. At the end of the film, we read a caption that a woman, a Black single mom, became the highest ranked Black female in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she still served in the 2020s.
Shirley LANGUAGE 5
– About 3 F-words, 3 scatological terms, 1 anatomical term, 10 mild obscenities, name-calling (crazy, backstabber, cynical, joke, hard-mouthed goats, radicals, bourgeois, fat cats, fat cat white Boys, Little Lord Fauntleroy, Ivy League White Boy), exclamations (shucks, hot diggity dog, whoa, whoo), 2 religious profanities (GD), 18 religious exclamations (e.g. we are children of God, Merry Christmas, one scene of a Christmas tree, for God’s sake, Jesus, oh Lord, God. | profanity glossary |
Shirley SUBSTANCE USE
– A man in a bar sips a bottle of beer and we see two beer taps, a man sips whiskey in a few scenes, a bottle of amber liquor is seen on a side table in a house, and several open beer cans are on a table at a gathering (no one is seen drinking). A woman and two men light and smoke cigarettes at a banquet, a man smokes a cigarette on an airplane, and a man holds a pipe in his mouth at a meeting (we do not see smoke).
Shirley DISCUSSION TOPICS
– Black women in history, America in the 1960s and 1970s, Vietnam, politics, racial prejudice, pecking order in Congress, election campaigns, corruption in government, the youth vote, envy, money, power, feminists, gender politics, integration, abortion, Middle East turmoil, psychological games, poverty, justice, Christianity.
Shirley MESSAGE
– Shirley Chisholm opened the door for all racial and gender minorities to run for office with confidence.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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