TW: Mentions of misogynoir, anti-Blackness, sanism, missing persons cases, catfishing, White supremacy, White feminism, respectability politics, classism, physical violence, internalized oppression. Spoilers also exist. Read at your own risk.
“But now I know what the world thinks of my daughter—she’s just another statistic.” -Cheryl Baker
This is one of the hardest-hitting movie quotes, because it’s true. Black women and girls are incorporated into missing persons statistics, yet continuously ignored in missing persons news reports. News stations will cover missing White women and girls for weeks on end but never keep 5% of that same energy for missing Black women and girls. Misogynoir in the media is so pervasive. I’m not into Lifetime movies, but seeing the commercial for Black Girl Missing made me think, I HAVE to see this, because it spotlights a real problem that goes unchecked all too often.
For any non-Black person who believes that Black lives matter, it is imperative to care about the presence of anti-Blackness and misogynoir in news coverage. Including when it comes to missing persons cases. So before I give the synopsis and full analysis, you need to know what the “Missing White Woman Syndrome” is. The “Missing White Woman Syndrome” is a term that the late journalist Gwen Ifill coined at the 2004 Unity: Journalists of Color, Inc. conference. At that conference, journalist Suzanne Malveaux highlighted that in 1994, the Nancy Kerrigan & Tonya Harding saga received more press than the Rwandan genocide. Ifill said in response, “I call it the Missing White Woman Syndrome. If there’s a missing White woman, we are gonna cover that. Every day.” (Link to clip).
You might wonder, what do Kerrigan and Harding have to do with this? They aren’t missing White women. Yes, that’s true. However, Ifill coined that term to highlight White feminist dynamics in news coverage. That extends to missing persons cases, which is literally what the “Missing White Woman Syndrome” is. Simply put, national news stations repeat the names of missing White women and girls dozens of times daily for weeks on end. They’ve done this for missing White women/girls like Jayme Closs, JonBenét Ramsey, Natalie Holloway, Mollie Tibbetts, and Gabby Petito. But they’ve never done this for missing Black women/girls like Alexis Patterson, Relisha Rudd, Starletta Henderson, Brittany Palmer, and Ethel Louise Atwell. And let’s not forget, the missing White women/girls that national news stations report often come from middle or upper class backgrounds. Classism coexists with the “Missing White Woman/Girl Syndrome” too, and classism and racism are connected with each other.
So, how does misogynoir show up in Black Girl Missing? Does Black Girl Missing portray misogynoirist and White supremacist dynamics realistically? Let’s answer those two questions in the analysis. But first, synopsis.
Synopsis: Black Girl Missing is a Lifetime movie that centers a young Black woman named Lauren Baker (played by Iyana Halley). She’s a college student who went home to spend time with her sister, Marley Baker (played by Taylor Mosby), and her mother, Cheryl Baker (played by Garcelle Beauvais). Though after Lauren and Cheryl argue over change in college plans, Lauren vanishes from home to be with someone she supposedly knows. After two days of returning neither Cheryl’s nor Marley’s texts, both Cheryl and Marley report her disappearance. The police station is apathetic to Lauren’s case, and the local news station ignores her case to focus on a missing White woman named Jessica Russo. Due to the lack of support from either of the two entities, Cheryl and Marley serve as their own detectives. They do what the police and news stations failed to do: find Lauren by putting up flyers, interrogating people, and searching the land. All while the local news stations endlessly talk about Jessica and the widespread search for her.
Black Girl Missing is a movie that highlights the harsh reality of the Missing White Woman/Girl Syndrome. The White supremacist/feminist dynamics seen in the movie are highly visible in real life. This movie analysis explains their presence and why it’s important to recognize, acknowledge, and dismantle said oppressive dynamics. So, let’s begin the movie analysis RIGHT NOW!
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Analysis: At the beginning of Black Girl Missing, Lauren and Marley have fun with each other at home. The Baker family lives what looks like a middle-class life. Cheryl is the vice principal at a public high school, although her husband (the father) had passed away some time ago. One review of the movie highlighted that having Cheryl being a widow rather than a divorcée was a way to “avoid reinforcing the racist stereotype that Black people can’t keep relationships together.” That’s an excellent point, because there’s this “absent Black father” stereotype that continues to circulate in society. It’s complicated, because while it’s not cool to play into anti-Black stereotypes, it’s not enough to just avoid them. We must call out the White supremacist roots of them and emphasize that Black people who do have absent Black fathers are worthy of the same respect as Black people (and people of all races) who have present fathers. Otherwise, that plays into respectability politics, and respectability politics is rooted in anti-Blackness and White supremacy. I’ll explain why later in this analysis.
Continuing on about Black Girl Missing, Lauren contemplates leaving college. That concerns her mother. Lauren gets vulnerable, only for Cheryl to dismiss her problems. “You don’t look depressed to me,” she tells her daughter. Lauren counters by saying, “well, maybe you’re seeing whatever you want to see.” And then Cheryl tells Lauren that her father would’ve been disappointed in her if he were alive. Wow. I have no words. A highly disrespectful remark that a parent should never make towards their child(ren). I’m not a fan of how Cheryl undermines her daughter’s problems by making them about herself. Though she doesn’t just exhibit this behavior towards Lauren. She also exhibits it towards Marley when Marley voices concern about how she’ll perform in her exams.
Personally, that scene hit me hard, because I relate to Lauren and her expressions of vulnerability. I’ve been dismissed for mentioning my mental health problems and expressing my vulnerability. Dismissing anyone’s mental health issues is a form of sanism (discrimination based on mental health status). It’s a very prevalent dynamic amongst people of all races, with the Black diaspora being no exception. Black people being sanist towards other Black people is a behavior that stems from internalized anti-Blackness. Cheryl definitely has internalized anti-Blackness with how she pushes that “she didn’t have time to be depressed” as a busy young adult. However, it should be noted that the culprit of internalized anti-Blackness is White supremacy. Sanism is very common amongst Black people, because for centuries White people have denied Black people their rights to liberty and humanity. They’ve inferiorized Black people, which has pressured Black people to feed into that inferiority. As a Black person, it can be hard to seek mental healthcare. Especially since the mental health system has an anti-Black, White supremacist history
Cheryl needs to become more affirming of her daughters and not trivialize their mental health struggles. Although to her credit, she gets protective when she sees a White boy named Josh bump into Marley at her locker. It stresses her out even more to learn that Marley had been silent about the ongoing bullying. That part is sad. But what’s sadder is that if Cheryl weren’t the vice principal at that high school, no one would’ve held Josh accountable. Even then, the head principal (a White man) didn’t believe that Josh would bully a peer in school or cheat on a test. Josh tried to copy Marley’s answers during an exam. Though since the head principal knew the boy well, he pardoned him. Watching that part made me think to myself, ugh, this White supremacist dynamic. I hate it so much.
To make matters worse, Cheryl’s and Marley’s texts to Lauren go unanswered. With no clue of where she might be, the two of them file a missing persons report. But guess what? The police force tells them that Lauren may have left voluntarily and that “she may return within a few days.” Cheryl contests that cognitive dissonance and emphasizes that her disappearance is an urgent matter. Marley noted how the first 48 hours of a disappearance are crucial, which is true. The chances of finding a missing person alive (especially a child) are highest within that time frame, confirmed by sources like the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Program and D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department. Another thing to remember is that you don’t have to wait a minimum number of hours to report a missing person, despite the wide circulation of that misconception. So, if you suspect that someone has disappeared under suspicious circumstances, you need to file a missing person report IMMEDIATELY. Although adults are allowed to go missing without legal repercussions, that doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t file a report. Really, you can and should do that. It can be the difference between life or death for a missing person.
That being said, authorities may still be apathetic about a missing person report. Especially if that particular person is Black. To the police, Lauren’s life does not matter. They placed the duties of finding her on Cheryl and Marley. That’s because the police force claims that they “don’t have the resources,” but yet a widespread search for Jessica Russo exists. Her case is receiving nationwide coverage, and the news stations only want to cover Jessica’s case. Not any other girl’s/woman’s case. A White executive at a local news station said that Jessica has a “story,” while Lauren does not. The problem with that concept of a “story” is that news stations don’t value all news stories. They want stories of people who are/were “respectable.” In other words, they were middle or upper-class, not homeless, free of a criminal history, raised in a nuclear family—oh and guess what? They’re most often WHITE. If there’s anything in a person’s background that would be seen as unpalatable by the masses, then those people aren’t considered worthy of being “stories.” That’s an example of how respectability politics appear, and it won’t be helpful in granting human rights for all. Why? Here’s a screenshot from the Our Black Girls website that gives a very concise summary.
Our Black Girls is a website that humanizes and highlights missing Black women/girls. Run by journalist Erika Marie, it covers the stories of missing Black women/girls, even if they’re low-income, homeless and/or incarcerated. You should look through the website if you would like to be more aware about the crisis of missing Black women/girls (https://ourblackgirls.com/).
The overall point is that everyone, including those who’ve been incarcerated or homeless, should be given attention and care for their cases. Even if a missing person was irresponsible, that doesn’t mean that their cases aren’t worthy of attention. Their cases are very alarming, regardless of their backstories. Also, the truth is that the local police and news stations did have the resources to conduct a widespread search for Lauren. It’s just that they didn’t want to use their resources to find a young Black woman. Resources meant to serve people of all populations are often allocated to White people first. Everyone, that’s what White privilege looks like.
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What also hurts is the fact that non-Black POC can uphold White supremacy through being anti-Black. In this movie, an Asian reporter named Elisa wants to round the report in the news but not create a whole story. Like her boss, she also believes that there’s “no story to report.” Particularly since there are “no signs” of foul play or abduction. The news is fixated on circulating a story of sexual harassment, bullying, or abduction, but this disproportionally harms Black people. Black trauma survivors literally receive less recovery support than White trauma survivors as is. White folks portray abuse as a normal occurrence amongst Black folks, yet they’ve also portrayed it as an anomaly amongst themselves. That mindset is part of how social movements center Whiteness above everything else, and it’s time to call that out.
With minimal support, Cheryl works to put up missing person flyers for her daughter. She works to find suspects, because the police department doesn’t care to do so. She seeks information about Lauren from other people, yet only hears stories about her misbehavior. For example, Eddie is the boss at the café Lauren worked at. He says that she would show up late for work and eventually not show up at all. She interrogates Annie (Lauren’s roommate) and checks Annie’s DMs after a cafe worker says that she may be the one doing harm. Cheryl and Marley log onto Lauren’s instagram account and see that Annie sent vicious messages and death threats towards her. Annie becomes a possible suspect. Interestingly enough, she’s part of Phi Pi Beta sorority. LOL. The letters were definitely placed like that to avoid a lawsuit, because rearranging the letters would show a real sorority called Pi Beta Phi.
This detail immediately stood out to me, because I’ve been part of a sorority and know how pervasive White feminism is in those spaces. You can read my article about that for further elaboration. Though given Annie’s participation in a White feminist club, her misogynoirst behavior doesn’t surprise me at all. For God’s sake, her sorority was founded without Black women in mind. Seeing that detail about her reminds me of the discomfort I’ve felt in my ex-sorority and in other predominantly White spaces. And trust me, the discomfort can get really intense.
The police interrogate Annie but she gets off-the-hook since she was out of town at the time of Lauren’s disappearance. Cheryl tries to interrogate her again, and Annie tells her about how Lauren’s gloominess left her unable to have any friends in their room. But to the Bakers’ benefit, she also says that a possible suspect is Ian, something Marley verifies while working with online sleuths. Based on the messages, Lauren exchanged messages to a White guy named Ian. There were lovey-dovey messages about doing things together and understanding each other. Shows that she was seeking companionship from someone who would validate her issues. Rightfully so, but clearly that guy ain’t it.
Even after all of that interrogation, Elisa doesn’t try to write a full news story because there isn’t “enough” convincing evidence to do so. But like, what’s your definition of “enough”? What “convincing evidence” do you need? The convincing evidence is that a young woman has gone missing. That’s the only “convincing evidence” you need. Why should there be standards about what’s “convincing” as evidence? Evidence is evidence, and if you don’t take real evidence as convincing, then do you really care about humanity? Or do you only care about sensationalism? Because I’ll tell you what: White supremacy thrives off of sensationalism. Although, Elisa later researches missing persons cases and realizes that the lack of coverage for missing Black and other WOC is a real crisis. She reports that to her boss, but he still doesn’t care to challenge the White supremacist, anti-Black dynamics of news cycles. He has the power to do so, but he doesn’t. Because he cares more about ratings from local White folks than the well-being of local Black women/girls like Lauren. This is another way that White privilege shows up in society. White journalism executives are to blame for allowing White supremacy to be so prevalent in journalism.
Nevertheless, it rubs me the wrong way on how aversively (covertly) anti-Black Elisa is. She treats Cheryl and Marley as if they’re only at a news station to hound people and not report something super serious. I understand the stress she feels with having to follow her boss’s orders and deadlines. She’s not one of the executives, so she doesn’t have much power as to what stories are covered in the news. Though two things can exist simultaneously: 1) that the White executives are the ones enforcing White supremacist practices in the first place, and 2) that Elisa’s interactions with the Bakers gave off anti-Black energy. Also note that non-Black POC can still be racist against Black people. Anti-Blackness is the Earth’s strongest currency. Non-Black POC have possessed and exhibited anti-Blackness to advance in a White supremacist society at expense of Black people.
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“God, you are so obsessed with being polite and perfect all the time.” That line hit so hard. Marley made that statement after she poured saltwater on Josh for insulting her sister. And the way Josh received a pass for purposely bumping into Marley, yet Marley receives a one-week suspension for reminding him how salty he is… sounds about White. Yes, Marley could’ve expressed her anger without pouring saltwater on him, but why should she have to withstand Josh’s bullying? Blame the bully, not the person being bullied. Cheryl is displeased at Marley’s anger, but she does point out to the head principal that the differences in treatment exposed his anti-Blackness.
There’s a point in the movie where a woman from the Black and Missing Foundation (Loretta) meets up with Cheryl as a form of solidarity. Loretta recommends therapy to her as a tool for processing the disappearance of her daughter. Cheryl voices skepticism about it, but to be honest, her skepticism is valid. Even with the sanism she possesses, we must acknowledge that therapy does not work the same on everybody. It has definitely not treated everybody the same either. The mental health world has a racist history that’s still ongoing. And then the march and candlelight vigil… the most touching part of this whole movie. Some people arrived from out-of-state to assist in bringing attention to Lauren’s case. Albeit, it’s disappointing how Black people have to put so much effort into getting non-Black people to support their causes. Meanwhile, White people’s causes get picked up much faster and with much less effort.
Speaking of which, Jessica Russo is found alive thanks to widespread media coverage. But imagine the Black women who are never found alive due to no substantial coverage at all. It turns out that Jessica was a voluntary runaway. Interesting. The local police force and news station didn’t care less about Lauren’s case, because they thought she was a voluntary runaway. You see the misogynoir? You see the White feminism? White feminism and misogynoir uphold White supremacy. White supremacy is violent. WHITE FEMINISM AND MISOGYNOIR ARE VIOLENT AND UPHOLD WHITE SUPREMACY. Journalists perpetuate violence against missing Black women and girls by not amplifying their cases. And without doing so regardless of their backstories, it’s impossible for news outlets to dismantle misogynoir and White feminism. Engaging with respectability politics will harm Black women and girls more than help.
Though what happens to Lauren in the end? The good news is that Cheryl and Marley find her alive inside a house. The bad news is that she has physical injuries, making it evident that Lauren was physically assaulted. As Cheryl tries to get Lauren out of that house, a White man gets physically violent against Cheryl. The young guy named “Ian” was actually an older guy named Robert in disguise. The police arrive at the scene to arrest him, and Cheryl and Marley carry Lauren back home. Right then and there did the police become aware of the seriousness of Lauren’s case. Something they should’ve cared about before but didn’t. It’s easy to say that Lauren shouldn’t have depended on a man she barely knew, which is true. However, that shouldn’t be the core takeaway. The core takeaway should be that there are disparities in whose cases get reported and who gets leniency for their human errors. The majority of the time, White women and girls are granted leniency and attention. Not Black women and girls.
During Cheryl’s interview with a news reporter, she mentions that the other missing women of the perpetrator were poor Black and Brown women, which shows how classism is involved in coverage. That verifies my respectability politics argument. I just think about all the dynamics. The sleuths played a big role in assisting Marley in finding clues, but imagine if the Bakers didn’t have access to the Internet or knew how to navigate search engines. There is a digital divide that disproportionately affects Black people, and if it weren’t for the Bakers’ Internet access, Lauren might’ve never been found. Also, imagine if Cheryl and Marley didn’t have the time or money to be detectives. Lauren definitely wouldn’t have been found if that were the case, because the police force was far too misogynoirist to care about Lauren. It makes my heart shatter to think that she probably wouldn’t have been found if the Bakers were low-income. Literally.
After all of that searching for Lauren, Cheryl does a TV interview where she talks about her daughter’s case, how she felt about it as a mom, and to raise awareness about the missing Black women/girls cases. I love that when the White reporter asked Cheryl if she felt her family had received justice, she said, “Justice?” and then went on to mention how society knows about JonBenét Ramsey, Natalie Holloway, and Gabby Petito but not about Relisha Rudd, Allyssa Jennings, Nia Glenn-Lopez, Mya Barnes, Keir Johnson, Jaya Allen, Starletta Henderson. All of whom were never given as much media attention as the White girls and women mentioned. Same thing when it comes to Alexis Patterson. She’s another missing Black girl who has not been found in over 2 decades. And if you don’t think class status influences who gets coverage, read about Relisha Rudd’s backstory and JonBenét Ramsey’s backstory. Then tell me again that class status doesn’t influence news coverage. Like I said in the first part of the article, classism and racism are connected with each other. You can never separate racism from classism. To say that something “is a class issue, not a race issue” is racist, because there are class disparities based on race.
Cheryl said no lies in her interview. Her responses in the movie made me think, Exactly, Cheryl! Because really, there is no justice when misogynoir is still prevalent. Not to mention, while Lauren seemed calm watching her mother be interviewed, the trauma she faced as a missing person may negatively impact her mental health. It may cause her to develop PTSD, MDD, or even die by suicide. And then due to the effects of the Missing White Woman/Girl Syndrome, Lauren and the whole Baker family may feel race-based traumatic stress.
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Honestly, Black women and girls are the most disrespected group of people on the planet. Society gives endless olive branches to White people but demonizes Black people for committing the same or lesser offenses. Even White people with marginalized identities get first dibs at representation for non-racial marginalized identities. Why? Because they have the world’s most privileged identity: Whiteness. All too often does society separate racism/anti-Blackness from other forms of discrimination (e.g., queermisia, ableism, classism). That’s a very dangerous practice. For Black lives to truly matter, society must not separate anti-Blackness from any form of oppression.
The connections between anti-Blackness and sanism influence the family dynamics of the Bakers. It’s common to feel “weak” when expressing vulnerability, yet also feel expected to take responsibility for one’s adversities. In society, Black people are always expected to take responsibility for their adversities, when White people should be the ones taking responsibility for enforcing White supremacy and anti-Blackness to begin with. One of the most pervasive ways White supremacy shows up is through respectability politics. It’s important to be anti-respectability politics throughout all causes, because that’s what’ll truly bring justice for all. Being anti-respectability politics means advocating human rights for even those who may not have the cleanest histories. Otherwise, the ultimate winners are White people and White supremacy.
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Final Thoughts: Lifetime movies aren’t known for being high-quality, but Black Girl Missing does a very solid job at portraying the consequences of the Missing White Woman/Girl Syndrome. It felt realistic, it was compelling, it provoked a lot of emotions, and it didn’t sugarcoat the misogynoir that the Baker family faced. A fun fact is that Garcelle Beauvais (who you may remember from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, The Jamie Foxx Show, or Coming to America) served as the executive producer for Black Girl Missing in addition to starring in it. Kudos to her for using her time and talents to advocate for missing Black women/girls! She pursued this project with intention, care, seriousness, and 100% effort. It wasn’t easy, but she executed everything tastefully and appropriately. I majorly respect Beauvais for that. An additional shoutout goes to the rest of the cast for contributing their time and talents to make Black Girl Missing happen!
Two more things to highlight before ending this review. One is the Black and Missing Foundation. In 2008, two Black women named Derrica and Natalie Wilson (sisters-in-law) founded the Black and Missing Foundation to challenge racial disparities in missing persons reports coverage. They utilize awareness and action to raise awareness for missing Black persons and other missing persons of color, as well as assist families in finding their loved ones. The organization was highlighted during an early commercial break, and you should visit BAMFI.ORG to learn more about it.
Another important piece of news is that Minnesota may possibly become the first U.S. state to enforce an Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls. The state’s House of Representatives recently passed HF 55, the bill that would enforce the office. Albeit the state Senate still needs to vote on it, and then if it passes in that chamber, governor Tim Walz has to sign HF 55 in order for it to go into effect. If Gov. Walz vetoes the bill, then at least 2/3 of the politicians in each chamber (HoR & Senate) must vote “yea” on HF 55 to override the veto and make the Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls a reality. While there’s much more to do in combating the Missing White Woman/Girl Syndrome, at least Minnesota (specifically Rep. Ruth Richardson et al., the authors of the bill) is doing something. Shall the bill go into effect, hopefully the Office of Missing and Murdered Black Women and Girls actually fulfills its duties. The duties will be massive, but Minnesota has the opportunity to show other states what it means to be anti-misogynoirist and anti-White feminist. Again, White feminism and misogynoir are violent. We must stop the violence by being anti-White feminist and anti-misogynoirist.
Be an anti-misogynoirist. Show that you listen to, protect, and respect Black women through your words and actions. And by the way, proactively be anti-White feminist. Even if it brings you discomfort.
Black Girl Missing is streaming online for free on the Lifetime website: https://play.mylifetime.com/movies/black-girl-missing/full-movie
