Born In Flames is categorized as a science fiction film. There is a sista on the cover, so I guess I expected something like ‘Brother From Another Planet’ to jump off. I wasnt sure what to expect. This film was directed by Lizzie Borden, and naturally thought ‘Wasn’t that the chick that had the ax and gave her mother 40 wacks?’ It was made in 1983, but feels more like the 70’s. I have a suspicion this film took years to complete. It’s a feminist manifesto, about women taking control of their lives, and their safety. Women form gangs that roam the streets to protect each other. In one scene a woman stops to ask two men in broad daylight in Time’s Square for directions, and the men begin to forcefully flirt with her. They become overly aggressive, pushing the woman to the ground and begin to rape her. A swarm of women in tank tops and jogging shorts all with whistles, whiz to the scene on ten speed bikes blowing their whistles and warning the men to let the woman go. The attack is thwarted. In another scene a woman in a business suit is reading on the train. A man slides up to her and tries to flirt with her. The woman makes it clear she isn’t interested and moves. The man moves with her and becomes more aggressive. There are protector women on the train that confront the man and tell him to leave her alone. The man insults the protectors calling them names. This goes on all over the city. There is a montage of women’s hands working, and women who are artists, and activists speaking out against the way women are ghettoized by men in society.


I suppose the science fiction comes in because supposedly there has been a peaceful revolution and society is now supposedly a socialist one, yet women are still catching hell all over and not given equal access to jobs. Women are systematically fired and barred from ‘non-traditional’ types of work, therefore they mobilize themselves to change this. A woman named Adelaide is at the center of all the stories, beating the pavement, and trying to talk women of all walks of life. Some women are resistant to the ideology that Adelaide is presenting to them. Adelaide tries to talk the most popular female DJ named Honey about her plight; to see if she could get her platform on the radio and to more women. Honey is reluctant to go out on a limb for Adelaide though they have the same beliefs. Out of frustration Adelaide courts radical groups, and flies to Northern Africa to learn about women who are soldiers in armies there. She is immediately flagged by the FBI and is detained when she returns to the states. The movement takes off once Adeliade is jailed, but takes a turn no one was ready for, and women act up in protest. Powerfully written and always relevant. A must see for all female activists.