I always love to start my year the right way and I’m glad The Six Triple Eight movie on Netflix was the first movie I watched in 2025. It was really worth every minute of my time.
I love films based on real-life events or characters. I believe the secrets of men are in their stories and this particular one was well told.
As I watched the movie, three major lessons stood out for me:
1. No task or assignment is mundane
The significance of a task depends on your perspective regarding your work or contribution.
One would have thought that sorting out mails was a really mundane task that didn’t require too much thinking or effort and wasn’t an assignment that would require a skilled battalion to handle.
Giving the Six Triple Eight Battalion that task was meant to ridicule them and actually prove that they didn’t have the skill set or intelligence as black female soldiers.
The value of your work is not in the task itself, but in how you see it. Share on XHowever, it took a black female commander who understood how that task tied into the overall efforts at winning the war to energise the battalion and make all of them see their contribution in its true colour.
How you see your role or job will determine how far you go. Your role or job is not mundane—your perspective is. Let me flip it—your role is only as mundane as you see it.
2. Leadership is everything
Nothing is truer than the saying that everything rises and falls on leadership. Major Charity Adams was an excellent leader.
From her organisation skills to making the battalion believe in themselves, she was an inspirational figure who fought for her battalion. She was fearless yet human. I really love that part where Lena Derriecott accused her of not really liking her and her response.
Sometimes leaders have to make tough decisions that could be misinterpreted.
3. One of the greatest forces in the world is empathy
For me, apart from Major Charity Adams, the real hero of the story is Eleanor Roosevelt, the former First Lady of the United States.
As a matter of fact, it was Eleanor’s empathy and subsequent action that gave birth to Charity Adams. She spotted the woman who stood in front of the White House for two days and wanted to know how she could help. She pushed her husband and that led to the essence of the movie.
Empathy pushes to action. Empathy is not just about listening; it is about doing. We need to have more doers to change our society.
No task or assignment is mundane when you understand how it ties into the bigger picture. Share on XThis movie deserves an Oscar. Kerry Washington was so exceptional and a class act, while Ebony Obsidian, who acted as Lena Derriecott, delivered 100%. My favourite act, however, was Shanice Shantay, whose role as Johnnie Mae added great spice to the movie.
I rate this movie 10/10.