What Does The Black Panther Movie Tell Us about Black People?

The Black Panther Warrior Women

The Black Panther movie tells us a great deal about Black/African people, psychology, traditions and potential.  I saw the film last night and I enjoyed it immensely. It is doing brilliantly at the box office, breaking all kinds of records, as well it should. 

 

Lest we forget, the first Marvel comic films were the Blade trilogy, which did so well at the box office that they enabled Marvel to bankroll all the other superhero films they subsequently produced, yet, somehow, they have been left out of the Marvel narrative.

Further, lest we forget, Black filmmakers, notably Oscar Michaux, have been making films giving positive depictions of Black filmmakers since at least 1919.

I have a few quibbles about The Black Panther, as follows (this contains spoilers): 

• I do not like to see two Black men duking it out as they do in the film, albeit displaying awesome fighting skills;  

•  I particularly disliked seeing Black men and women fighting each other on the battlefield, and I'm not even sure what they were fighting about; 

• The brother from U.S. appeared conflicted – he addresses a white woman as “Coloniser” and makes reference to the plunder of African artefacts, yet he partners with a white thief of, and dealer in, such artefacts;

• Perhaps my strongest objection is to Martin Freeman's role – he plays a duplicitous, double-dealing CIA man (in other words, a CIA man) who allies with the Wakandans and, at the end of the film, is shown in the United Nations like some kind of benevolent paternalistic figure.

Having said all that, the visuals are amazing, the storyline and the depiction of African people as masters of technology are – well, masterful, and The Black Panther offers us a largely positive view of African people and traditions. The Wakandans, from the fictional African state of Wakanda, are depicted as kings, queens and heroes. And the movie is highly entertaining.  
 
The Black Panther is a dazzling sci-fi romp.  I am old enough to remember a time when Black people did not exist in the future, i.e. in science fiction.  So I greatly enjoy this film's strong characters. 

The characters' inner and outer conflicts mirror, to a certain extent, similar conflicting emotions within and among people from the Diaspora and the African Continent. I found this fascinating. 

 

One thing I particularly liked was that the men, and the women, were so beautiful to look at and so strong, brave and fearless. These sistas looked awesome. The characters carried themselves with great pride and dignity and the sistas were warriors, fully ready to throw down. 

 

I need to see this film again, soon, to gain clarity and because it is such great fun!  If you have not seen it yet, see it! 

What did you think of The Black Panther movie?  Please share this with your networks and please leave your comments below. Thanks.  

 

Booker T. Washington Quote

The Vocal Expressions blog is posting quotations for Black History Month. Click here for a great quote from Booker T. Washington.

Booker T. Washington was a firm believer in economic empowerment for the Black community. He was a major inspiration for the African American filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. Click here to read more.

Click here for the What U Need to Know radio show. Saturday 12th Feb, 7 p.m. UK time. If you miss it, you can still hear the recording.

This month, we shall be joined by Black History Studies, a London-based group. You WILL want to hear what they have to say.

Oscar Micheaux - First Major African American Filmmaker

Oscar Micheaux was the writer, director and producer of more than 40 African American films. He made his first feature film in 1919/20.

Before Spike Lee, there was Oscar Micheaux.

To read more, see Oscar Micheaux.