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| 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.
