Black Panther

[thedeadparrot]

I went to go see it yesterday and I wasn't sure if I was going to write up my thoughts on it, but it's a rare big budget action movie that takes on more depth and meaning when taken away by the initial thrill and enjoyment of seeing it. I'm sure much smarter and more knowledgeable people have made these points more articulately, but I just want to get some of my thoughts down before I hunt down the thinkpieces.


- Everything about Wakanda was thrilling. A scifi world firmly rooted on Earth. An imagined utopia for sure, but such a beautifully lived in and alive one. Imagined scifi utopias from Western (hell, even many Asian) countries are all about everything being clean and tidy and perfectly arranged. This one was so joyously messy. I loved it.

- And the Jabari's interior design is fucking fantastic, as jjhunter pointed out. The throne room was stunning. I loved that we got a chance to touch on some of Wakanda's complex internal politics as well.

- Talking about it afterwards, T'Challa might be the only MCU superhero with a close, functional sibling relationship. It would have been so easy for Shuri to be just the 'brilliant, quirky, tech-providing girl', but she really got a chance to shine by also being a sister.

- So many ladies! Who also got to be different people with different priorities and have complicated feelings as well! One of my main critiques of MCU up until now was that it seemed like you could either (a) be a lady or (b) be a person of color but not both at the same time. This was so refreshing in that regard. I'm sure the rest of the universe will disappoint with this regard.

- Relatedly, someone had some interesting thoughts about the way toxic masculinity functions in the movie wrt Killmonger.

- I am sure there are many thinkpieces about this already that I need to read, but Killmonger as a dark mirror to T'Challa is great. The trope usually shows how the hero could have become warped by different experiences, and in this case, it's true. But it's not a singular trauma, the way a lot of dark mirror stories usually go. Not just losing their family in a tragic accident, but in fact, being warped by both the horrors of being poor and black in America and that legacy of slavery and white supremacy but also, the horrors of American colonialist ideology and military-industrial complex. As Ross says, "He's doing what we trained him to do."

- That scene where he talks to his father on the ancestral plane, and his father gives him the dream of Wakanda was so so powerful. I don't fully have the cultural context for all the meaning of that scene, but I felt it in my chest. I hope it has that impact on everyone who sees it.

- It was spoiled by the trailers and the fact of Michael B. Jordan, but I love how the movie sets up Claue to be the main villain and then unceremoniously murders him off halfway through.

- Anyway, give me all the good reviews and thinkpieces by black people, please.

- Also, I found a great twitter thread on the real life cultural references in the movie if that would be of interest to anyone.

Comments

[cesy]

Ooh, that Twitter thread is great, thanks.

I loved the film so much.

[thedeadparrot]

You're welcome! happy to pass it along.

[merisunshine36]

Not necessarily "think pieces", but when I want to hear the average black person's internet opinion on something, I go to Lipstick Alley. Just google "Lipstick Alley Black Panther" and a bunch of threads come up.

One commnter in this unpopular opinions thread that I'm digging through brought up a point that I hadn't previously considered, that the film is more about the awesomeness of Africans than African Americans...all the AA's are poor and helpless. In my own review I wrote that I would have rather had Rhodey be the secret pilot saving the day than Martin Freeman, and I think that's part of it. Rhodey is just a regular black kid from Philly who made it through MIT and the Air Force and is now fighting aliens! This was a good movie for my personal sense of global black pride but not necessarily my African American pride.

On the other hand, I'm glad that were are at the point where a major film provides an avenue for this kind of discussion. Inter-black folk tensions is something most black people only talk about in a hush hush way behind closed doors.

[merisunshine36]

Also, The Root has some thinkier stuff:

https://www.theroot.com/cant-we-all-just-get-along-black-panther-is-revisionis-1823108582

(I'm mad the author didn't catch the Rodney King reference in the 1992 flashbacks...)

https://www.theroot.com/killmonger-was-wrong-and-ya-ll-know-it-1823134207

[thedeadparrot]

Thanks so much! Yeah, it's a movie that has a lot of expectations for it since it's the 'first of its kind' and there's a lot it doesn't tackle/address very well. There's some talk about removing/cutting some of the queer Dora Milaje, which is a big part of TNC's Black Panther run.

I don't understand why Martin Freeman's character was necessary in any way. He's a comic book character, but in the comic book, he acts as a sort of means for exposition, iirc? So not needed here. And I'm always down for more Rhodey so A+ idea there.

Thanks for the links! I am excited to poke through them and also to go through and read your review.

[roga]

I don't know why I'm so stunned that MF's character was in the comics, but wow. I can't believe he actually has as much backstory as even that. He was so - I'm not gonna say Phil-Coulson-bland, nobody is Phil-Coulson-bland, but he was so... regular bland. Not the type of dude you imagine any thought was put into beyond "we need him in these scenes." Huh.

[thedeadparrot]

From what I understand, he's the 'outsider who gets introduced to Wakanda' character. But we don't need a character like that here? The movie gives us a little background and context and then expects us to keep up.

[thedeadparrot]

Also, I have been mulling over this line from you:

This was a good movie for my personal sense of global black pride but not necessarily my African American pride.

It reminds me a lot of how growing up, I would only see images of Asian people from or in Asia, and how, even as thrilling as something like Crouching Tiger was for me to see, it also felt remote, because it's not a world that I get to occupy or relate to, and people like me are still invisible (understandably, in that particular case :p). So I think I understand your feelings about it on that level.

[merisunshine36]

Re: your first comment, the solution always seems to be "make a lot more movies", isn't it?


it also felt remote, because it's not a world that I get to occupy or relate to
This exactly! It's why Hidden Figures was so perfect for me - it was about normal, functional Black people just getting the job done. No one's father was on drugs/in jail and no one got lynched! 10/10, A++, more please.

[thedeadparrot]

Yes! More Hidden Figures-type movies. With less white-people pandering, tho. Communities of color just doing cool things and living their lives.

[cephy]

Saw it yesterday - I loved it so much. I was absolutely beyond delighted. :D It was visually gorgeous, the story was satisfying, and there were so many ladies being awesome all over the place.

[thedeadparrot]

It was so great! I definitely tried to keep my expectations reasonable going in, and it managed to exceed them!