I WAS told that it’s the best Marvel movie so far, and though I mistrusted the gushy review I was given, I decided to give it a chance—and discovered that it is all that it’s hyped up to be.
“Black Panther” was the first black superhero for mainstream comics, created by the legendary Stan Lee and writer-artist Jack Kirby. The character debuted in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966), predating the October 1966 founding of the Black Panther Party, a self-defense group which grew out of the American Civil Rights Movement and fought against brutality against the black community in the US.
The Black Panther is King T’Challa of Wakanda, a mysterious African nation whose wealth and technology are founded on the interstellar metal vibranium. A succession of Wakandan kings decide to keep the country a secret from the rest of the world so that their resources of the precious metal will not be exploited.
In the film, the story revolves around how T’Challa comes to the throne and the challenges he faces to keep the country together and into a new direction.
Like most print-to-film adaptations, liberties have been taken with some characters and the story flows differently from that of the comics. For those coming fresh to the tale, or who set aside the comic book narrative to appreciate the film for itself, there is much to laud about it.
First, the fact that the movie has a nearly all-black cast and director. This is such a rarity in Hollywood that it is no exaggeration to say this film is a milestone in that regard. Representation is important for people of color to find their spaces in society and to be comfortable within them.
Having lived in the US for a while, I have had first-hand experience with issues related to race that we do not have to deal with in the Philippines. Seeing people that look like yourself in media goes a long way toward validating your place and gradually dismantling the structures of white privilege and presence in the public discourse that have historically excluded or ignored POC.
The film also decries colonialism, violence towards the black community, and negative stereotypes of black people. Its costumes, settings, set design, and other visual factors present the richness of African history and culture. A glorious past is shown in the references to the ancient empire of Benin.
The pre-colonial Benin Empire was located in what is now southern Nigeria (no relation to the present-day country of Benin, formerly known as Dahomey). Established around 1180, it flourished until its annexation by the British Empire in 1897. The Benin Empire, which had its own writing system, magnificent art, and unique architecture, is a source of pride for many Africans and those of African descent.
I also love how the movie empowers women. Black Panther’s sister, Princess Shuri, is the country’s foremost scientist, and has a fully outfitted laboratory better than anything Tony Stark or Bruce Banner had, and creates fantastic gadgets that leave Q’s (of James Bond fame) in the shade. The Queen Mother Ramonda is strong and wise and helps save T’challa’s life. Wakanda’s “greatest warrior,” according to Shuri, is General Okoye, who leads the elite forces who guard the King, the “dora milaje” (adored ones), female warriors coming from the different Wakandan tribes.
Okoye is played by Zimbabwean-American actor and playwright Danai Gurira, who, with some of her castmates, see the movie as a movement. “We’ve been a world where the thrust of what we see in terms of superheroes, or in terms of this type of epic imagery, comes from one perspective,” she said in an interview published on Aol.com. “I’ve talked to people of many ethnicities who feel the excitement and exuberance around it, and the expression it gives them about how they can celebrate themselves.”
Let’s also give a shout-out to the use of South Korea as one of the locations in the film. Seeing Asians in and having a Hollywood film shoot in Asia brings attention to a large part of the world population that massively consumes American culture but is seldom represented in it save as sidekicks, villains, or comic foils.
Speaking of representation, the film also presents a concept called “Afrofuturism.” Jamie Broadnax, writing for Huffington Post, says it is “the reimagining of a future filled with arts, science, and technology seen through a black lens.” The term was coined some 25 years ago by white author Mark Dery in his essay “Black to the Future,” which looks at speculative fiction within the African diaspora.
Broadnax adds that having “a black character in a futuristic world is not enough” for a narrative to be called Afrofuturistic— “it must be rooted in and unapologetically celebrate the uniqueness and innovation of black culture.”
Why is Afrofuturism important? Devindra Hardawar on engadget.com says that representation matters because “children will watch this movie and see possible futures where African influences are just as viable as those of the West and Asia.”
“Black Panther” is Africa and Africans coming into its own. It is POC reaching for their place in the sun. And the film’s message of acceptance, “doing right,” and working together for the greater good of humankind through science is timely and relevant in these troubled times.
Dr. Ortuoste is a writer and communications consultant. Facebook: @DrJennyO, Twitter: @jennyortuoste