I never thought I would see the worldwide impact of a film that speaks directly to me in my lifetime, especially in a way I can feel and interpret. As a minority, deciphering art is usually about us muting our past, background, and experiences to envision the artist’s ideas. I was always observing a subject through a two-way mirror with the clear understanding that I wasn’t the intended spectator. Seeing Black Panther on the big screen was one of the few times I could buy tickets to a reputable establishment and release the hesitation and the concern as this moment was intended for me. Every detail of it made me feel more relaxed about my history and my culture. I felt something I didn’t recognize, something that was desperately needed. It was the feeling that leads me to sympathize, not empathize, with the art being shown to the rest of the world with the hope they would feel the same self-reflection.
Black Panther reveals real subjects within the African diaspora that many Black/African people would express as “family business.” The film looks at the idea that Black Americans haven’t learned about their heritage and African people do not support us in doing so. The revelations go much deeper than expected, so much so I speculated whether or not non-black viewers would understand its sentiments. The recurring question in the mind of viewers, especially those who are descendants of slaves echoes the disconnection between us: Did we forget about each other at the beginning of the slave trade, or have we forgotten that bond between each of us since? This is the question many black people have asked and answered in their minds but never assumed they would see a top-selling movie successfully bring to the forefront.
See Black Panther at the Tower Theatre featuring a discussion immediately following the film led by hip-hop artist Jabee Williams on June 14, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.
Black Panther‘s success was unapologetically black in its rollout, wardrobe, and soundtrack. The film’s exceptional attention to detail paid off as it grew to the second-highest grossing American movie of all time. The wardrobe in the film, in particular, stuck out for its accuracy as it showed multiple African tribes in their correct traditional garb. The dialects spoken throughout the film, Xhosa, comes from the southernmost part of South Africa. The storyline with an almost entirely black cast still resonated throughout all of America even though black people only make up approximately 13% of the country’s population. Ticket sales alone have determined Black Panther is the one film worth watching without partaking in the rest of the Marvel saga.
Black Panther was able to overcome a common struggle among filmmakers by showing African culture without exploiting it. To make certain the film was faithful to this idea, director Ryan Coogler spent a vast amount of time in Africa researching. During his time abroad, Coogler noticed the similarities in customs Native Africans and Black Americans still share to this day. In interviews, Coogler talks about how different members of African families socialized during dinners and how it mimicked cookouts in Los Angeles with his family. The impact of the film would have been minimized without the dialogue it created with the black community. The movie sparked social media posts and think-pieces reflecting on black unity and our love for a county of which we are from but know very little about. One profound thought that the film incited was the idea that some black Americans go through an identity crisis with their African background, wearing and practicing anything that feels authentic with little research. With Black Panther, Coogler argues that despite being separated by geography, black people are still unified spiritually. We are still unified spiritually.
One of the film’s strongest images demonstrating this disconnect manifests itself in the struggle between T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). The subplot reveals so much about the connection and disconnect between Black Americans and African people, it would unfair to think the two cousins aren’t reflections of each other’s ugly past. The confusion between antagonist and protagonist is a classic and crucial part of the story. Did T’challa selfishly keep what made Wakanda special to himself, leaving Killmonger to forcibly experience the institutionalized struggle of living fatherless and black in America? Both cousins knew how they could change the world using Vibranium, but they also wanted different outcomes from its use, displaying on-screen the good and evil of advanced weapons and technology. T’challa and Killmonger represent the “what-ifs” Black Americans and Africans share with each other, taking care of what makes us unique and acknowledging its power.
One of Black Panther’s other common threads is its celebration of strong women. The film’s three lead women, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), Okoye (Danai Gurira), and Shuri (Letitia Wright) were smart, fearless, and necessary to the film. All three were African-born, which adds more to Black Panther’s authenticity and impeccable casting. I am always proud to see women of color reflected in such a powerful light in film. Even in 2018, there is a continued deficiency of women in commanding roles. The women are not only necessary to the story but are critical to the success of future characters in other movies. Studios may be less hesitant to include women with identical power in future blockbusters.
Many people paid their way to a theater to see the icon for the first time in his own picture. With 1.3 billion dollars in ticket sales, Black Panther is the highest growing Marvel Comic movie yet. It was also the only superhero movie to leave me with more questions about myself than anything I had ever watched of the genre. The current urge to know one’s self, seeking education and learning history makes this movie perfect in its timing, casting, script, press, and in the way it created conversations about what blackness in America means.
