You know, I almost made this a regular review of "Black Panther." The reason I didn't do that is because I want to do what the creators of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's "Black Panther" did...I want to do something different. I want to explain why I believe that the fictional setting of "Black Panther" is the best fictional setting the MCU has ever created...even better than their other fictional setting based off of a rich source of human culture, Asgard.
"Black Panther", by now I'm sure you've heard, is one of the most important contributions to modern film. It's a mainstream, big-budget, Hollywood production by Disney that was written by, directed by, and stars mostly black people. To take it one further, "Black Panther" spends a great deal of effort, especially in the first two acts, celebrating both contemporary and traditional African culture. Scores of shots throughout the movie include prominent, yet understated looks at characters in the foreground wearing ceremonial headdresses from Nigeria and others from South Africa, hairstyles from Namibia, or shawls from Tanzania; at one point, we see "Wakandan" script...which is strongly borrowed from Nsibidi, an ideographic script from southeastern Nigeria that has declined in use since the age of Imperialism.
Besides Wakandan dress, its architecture celebrates pan-African flavor with an interesting mix of traditional iconography and modern, largely Western-influenced skyscrapers. In fact, these buildings look so strikingly Western at times, when it shows up, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Yet, when huge statues of lions or decorative windows and archways appear in scenes amidst all the hyper-modernized buildings and vehicles...it truly looks like an African utopia. At least to a Western audience.
"Black Panther" borrows from countless cultures across Africa to celebrate the beauty that is fundamentally African. One wonders, why didn't they do this for Asgard?
Asgard in the MCU was based on the world of the gods in Norse mythology, a tradition that was practiced for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Everything in Asgard is sleek and immaculate. Everything is pointy and metal. It looks pretty, and it looks advanced...yet, Asgard lacks the same celebration of its cultural origin that makes Wakanda give such a distinct sense of place. Aside from the occasional braided beard, Asgard looks like any of the other generic sci-fi settings in the MCU. Hell, until you get up close, you might even confuse it for a CG city from the "Star Wars" prequels.
Despite having hundreds, if not thousands of years of Nordic lore to borrow from, Asgard feels flat in comparison to Wakanda, which felt vibrant, three-dimensional and much, much more human.
That's not to say the MCU did a bad job bringing the home of the Norse space gods to life. My point is that "Thor"'s point isn't Asgard, it's Thor's growth as a character. "Thor" wasn't made to celebrate Asgard, and "Black Panther" wasn't made to celebrate T'Challa. It's about something bigger than one character. It's a matter of cultural representation.
As an action film, "Black Panther" emphasizes the humanity of its characters. The point isn't just about saying, "look how badass they are!" It's about saying, "look how human these badasses are."
Easily one of the most badass characters in the movie, Wakandan general Okoye is rarely seen on-screen not slinging wholesale ass-kickings to the enemies of T'Challa and Wakanda. Yet, there are scenes in which she's shown making genuinely hard choices, and sticking to her guns even while tears fill her eyes. She's depicted as a badass inside and out, but a badass with a heart. T'Challa, the Black Panther, King of Wakanda, is forced to confront multiple situations in which he questions pretty much everything that once gave his life meaning, to say nothing of the loss of his father that he is still visibly carrying throughout the plot. Then of course, there's the show-stealing performance of Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger - the living embodiment of the hatred and pain inflicted on black people all over the world by white supremacist institutions over the course of centuries. For all his malice and cunning, one is hard-pressed to ignore the fact that he is who he is because was born into a brutal world, a world created by people who couldn't have cared less whether the poor child that would become Erik Killmonger lived or died. He's as fearsome a villain as he is compelling because his story is that of countless black kids across the U.S., to say nothing of countless war-ravaged African nations.
Each character wasn't just meant to impress audiences. They were supposed to be human as well; round, relateable, compelling. This took effort, effort that was made for a specific purpose: to make audiences everywhere, especially black audiences, feel connected with the characters onscreen.
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| Not you, Andy. |
Obviously, Hollywood has no shortage of action movies starring European-American iconography and traditional values starring a cast of white men and women, and occasionally a token black "friend", who is characterized as a blatant stereotype.
The reason is that traditionally, American filmmakers based in Hollywood have made movies primarily for white audiences. Action movies, in particular, have been primarily produced for white male audiences. The protagonist of an action movie is meant to be a power fantasy upon which the audience can project themselves.
There's a problem, though...a lot of people who love action movies aren't white. A lot of them are black. A lot of them aren't even male; they're female, trans, and lots of other things that aren't represented by your bog standard Luke Skywalker's, your Snake Pliskin's, your Peter Venkman's. Most white people (myself included) never had to deal with the resulting phenomenon, which can be demonstrated perfectly by this scene in season 2 of "Stranger Things."
There's a problem, though...a lot of people who love action movies aren't white. A lot of them are black. A lot of them aren't even male; they're female, trans, and lots of other things that aren't represented by your bog standard Luke Skywalker's, your Snake Pliskin's, your Peter Venkman's. Most white people (myself included) never had to deal with the resulting phenomenon, which can be demonstrated perfectly by this scene in season 2 of "Stranger Things."
That's why the setting, among plenty of other things, is why "Black Panther" is so special. People whose ancestors aren't from Nordic, or even European countries, who nonetheless crave role models in film, finally have a hero who represents them.
The ignorant may make the argument that they "don't see color", that they "don't care what race" a superhero is...these people are missing the point.
If you've spent your whole life watching American movies, you've spent that time watching movies made by and for white people, using tropes largely borrowed from European and white American folklore and history. You've never felt forgotten or left out by your own culture just because you wanted to see a "Thor" equivalent for your ancestors, your heritage. The reason you've never felt that is because movies have always been made with your sensibilities in mind. In large part, black culture in America hasn't been able to participate in that feeling. Certainly not on this scale.
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| The flag of Wakanda |
This movie would not have been made ten years ago. If it had, it wouldn't have had as big a budget, it would have treated its representation of African culture as a hokey gimmick, and it would have been controlled by white creators. Hollywood execs from the time perhaps might say it was a different world then, a different America; it would not have succeeded in the box office, at least not to the extent "Black Panther" is currently cleaning house. Maybe they would have been right. Maybe not.
Netflix's "Luke Cage" was a similar celebration of black culture, albeit focused on Harlem, New York - not Africa. Although "Luke Cage" was well-done, popular, and significant in its cultural impact...this is different. The fact that a major Hollywood release was made starring an all-black cast, written by black writers, directed by black directors, scored by black artists...and that it's the number one movie in the world, destroying box office records, is catharsis on a level that American culture has given black America only a few times before. Moreover, it's a sign of change.
As rich as the worlds were in "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Dr. Strange", and indeed "Thor", none of them had as much time, effort, and love put into them as Wakanda in "Black Panther." Moreover, these details have made the made-up land of Wakanda more culturally impactful in the real world than the rest of the MCU put together.
"Black Panther" is the first of an incoming new wave of black representation in cinema. It's the beginning of something important for all of us, but especially black Americans. Black America finally has its own Batman.
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