Black Panther’s Circle Of Hype

[caulfield12]

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/blac...d-race-fantasy/

 

http://time.com/black-panther/

Counterpoint

 

 

Having now watched the movie, it‘s impossible to discuss it purely from a cinematic perspective.

 

For all the positive images and hopefulness, there's the fact that it’s glossing over a lot of the real world problems like gangs, access to quality education/digital divide, drugs, cyclical poverty, single parent upbringing, unemployment, etc.

 

Of course, super hero movies are made to help us escape reality...to uplift, entertain and inspire. In that sense, it largely succeeds. While ultimately an action-adventure, Black Panther also serves as an intelligent if broad debate between revolutionary rhetoric and the responsibilities of leadership.

 

That said, it’s also the first movie with basically an all-black cast made for mainstream America since Roots, and that is progress in and of itself. And surely a good number of viewers will enjoy rooting for Michael B. Jordan (and his perspective, not unlike Malcolm X pre-1965) to win. That’s kind of cool, too.

Edited February 18, 2018 by caulfield12

[Dam8610]

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/blac...d-race-fantasy/

 

http://time.com/black-panther/

Counterpoint

 

 

Having now watched the movie, it‘s impossible to discuss it purely from a cinematic perspective.

 

For all the positive images and hopefulness, there's the fact that it’s glossing over a lot of the real world problems like gangs, access to quality education/digital divide, drugs, cyclical poverty, single parent upbringing, unemployment, etc.

 

Of course, super hero movies are made to help us escape reality...to uplift, entertain and inspire. In that sense, it largely succeeds. While ultimately an action-adventure, Black Panther also serves as an intelligent if broad debate between revolutionary rhetoric and the responsibilities of leadership.

 

That said, it’s also the first movie with basically an all-black cast made for mainstream America since Roots, and that is progress in and of itself. And surely a good number of viewers will enjoy rooting for Michael B. Jordan (and his perspective, not unlike Malcolm X pre-1965) to win. That’s kind of cool, too.

 

I don't know if that's your assessment or the article's, but I have to disagree with the point that they "glossed over" those things.

 

Spoilers below:

 

A big portion of the movie was about how Wakanda's technology made ours look like tinker toys, and one of the biggest plot points of the movie was that some Wakandans had left and seen all of the strife and suffering in the world, and sought to change it by bringing Wakandan technology to the world at large. That was how Killmonger came to be and that was how T'Challa ended up making amends for what he saw as his T'chaka's wrongdoing. By making those things focal points of the movie, they did address those issues, and they even had more than one character being most of them up by name.

[caulfield12]

I don't know if that's your assessment or the article's, but I have to disagree with the point that they "glossed over" those things.

 

Spoilers below:

 

A big portion of the movie was about how Wakanda's technology made ours look like tinker toys, and one of the biggest plot points of the movie was that some Wakandans had left and seen all of the strife and suffering in the world, and sought to change it by bringing Wakandan technology to the world at large. That was how Killmonger came to be and that was how T'Challa ended up making amends for what he saw as his T'chaka's wrongdoing. By making those things focal points of the movie, they did address those issues, and they even had more than one character being most of them up by name.

 

The end of the movie deals with it...the scenes from Oakland and the plan for the outreach centers. Of course, whether it’s realistic from a non comic book perspective is another issue altogether.