Black Panther…And what it means for all black people…
If you haven’t noticed by now since yesterday Twitter & Black Twitter has been trending a topic called Black Panther. The teaser trailer premiered during the NBA finals yesterday to everyone’s amazement. Viewers was shown a litany of beautiful images, shot by Ryan Coogler the Director of Creed. What makes this movie so substantial is it’s the first movie of a black superhero from Marvel Comics. Granted there are few black superheroes in Marvel Comics but none of them loom large or is steeped in Lore like the Black Panther.
Set in a fictional city of Wakanda hidden in East Africa, The Black Panther is the King and champion of the people and tribes residing within the nation state. Technologically advanced and still holding onto customs passed by generation after the next it is a #Marvel to see the Kingdom visualized on the big screen. My mouth erupted into a wide smile just watching even the footage. I had not known this movie would ever get created. Ever since Marvel had their D23 presser announcing The Black Panther I was skeptical on how it would work. Would it be corny, Watered down, I mean make no mistake We saw the realm of Asgard existing, the idea of a futuristic african world on planet Earth that’s never been invaded was giving a lot of fans pause.
Then I was surprised of the casting choices to play the characters nothing like this has ever been done on film of this scope before… The fact that we have a majority black cast, with a great black director and a great leading actor in Chadwick Boseman playing the young King T’challa bodes well. But alas the teaser trailer is not without it’s usual suspects making little snide remarks on the youtube pages notably about the so called hip-hop music and “Lack of Diversity” which is funny because a ton of superhero movies no one questions the racial makeup of the teams or music choice playing in the trailers. Trolls be DAMNED…
Also I want to address the trailer has not gone without other detractors and not from white fans but from Black people who claim they are an “Authority” to all things black this video blogger/ documentary filmmaker and armchair philosopher gave a ranting screed to the 2 minutes worth of footage calling it backwards and idiotic that a Fictional Nation in Africa still use weaponry that existed in their homelands for generations and still utilize and promote their customs from their tribes. This man seems disconnected from reality as he blatantly ignores comic book lore and it’s own history for the simple fact that Black Panther Property is a White owned IP of Disney.
Now while this maybe true that Disney owns the rights to Black Panther. Seeing footage from a 2 minute Teaser trailer does not give you a scope to a whole movie or the characters within. And if he read the comics and understood the lore without making Assumptions about the characters that appeared he would better understand it. Like Slade Wilson once said: “Assumption is the mother of All failures!”
Lastly I want to address this man personally to have an unbiased view of African Culture not seen through american eyes. You are blind to other ways and other walks of life. You are an Authority of all things Black and yet you and your fellow detractors do not realize the positive ideas and even existence of the Black Panther. It’s existance is a beacon guiding us as black people to rise above our petty squabbles and unite for a common goal. Whether we are Haitian, African-American, Ethiopian, Nigerian, Jamaican our shared cultural tapestry cannot be seen through biased eyes. You must step back and appreciate the tapestry and blood that flows within you…
It is you that is Blind and no Authority to lead anyone…
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