And I’m STILL NOT IMPRESSED.
Yes, Marvel Studios has given us a somewhat faithful
adaptation of T’Challa. And while it’s true to the letter of the character, I
didn’t see any of the Black Panther’s spirit in this film.
Black Panther is a very AVERAGE movie at best. It’s two-dimensional
by-the numbers origin story of a hero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that
features all the standard features of a Marvel movie including the
underdeveloped villain and a third act that falls completely apart. While it’s
better than the horrible Spider-Man Homecoming, it’s not this milestone many in
the Black community are making it out to be.
Yes, there are some great shots in Ryan Coogler’s film. And
I liked seeing the use of Afro futurism in some of the special effects. However,
the heavyhanded writing on this film prevents it from having a story that’s on
par with some of the camera work. Instead of writing an objective and balanced
screenplay with a solid story and a clear hero, Ryan Coogler gives us a biased
screenplay that’s so misandristic and gynocentric a feminist like Alice Walker
would say WTF?
Yes, T’Challa is a King in this movie.
But he’s not allowed to be a MAN in his own film.
Damn. Just Damn.
In Black Panther, T’Challa should be the lead character. The
person who takes charge in the story. Who the film is framed around.
Unfortunately thanks to Coogler’s gynocentric slant on the writing, the women
of Wakanda are presented as the real heroes in this film. In almost every scene
the men of Wakanda are emasculated and made to look weak. It pissed me off to
see almost all the Black men in this movie with the exception of M’Baku being
presented as soft, weak and emasculated.
Yeah, they call this move Black Panther. But I didn’t see
the King of Wakanda taking the LEAD in his own movie.
Damn. Just Damn.
Clearly Ryan Coogler comes from a single mother household
with the way he puts women on pedestals in this movie. In Black Panther Black
women can do no wrong and make no mistakes. These SKRONG Independent Black
women are so tough they can beat down any man they confront.
The action sequences in Black Panther are decent, and many
are fun to watch like the casino sequence, and the car chase. However, seeing
T’Challa put in a secondary position in most of his own film sucks the energy
out of the film and prevents it from actualizing its potential.
Black Panther is supposed to be a superhero movie. But he
never really gets a chance to be a hero like his white contemporaries Thor, Iron
Man and Captain America were in their movies. It was frustrating to watch
T’Challa never get a chance to really have a decisive victory the way Tony
Stark, Steve Rogers, or Thor, had in their movies. Either someone else like
Ross, Okoye, Shuri, or Killmonger does all the things he needs to do in his movie.
T’Challa was more a MAN in Captain: America Civil War than he was in Black
Panther.
Shit.
In Christopher Preists’ Black Panther comics T’Challa was is badass. But in this movie
he’s one big pussy. In Coogler’s shallow two-dimensional story I didn’t see
T’Challa using any of the leadership, diplomatic and critical thinking skills he
had in the comics in any situation from the ritual challenges to his
confrontations with Klaue or Killmonger in the final battle. All I saw was a
guy who let women do his fighting for him and let a White man get all his glory
in the climactic final battle of the film.
Nor did I see Killmonger as a credible threat. For a
so-called well-educated military man with all this tactical knowledge he was
extremely emotional. Him sending out an assault on the world so soon is not what
a master tactician who had all this military experience would do. Instead of
being a character, Killmonger was just presented as the embodiment of the White
man’s fears of what a Black man would when given economic and political power.
And in order for The Black Panther to be a hero he has to be
the “good” Black from Africa who protects the world from the crazy American N****er.
Don’t you just love how Disney presents Africans as superior
to African-Americans. Throwing up a middle finger at its core audience of
customers.
Fuck You Ryan Coogler. FUCK YOU. And FUCK YOU MARVEL
STUDIOS.
Many in the Black community are celebrating Black Panther as
a milestone. But I was deeply troubled by some of the imagery in this movie.
From Killmonger’s thugged out dad in Oakland to the spears and grass skirts to
the tribe with the plate lips, it seemed like Disney was passive aggressively
trying to sneak as much racist imagery into this film under the guise of
afrocentrism. Most of the audience was too spellbound by the White man’s images
of Africa to notice the jabs taken at them, but I could clearly see the insults
being made regarding Black people and Black American culture in this movie.
Yes, Black Panther is the first Black superhero movie to
feature an all-Black cast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And while the color
of the skin of the main characters is Black there isn’t much quality content as
related to any of the characters onscreen. Catch Black Panther at a Matinee or
a rental on DVD, but don’t rush out to see this mediocre movie. The way I see
it Black folks deserve better than Black Panther.
Shawn,u r WRONG.
ReplyDeleteU missed it. The film attacks on Feminism. Lets examine:
The Females around the King are Mother. Personal guardian Spouse/Fiance. Sister.
The 4 women are manifestations of aspects of the ideal BLACK female:
-Supportive Mother who reminds son of duty to self, family, ancestors, and nation who helps revive him when he is near death (ISIS-Mary)
-Okoye: Vicious yet feminine 'She Lion' - lives for nothing else than to protect King and THRONE: pure selflessness.
-Lupita: feminine wife who wants to expand the range of her man's realm. She does not seek male prerogatives - stays in her lane: When urged to eat the herb, she declines ! this is a dagger at modern feminism -the black female variety of it in particular - saying that that is NOT her role. Her role is to find and revive the man so that he may assume his role.
-Sister/Helper: uses her intelligence and charm for the advancement of the KING and Nation. There is no "Im independent, you cant tell me what to do...I'm edumacated ...I got my degree... " typical black woman crap.
The women in composite represent ISIS-MARY. Feminine, selfless, loyal, - exist only to help, assist, keep alive, revive, the King.
The message here to Black Women is: THESE are the roles you should aspire to. In the End, T'Challa went to the USA to open centers. He admitted that the idea was from his fiance. Before that, he kissed the fiancee and told her that she would make a good queen. What we have here is Coogler explaining to Black Women that if you dedicate your life to your King, your agenda - the real world power that you want - will come from and through him. The message here is "stop attempting to compete with your men and stop attempting to usurp male prerogative". The impact and adoration you seek comes through the instrumentality of your Man. Be selfless to him, help him, fight for him, and both he and the world will be yours.
The movie is even more subversive. Lets examine the differences between T'Challa and Killmonger. They are different side of the same coin.
-Same age , trained warriors, royal blood, driven to protect "their people", knew & loved their fathers, lost their fathers tragic circumstances. Both taught by the fathers their history, identity, (dream sequence - Killmonger as a boy and the book)
So then, what are the differences between them other than the obvious: one is raging woman hating self destructive maniac the other - well balanced ?
The CRITICAL difference is that T'challa, has his mother's love, undivided devotion, loyalty. She loved his father, and openly advocates for son's success. She does this all in a quiet, dignified, feminine way.
Killmonger on the hand. We never see his mother at all.
All we hear is that "she is an AMERICAN". This is a slap at the BLACK AMERICAN WOMAN. The critical difference between the two is that one received maternal devotion and love and respect and other CLEARLY must not have. How else could he have turned out to be such a monster like all the thugs, jailbirds, and other destructive, violent , misogynistic Black men out there ? They are the product not of not having fathers, but of having inadequate MOTHERS !
The message to the Black American female is that YOU MUST BE LIKE ANGELA to your sons. If you fail to do so you will create monsters who are not psychologically fit to lead anyone anywhere nor protect a nation as a warrior king.
Coogler masks the message in "the Blacks are matriarchal trope". I assure u the whites missed it. This film is patriarchal and repudiates feminism. The women live to serve the pleasure and health of the BLACK MAN, the BLACK FAMILY, and the BLACK STATE. with No other agendas.
Is that all because I am really wondering how much sound judgement you really posses when you have been lambasting this movie for so many days and now you come back having seen and you give a poorly researched view of the director to prove your point? How is that being objective which you have claimed to have in abundance?
ReplyDeleteI gave an observation of what Coogler presented on screen. And his view of Black Panther is extremely gynocentric. To say he came from a 2-parent household and he presented this onscreen shows he's out of his depth.
DeleteRight and those from single parent households don't know how to be real men or to not put women on pedestals when actually there is a broader perspective that you seem to ignore. Men from single parent households also have to learn to pull their own weight to help their mother or father sometimes so how can you dismiss them so crudely? That's narrow minded judgement right then and there. If you want to comment on certain themes and messages in media fine just don't give narrow-minded judgements on those who make them it makes you look just as foolish.
DeleteAlso if you want to judge something make sure you have all the research covered. And quit blathering about how bad it is when you never saw or read the thing. It also adds to your folly.
DeleteAnd to say that Man-Ape is the only character who wasn't emasculated shows a break in the black men are not men narrative. If that was their agenda then all men not just T'Challa and Killmonger would suffer like so.
DeleteShawn is not being objective. He simply has failed to see the brilliance of the film because he implicitly accepts the notion that no real black man could have made the film in the first place. He projects his own inadequacies onto the film and Coogler instead being inspired by Coogler's many valuable messages. Some of which are:
Delete1. Leading isn't easy nor should it be
2. You need not be shackled by the poor decisions of your predecessors. You are free to choose another course.
3. Be flexible and learn to learn.
He is left with trying to knock Coogler down a peg or two.
Many many Blacks have tried to do the same with Obama instead of accepting the fact that he is probable the best president this country has every had (no less than top 5) instead of trying to learn the lessons that Obama was trying to impart. some of those lessons are:
1. White people are not superior
2. Leadership is about movie society forward not backward.
3. The American way is - all things being equal - the best way so far devised to raise both individual and national living standards.
...there is lots more of course.
Cool your jets I never saw the movie and have no intention of doing so. But I can agree that he is not being objective if he is going to ramble on like this for so many days.
Delete"And his view of Black Panther is extremely gynocentric."
ReplyDeleteWRONG
It's Patriarchal, Antifeminist, and Homocentric. Go and watch it again. The sum of the female dialogue can be summed up as such: "My King".
Shawn, Coogler not only grew up in a two parent household, he is married to a black woman.
You have to understand his challenge. "How do I tell the truth in a movie that is financed and supervised by jews/whites ??"
He did it by giving real black women shine but making all of them subservient to the King and his agenda. The women do nothing but serve him, the throne, and the state.
That scene where Daniela Kaluyaa kneels to Okoye is him giving her props because she knows her priorities. She is so disciplined that her personal love him cannot take priority over her role as protector of the King, Throne, and State.
The message then is clear to women who are enamored of the thugs, traitors, coons, and all around fuck ups. "Just because your vagina tingles in the presence of such man, that is no excuse to give your self to such a man... he is a threat to real brothers and the black nation".
Because she demonstrated her knowledge of this critical principle - that the female is the repository of the national morality and order: MAAT ( a Kemetic female goddess), Kaluyaa is forced to yield. He knows he has chosen the right woman to love.
Shawn, it is you who are out of your depth. Coogler is a bad man - i will now go and watch his prior works: he clearly is a master of the subliminals - which is necessary if he is gonna do the right thing in hollywood jew financed movies. He has to do it so that the message slips by the gate keepers.
Shawn, the movie is not gynocentric, however you do pick up on the fact that its target audience was in fact female. Coogler is trying to communicate to Black American Women in particular.
ReplyDeleteALL the women live only to serve the pleasure and health of the BLACK MAN/KING, the BLACK FAMILY, and the BLACK STATE. None of them have any independent agenda other than that which exalts or protects and enhances the KING. And it is for this reason that Wakanda is strong, the women are loved and respected, religion, morality and ethics are intact, petty tribal differences are not allowed to destroy the whole, and ultimately, Wakanda is in a position to help the Black World at large.
The key then for global success of Blacks is THE BLACK WOMAN. She must not be swayed by the lie that is European feminism. She must embrace ancient African models of female comportment as laid out by ancient Kemetic culture - the highest point of both Black and general human cultural achievement.
Shawn, please wake up and see this movie for what it really is. Pro Black propaganda targeting Black Females in how to behave. Dont let your own bitterness cloud you from the simple fact that a brother was to finesse them whiteys like that. Coogler has probably read you posts on Black women (amongst other things) and set about to make sure that Black women get the message.