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Friday, March 2, 2018

Review of Black Panther by Shania Arora


Over the past two weeks or so, Black Panther has become a phenomenon. The motion picture debuted a nearly all Black cast with the first Black superhero. The movie was so well recieved that it brought in a profit of $235 million dollars, and has 97% on rotten tomatoes (one of the highest rated ever). It has broken the box office for good.
A little background on the comics: The superhero, Black Panther, originally appeared in the 52nd Fantastic Four edition. From there on, the Black Panther was apart of the avengers, and then making his own debut in a solo feature of Jungle Action. There were 24 novels made for this series, however the writers were still unhappy that their superhero was technically still a guest star to his own series. Jungle Action did end due to feuds over low sales and the content within it (it dealt firsthand with the controversial topic of the KKK). A year later or so, T’Challa was revived in a 200-page novel specifically written about the Black Panther and Wakanada. This is the novel that was used for the 2018 movie. From there, the Black Panther experienced 6 mini-series, including the first novel. The most recent series being in 2016, totaling to about 200 comics. Marvel has done great justice to the exceptional superhero, but what about Hollywood?
The movie business hasn’t done nearly enough for T’Challa, just based off of the fact that he is the first Black superhero. However, the movie was amazing and and beautiful in every aspect. The film discussed the conflict in Wakanda, where some of the leaders believed that Wakanda should use their resources to help the community outside of their bubble. The others were fearful that leaders of other countries would take advantage of them. They talked about how the outside community is dying, referring to the obscene amount of unusual shootings that have taken place over the past few years. Okoye, the female general, even stated in a fight, “Guns. So primitive.” After a heart-pounding challenge for the throne, T’Challa was enlightened and decided to go forth with the idea of helping those who cannot help themselves, but without force. T’Challa bought three buildings in Oakland, California, and opened Wakanda’s first refuge center and revealed the secret of vibranium to the UN. Women’s rights were also dealt with, in the sense that the binary genders lived in an equal world where no one had more power than the next. Though this film praised a serious topic of racial discrimination all over the world, it had breaks of comedic pause and a light-hearted love story. But the main idea was not lost at all; the movie showed how a faction (whether it be a race or group of friends) can come together and form a unity, to protect each other and do good.
My opinion on the movie is that is very positive (it was pretty spectacular). Some may argue that the plot was fairly simple, due to the fact that not much happened until the very end. But I think that was a good choice that the writers/producers/directors chose because it allowed room for better understanding of the characters and what Black Panther is about. I also loved that it was not solely about racial discrimination in America, but rather all around the world and other types of discrimination from the past. However, I wished maybe they would discuss more about the women’s role because it was clear they filled the typical man roles with women (i.e. the military). I only say that because, well, I’m female and that relates to me. It didn’t diminish the quality of the film whatsoever, but it would be interesting to see the Black Panther team take on other controversial topics.



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