The Black Panther Movie, the Wakanda Movement

“Have you seen the Black Panther Movie?” my coworker asked me as I passed him on the stairwell. I responded the way I had been since opening weekend a few days before, “Not yet” “Oh” he said with disappointment, “Well you look like the princess in the movie” I was flattered but since I hadn’t seen any of the characters in the movie I couldn’t make the connection but I waved off the comment, this white guy couldn’t possibly see much difference between myself and any other young black women, especially if she also had braids and a similar skin tone.

The next day a friend from church told me the same thing, “When I saw the movie I just wanted to hug you Amani!” Then again I heard it from a close friend, “Girl you look like that princess in the movie” And then that following weekend a client “Can I take a picture with you?” I was shocked, “All my friends will think I’ve met the princes of Wakanda!”

Wow.

If the supposed resemblance wasn’t enough, I was stunned by the number of people around me who saw the movie before me. Opening weekend there was an overnight event at the church that prevented me from going to see the movie with my friends. I’d also been working 2 jobs, one in the day and another in the evening, which gave me even less free time to work with. After everyone had seen the movie without me I was less motivated to go on my own. Regardless of how busy and lonely I was, with every new person that told me that they saw my face in the film, fate was reminding me over and over, Amani you need to see this movie.

I knew that I didn’t just need to see it, I needed to support it while it was still in theaters. One very special thing about the film was that it was produced by a young black director, Ryan Coogler, from Oakland with only 2 movies under his belt. Since the Black Panther Movie released during black history month I decided to participate in the celebration before the month was over. Finally, I found a late showing time in a IMAX theatre with a friend who didn’t mind seeing the film a second time. I sat in the seat excited to finally take in what hundreds of thousands of people had been transformed by over the past 2 weeks. Now I’d finally know where Wakanda was, I thought to myself.

Not everyone was fond of the film. There were some who boycotted it, with complaints of reverse racism. Others argued that this movie wasn’t relevant because it wasn’t actually the ‘first black superhero’. The later holds truth. Black Panther wasn’t really the first black superhero in the same way that Princess Shuri wasn’t the first Black ‘Disney/Marvel’ princess and Okoye wasn’t the first black female military general. But then again they were. They were the first in our regard because they weren’t just the token character whose skin was shaded to black in order to fulfill a quota. They weren’t just the black person that entered the movie halfway through, or died in the beginning. These characters were whole people with individual personalities and stories of their own. They began the movie with their families, they had mothers, fathers, sisters, husbands and children that were able to meet, each of which had their own traits that were unique. They were inspiring, they had fullness to them that made you fall in love with who they were, that made you tense up when they were in battle, that made you shed a tear when they suffered and grin when they won. They were the first because they were the first to be real. They were the first black superheros that mattered within the modern culture of dehumanizing black and African people.

I sat in the seats in front of the IMAX screen in awe because there were several characters that I had to select from to relate to but I had to agree that Princess Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, was most like me. She was intelligent, innovative and beautiful. She was respectful to her elders, she loved her people,  was protective of her loved ones, inspired by her ancestors yet she also had attitude with her comments which were funny as she snapped at Agent Ross, “Colonizer!” she yelped at him when he awoke from a healing slumber. She created technology that revolutionized her country and contributed to the longevity of her people. Our resemblance convinced me that I had been a long-lost member of Wakanda. A group of people so committed to the well-being of their community that they immersed themselves in it and dedicated themselves to the empowerment of their own.

The controversy that arose from the movie from critics was one between American born Blacks and African born Blacks. The movie has been said to pit the two groups against each other. As an American born black watching the film I didn’t feel pitted against my African born brothers and sisters in the slightest, I felt united to them through the wide portrayal of characters. However, (spoiler) Wakanda was an African country that for the majority of the movie refused to provide foreign aid. Blacks in America were suffering throughout the film, beginning with the King’s initial discovery during the Black Power Movement. Rather than providing support to Black Americans during this time of over policing and the onset of mass incarceration, militarily with the use of their technologically advanced weapons he killed his brother (who was devoted to helping Blacks in America) in an attempt to suppress the movement to reach out and keep Wakanda people safe from outside influences. I didn’t see this as the film pitting African and American Blacks against each other at all. Michael B. Jordan responds to the controversy question profoundly in an interview with Entertainment Tonight saying, “between African Americans and Africans and the disconnect, this movie definitely draws a bridge between these two cultures to have a conversation.” Instead of being angry with the plot I saw it as a film as a collection of entertaining scenes that uplifted and encouraged blacks to come together while also pointing to the fact that Africa is the home of all people and the center of the most valuable resources on the planet. The colonization of Africa has been a detriment to the people’s economic and technological development. Wakanda’s ability to avoid colonization contributed to their success, but their fear of negative outside influences impeded their ability to provide foreign aid.

The storyline was beautifully threaded together with incredible special effects and an A list cast. Surprisingly the movie cost just over $200million to produce and was predicted to make only $160million during opening weekend but it smashed predictions with $380million opening weekend and $700 million by second weekend. The initial success of the movie brought Coogler out of the shadows and into the spotlight. The cast was on point, full of fan favorite’s like Michael B. Jordan, Angela Bassett, Daniel Kaluuya and Forest Whitaker. At the end I sat and watched through the credits because I’d been warned that there were scenes at the end of the end, beyond all the names and then again beyond all the production titles. And they were right, I stayed until the IMAX screen turned blue and the lights came on, realizing that I’d just witnessed history and I refused to cut the experience short.