I only really saw it for solidarity sake. It was ok. I want more Blade though. Can we get more blade?
Every goddamned time...
Blade is NOTHING like Black Panther. As explained in so many other threads, Blade, while being the first depicted solo black superhero on-screen, wasn't about him being black. If they changed his race for some reason, the movie wouldn't have needed to change one bit. It was incidental that he's a black character (and that's neither good nor bad, but it's what it is).
But beyond that fact, it was done on a relatively small budget, and wasn't anything close to a huge blockbuster hit, not even for its time. But Black Panther had all of the might, money and clout of both Marvel Studios, the hottest movie production company out there, and freaking DISNEY! They spent over $200 million dollars making this film, a number no other black film in history has ever gotten close to having, and they made it back 6-7x. This is BY FAR the biggest commercial success for a (nearly) all black film in history, no matter the genre. Blade, Meteor Man, Blank Man, Steel, none of these films can say that. AND this had a predominantly black production crew, at least in the leadership/head of dept. roles.
And lastly, why so many black people talk about Black Panther so lovingly is not because it was literally the first black superhero movie, but because it's the first one to actually SPEAK to them. The first one to actually and actively make them feel good, both about themselves and their culture at large. We weren't in a slum or ghetto in the worst neighborhood in town; no, we were in Africa, a place normally depicted as just a poor, third-world country (though it's a continent, and a LARGE one) that can't do anything on its own without charity from other countries. We weren't drug dealers or basketball players or rappers, or anything nearly so stereotypical; no, we were kings and queens (more on that in a bit). We were the best warriors and scientists in the world. We had a society that valued women more than any other place in the world, and they were just as integral to the Utopian society running as any man. And they did this without the help from the West. This was done totally on their own, which ups the level of pride exponentially.
This movie uplifted blacks, not just in America but all across the Diaspora, and back home on the Continent.
What's this about Blade again?
There have been plenty of movies before with a black protagonist. Even in the hero genre, you've had black protagonists before. You are making it seem like BP is a pioneer or something. It is the first MCU movie with a black protagonist, but that's about as far as being "a first" as it goes.
Again, it's not strictly about being first. Apple wasn't the first to create what we now call smartphones, but they perfected the formula so much that nobody really talks about the PDA's beforehand that did a lot of what the first iPhone did. Being first is cool, but it doesn't always matter in the end. Black Panther did so many other things better and/or right that the very few black superhero films before never did. None of them addressed the same issues and none of them were nearly as uplifting and aspirational.
Why is it so hard for some people to get that? Hmm, I wonder.....
Im a black african.
And this line hit people quite differently here.
There was a deep sadness that got people.
One of the actors is actually Zambian, the trance state that people had during my viewings was actually insane.
Ive never experienced such a thing watching a movie.....the entire theater was in it.
But what was weird was interviewing people after the movie...alot of them could see parallels with how life is now for us(them).
The ones who cried the hardest were the ones who felt we havent actually gone forward.
Im gonna put a video together of interviews with Zambians post BP when ive got enough to really have a good group/
I love this movie 1 because its actually a good movie, but 2 it got people here to actually start being vocal.
I almost feel ashamed that i travel to the west for job opportunities.
Please share this with the board.
After I saw the movie, I went scouring all over the internet to see as much responses from the continent as I could. I knew how African Americans took to the film, but I wanted to see the other side of it. How would Africans take to this respectful, but still American-tinged take on African culture? Overwhelmingly what I saw was positive, but I still would love to see more.
No a moment but a movement
Damn straight.
One thing I'd like to add about my personal views. I never cried watching this film. I think I'm old enough and understand the world enough where it didn't hit me emotionally in the same way. However, what I did feel was such an overwhelming sense of pride in the film, that I saw it 5 times. Never saw a movie that many times. It means so much to me to see Africa, and Africans in general, not seen as poor, helpless "African Booty Scratchers", like we all were conditioned to say back in the day. To move past that depiction, and to see how, even if just in a fictional world, life could've gone in a different direction if the West had only come there in peace, not for conquest. Imagine the history we could've saved, the lives that instead of being lost could've helped spread knowledge and healing, the unity the world might've worked towards. Such a waste.
Anyway, the one moment that ALMOST got me, though, was the first time T'Challa goes to ancestral plane, and sees his father. He gets down on one knee, and cries into his hand, saying "I'm sorry". T'Chaka, with a boom in his voice decries: "STAND UP! You are a king!"
Now, that line can just be taken at face value. He's telling his son that he's ascended to the throne now, so there's no need for him to bow down. But I feel like that line has meaning for all of the black folk watching. The movie, already so inspirational, feels like it's telling me that we are all kings and queens and we should stand up for ourselves. That might be me reading into the scene, but there is so much allegory going on in this film already that I wouldn't be surprised if that was intentional. In any case, that scene always gives me goosebumps and almost teary-eyed.
God, I freakin' love this movie.
