Finally watched the movie today, and, while I did like what I saw, this article by The Hindustan Times, does tend to touch on something that I felt to be sorta true- that this film shows a Westernised version of what they consider a "Third-World Futuristic Nation" to be.
https://m.hindustantimes.com/editor...lopment/story-wDof55G2fYJPFDzcmIkjpI_amp.html
Some bits from the article:
In essence, Black Panther simply doesn't go as far with its concept as it could go.
What are your thoughts?
https://m.hindustantimes.com/editor...lopment/story-wDof55G2fYJPFDzcmIkjpI_amp.html
Some bits from the article:
Instead what we see is a well-lit Gotham City located in a green valley. It is almost as if the western idea of development and technological advancement – slick, white labs with minimalist furniture, tall glass and metal buildings, and an inexplicable aversion to sandals in formal spaces – the inevitable telos of all civilisation; as though any culture, with any philosophy would necessarily have eventually found its way to what 21st century America is.
There is no departure from a contemporary American/western trajectory of technological progress in this untouched African nation (except for one excellent divergence from typical American action films: the absence of guns in fight sequences). In the final turn, as Wakanda decides to emerge from secrecy to share technological know-how with the rest of the world, it is only in service of a very American problem.
Limited as it is by the demands of the MCU franchise and an American worldview, Black Panther pays lip service to the many histories of the glorified mother continent. Africa ideals of traditional knowledge, sustainable development and pastoralism find little prominence in this Americanised ideal of a successful African nation state. In an unintentionally funny moment, the war cry of a rival tribe's leader (muted, in New Delhi) is an incongruous invocation to Hanuman.
In essence, Black Panther simply doesn't go as far with its concept as it could go.
What are your thoughts?