You may be asking, why are you writing this? It seems to me that Black Panther has been blowing up. Do we really need another article on it? The answer is yes, yes we do, and really not for the reason you might be thinking.
Black Panther is absolutely one of the best movies I have ever seen, especially one that Marvel’s made.
I’ve been watching Marvel films for as long as I can remember, and every time they release a new movie I am required, by my own self law, to go see the movie at least twice.
Besides that, many are talking about the recent monetary value that Black Panther is bringing to the box office. Currently, the movie just broke Deadpool’s Presidents Day box office record!
Everyone’s favorite mercenary brought in 152 million dollars, while Black Panther brought in 218 million dollars over a four-day weekend. This means that Black Panther is Marvel’s third highest grossing movie ever.
I can’t tell you if it was from the characters development or even the extraordinary cast. What I can tell you is that if you haven’t seen it, you should turn away right now because this article is going to have a bunch of spoilers in it that are honestly, going to ruin the movie for you. So turn back now, you’ve been forewarned.
There are three major aspects that I absolutely adored about Black Panther. The first has to be the characters and their character arcs. The movie takes place a few weeks after the Civil War and King T’Chaka’s death. The audience sees how heartbroken T’Challa is after his father’s passing.
His mourning is especially amplified when he crosses into the spirit realm to greet his father and ancestors from his past. However by the end of the movie, we can clearly see that T’Challa is ready to finally sever the ties binding him to his late father. He is determined to right his father’s wrongs and go against his father’s wishes for the sake of his people and his country.
That to me, is the defining moment of Black Panther, when we see the maturity of T’Challa and his duty to the throne because he knows that his father was incapable of fixing his own mistakes.
My second favorite part of the movie had to be the political undertones to the actual plot. The way I viewed it, Wakanda served as an example of the United States, including in their immigration and foreign affairs programs. Many wanted to keep Wakanda pure and wanted no outsiders to be aware of the technology and power they held. There was an underlying fear that outsiders would destroy their way of life and their culture.
This is very similar to the way many Americans view immigration today. However, the most interesting part to me was the villain in our story. Eric represents a very angry, very prominent piece of American culture: the oppressed. Eric believes that Wakanda closed off their borders, and put the needs of many oppressed people below the purity of the culture. Many in America view our current immigration technique in the same light.
Black Panther allowed me to see a side of American immigration that I was very scared to learn about before. I have trouble seeing the evil in people, I believe most are good. The idea that there are people who want to come to America for a better life while embarking on a dangerous trek, that many don’t have the courage to do, didn’t really occur to me.
I believe that our immigration techniques need to be looked at, and they need to be more thoughtful when pertaining to refugees and other illegal aliens. However, I do understand a little more of the other side of the equation; it was rather thought-provoking. Even the prince let go of his ties with his father and decided to do the right thing and open borders; it was an extremely well thought out plot.
My third favorite aspect of Black Panther was all of the unique and educational African culture representations in the movie. From face paint, clothing items, and even piercings, they all stem from current African tribes! I was so amazed with the intricacy and the effort put into making such accurate representation.
In fact, Black Panther’s costume designer broke down on Twitter what and where each representation is from. It not only opened us to a new and unique learning opportunity but it did so in a way that the audience didn’t know we were learning.
Black Panther is an amazing movie that educates and enthralls audiences everywhere. Take it from the hundreds and thousands of Americans who have already gone to see it. And guess what? I haven’t seen it twice yet, so you can bet what I’ll be doing over spring break!