Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, is the primary antagonist of the recent box office hit Black Panther. His character was a former high ranking military soldier turned international criminal hell-bent on becoming king of Wakanda so he could use their advance vibranium based weaponry and technology to arm impoverished and oppressed black people across the world.
However, T’Challa aka Black Panther was strongly against his plan, as it would only cause disarray and put Wakanda, and its people, in great danger. Regardless, when Killmonger defeated T’Challa in battle and claimed the title of king, he immediately set his plan in motion, attacking all even killing anyone who stood in his way without hesitation.
Even women were not spared of his wrath as there were numerous scenes of him attacking women, regardless of whether or not they first provoked him. Truthfully, it appeared that Killmonger was more consumed with vengeance than concerned with liberating his people.
His strategy was very rushed and not thought out. Personally, it seemed as if Killmonger was meant to be viewed as both an antagonist as well as a complete and utter villain due to his brutality and willingness to kill innocent people to further his goals.
Regardless, countless women online seem to be swoon over the character due to his attractive features, muscular body and “bad boy” personality. Many female reviewers online even seem to wholeheartedly agree with his ideology and defend his actions.
With the countless memes and posts praising his attractiveness, I have to wonder if Killmonger’s looks and superficially charming personality play a part in the growing female following he has in the Black Panther fandom. This whole scenario is reminiscent of Christian Grey in the 50 Shades of Grey series. Although he is an emotionally and possibly mentally unstable man with a history of stalking, emotional manipulation, being controlling and several sociopathic tendencies women seem to be completely enamored with him.
Many critics of the movie trilogy, most notably men, credit this to being due solely to Christian’s good looks and massive fortune with him being a billionaire. A popular meme about the series claims that if Chirstian Grey was a poor everyday guy then this would have just been a horrifying episode of Criminal Minds.
At the end of the day, this is just a movie and although this is a social phenomenon I have observed, I do not consider it to be anything serious to worry about. I’m confident that majority of adolescent girls and women are intelligent enough to separate fiction from reality.