Black Panther teaches us a truth
You're very late in watching the most influential/powerful movie of all times (for Black people worldwide anyway). You said ‘Fiction teaches us a truth that we often find hard to see’. The truth is much of the content of this film is not fiction at all. It touched on the true, deep-seated issues between the relationship of Africans and the ancestors of the enslaved. The fictional Wakanda represents the natural wealth of the African continent, able to resource the world if thieving, greedy devilish men had not kept mercilessly killing and raping her. I could go on about how well written this movie is. Telling the African story by their African cousin’s. A white writer/ filmmaker could never truly reflect this. I could go on about the significance of this movie. MFQ
I had been aware of Cinema Paradiso almost since the Odyssey reopened 7 years ago. I decided I would watch it on Sunday night so while in town ( I know its a city) I called in at the box office to get a ticket.
Just before I went in I pulled out the brochure for this month’s films. I had noticed that Black Panther was the Saturday matinee. I wondered had I seen it before. I was aware that Chadwick Boseman had recently passed from this world. The blurp connected the film to the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter message. I wondered again whether a Marvel Comic character could speak to the harsh reality of racism.
I purchased the ticket for Cinema Paradiso and then began asking the staff member about Black Panther. He convinced me and it was one of those moments when my spontaneous side won.
The Wakanda nation had spies throughout the globe. One of those spies was impacted by what he saw in the nation he was resident and involved himself in the struggle. He saw the life of Black people in the United States and couldn’t equate it with he knew back in Wakanda. He took from its resource and triggered off a conflict between himself and his nation. The issue was whether Wakanda should keep its resources secret or share them with those in need. His son the product of his father’s relationship with an American woman sought to seek revenge for his father’s harsh treatment.
That struggle between looking after our own interests and sharing what we have with others faces us individually and collectively.
The climax of the struggle comes in a challenge between the son seeking revenge and the King of Wakanda. The King shows mercy but the son in reference to the enslavement of Black people says,
“Bury me in the ocean, with my ancestors that jumped from the ships, because they knew death was better than bondage.”
The King impacted by the struggle and the thoughts of those closest to him decides that Wakanda will share its resources with those in need. He verbalises this in a speech to the United Nations,
“Wakanda will no longer watch from the shadows. We cannot. We must not. We will work to be an example of how we, as brothers and sisters on this earth, should treat each other. Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe.”―T’Challa
The power of stories and stories in Film is that they touch our emotions. Fiction teaches us a truth that we often find hard to see.
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