#Afropunk!Erik Killmonger | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

saviourfinn · 6 years

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First thoughts/remarks about Black Panther

so i just saw Black Panther tonight and I loved it!!

Major Spoilers under the cut.

Critics were right when they said Black Panther isn’t your typical blockbuster action movie. It’s packed with phenomenal action scenes, yes. But it’s so much more than that. It’s also a spy movie, a movie about civil war and allegiances, a movie about the conflict between traditions and globalization, a movie about family feuds à la game of throne, and about what to do in the face of oppression. To be honest, it barely feels like a Marvel movie, which is so refreshing. I’m gonna go ahead and talk about several points, it’s gonna be disorganized because i’m tired but who cares.

Wakanda is. so. freaking. awesome. All of it is very afrofuturistic,which is awesome. I love the fact that they didn’t make the whole country into a technological marvel, you see the technologically advanced city, yes, but also the small villages, the shepherds in the countryside etc. Despite the city being super modern, there’s still red soil in the streets, and as an african it really felt like home (or what home could have been without the colonization). I loved how the Wakandan people dress, a mix between traditional clothes and modern clothes, the elder wearing more traditional clothes and the young people (esp Shuri) being more adventurous and afropunk in their aesthetic.

I loved Wakandan’s tradition to access the throne. The whole ceremony and trials were really impressive.

I loved how the tribes were all different, they all had different particularities, purposes and ways of life. Just like most african countries (and a lot of other countries), Wakandans aren’t made up of one singular group, and all these tribes can and have come in conflict, which is one of the main themes of the movie.

Brooooooooooooooooooooooo, the Wakandan tech????????????????????????? So fucking awesome. The members of the Tribe of the Door all wear a thick, colourful piece of fabric draped around their shoulders, and i thought it was just their Aesthetic until they raised it with an arm and it created a freaking electromagnetic shield!!!! There’s vibranium in their clothes and thanks to it they can summon a shield whenever they want I lost my freaking mind in the theater during this scene i’m not gonna lie.

The women in this movie were so awesome, especially Shuri, Okoye and Nakia. They are all complex characters with different values, purposes and motivations, and they all get a lot of screentime. They aren’t defined by their relationship to T’challa, but by their personal convictions. One of the main themes of the movie is allegiance, and to whom/what you are loyal to. Okoye is loyal to her country and the vow she took as a Dora Milaje to protect the throne, and watching her stick to her ideals despite being torn from the inside by her feelings is just heartbreaking. Nakia is loyal to her moral compass and her belief that those who can help others should help them, and everything she does is driven by this mindset.

Even though i always loved the fact that Nakia would be T’challa’s love interest, I was a little worried that the “love interest” part would swallow other parts of her character. It wasn’t the case at all. Sure, she has feelings for T’challa and deeply cares about him, but she would never sacrifice her ideals and moral values for his sake. Actually, at the end of his character development, T’challa is the one who ends up seeing the world like Nakia does.

I love the playful relationship between the characters. Most of the main characters know each other since childhood or their teenage years, and it shows. Okoye and Shuri teases T’challa all the time, and they all behave like a big family.

Shuri. Oh my god, Shuri. A lot of critics said that Michal B Jordan’s Killmonger was the stand out of the movie, but even if i loved his character, i don’t agree. Shuri is. She’s captivating, funny and resourceful, and every one of her scenes is a breath of fresh air. She’s a genius and at only 16, she’s the leader of Wakanda’s technological and medical department. She has her own huge lab in the middle of a vibranium mine, and literally all of the cool tech in the movie is made by her. She’s clearly passionate about what she does, and every time she talks about one of her inventions, her eyes light up and she’s so proud. She’s also a multitasker because during a fight scene, not only does she fight herself, but she has to give instructions to her brother and to another character so that they can win their own fights lmao. But despite being a genius and having a lot of responsibilities, she’s obviously still a kid. She’s always joking and teasing people, and like every teenager she isn’t a big fan of lengthy traditional events. She’s eager to get into action, as her young age prevents her from going on the field, and she wants to discover the world. She is very close to T’challa, their relationship is adorable, and she never misses a chance to make fun of him. Really, Shuri is so much fun.

Black women on screen!!!! So much of them!!! 3 of them being main characters!! It’s so rare for a Marvel movie to have more than 1 main female character, let alone pass the Bechdel test, let alone have black women in speaking roles. They were so badass and layered characters, truly thank you Ryan Coogler for my life.

Erik Killmonger. Such a great, complex villain. He reminds me a lot of the character Lorenzaccio : an anti-hero who, to be able to get his revenge, behaved like his enemy, just to lose himself and turn into the very monster/villain he hates. He raises excellent questions to T’challa and the Wakandan government : they always had the resources and ability to help other people, and yet they never did. When their neighbours got enslaved and colonized, they just hid, and not once during centuries did they try to help. What should one do in the face of their neighbours being in trouble? Should you isolate yourself, ignoring others’ suffering to ensure your people’s safety? Or should you help those in need? After all, who can say if some african countries couldn’t have resisted colonization if they had had access to Wakanda’s tech. Erik wants justice, but in the way of reclaiming it he became a bloodthirsty killer. And the narrative made it clear that he wasn’t born that way, he could’ve turned good. But after his father died, King T’chaka left him all alone to grow up in Oakland’s ghetto, and all the violence and suffering + his abandonment helped turn him into a resentful, angry man. And when he accuses Wakanda of abandoning other black people, he isn’t just talking about them. He’s also talking about himself, who got abandoned by his own family.

Another great thing about Erik : he also represents (at least for me) the diaspora. He’s half-american and half-Wakandan, and he lived in the US for his entire life, so Wakandan people consider him p much like a foreigner --despite the fact that he is also Wakandan.

T’challa’s journey during this movie was to realize that his father (and the government) weren’t as kind and selfless as he thought, and that he had to make a choice. As a king, he can either keep on maintaining his predecessors’ isolationist politic, or open his borders to try and help people in crisis. He realizes that he can’t stand by and watch innocents get murdered while the Wakandans are all nice and cozy in their country, not anymore. He saw how abandonment and violence shaped Killmonger, and he realizes that the only way to help people is to be compassionate. And in the actual political/social climate, where people close their borders to refugees and turn a blind eye to minorities being oppressed, it’s a really important decision.

Black Panther talks about a lot of real-life problems : what to do in time of crisis -- build walls or build bridges?, the brutal oppression of African Americans, the kidnapping and abuse of Nigerian women by terrorists (there’s a scene where Nakia and T’challa save women who were being abducted by those terrorists), etc.

Negative points (because nothing is perfect) :

They could have developed W’Kabi more so that we understand him and his motivations better. I understand that we couldn’t have 4 hours of movie lol, but the result is that his character is somewhat flat compared to others.

They speak with an african accent, and yet they pronounce the “T’” wrong lmao. Most actors are not native so i don’t hold it against them, but during the first few minutes it distracted me from the movie. They pronounce it T-ee-challa when "T’cha” is supposed to be pronounced like in the word “chat”. But again, it’s just a pet peeve because every day i hear europeans pronounce african names wrong.

Other remarks :

I’m so sorry for Erik/T’challa shippers... y’all are gonna have to cancel your ship, Coogler did you dirty à la George Lucas lmao

There’s a cool scene where Nakia is wearing a hijab and she’s beating up bad guys, it’s so rare to see a hijabi woman in an action scene it was awesome (she doesn’t wear the hijab all the time, just in that scene, but still).

I probably forgot/left out a lot of stuff, but that’s all for now!

shout out to my sister @wouriqueen who brought up a lot of relevant points!

#black panther #black panther spoilers

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wakandacon-blog · 6 years

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“Things have been terrifying and interesting and beautiful as we recovered from the devastation of Erik Killmonger. He left exposed rifts and conflicts that have been painful, gaping wounds in our small community...it has never been a utopia here, but there was so much that we did not question before he came, things we began to question and realize we wanted to change, and we disagreed on how to change.” From “The Kingdom is Dead” by @adriennemareebrown in Black Freedom Beyond Borders: A Wakanda Immigration Anthology To read the full story and the rest of the book follow the link in the bio ********************* About the book: As cultural emissaries of Wakanda, we have called upon Djeli Gnara of the African Diaspora to share fanciful stories of our future and sacred remembrances of our past the Kingdom opens its borders to the Diaspora for the first time. Wakanda is no longer in self-imposed isolation, and with this new openness comes a world of possibilities for all of us. But what is the new Wakanda that we are inviting people to build? During Black August of 2018, a historical time of sacred resistance within the African American community, Wakanda Dream Lab invited Black and Afro-Diasporic writers, activists, organizers, movement leaders and freedom fighters to participate in #BlackFreedomBeyondBorders, a collective black liberation imagining centered around Immigration. #BlackFreedomBeyondBorders is a fan fiction anthology. It honors the world of Wakanda and imagines it even more whole. Through this collective imagining we seek out new strategies, tactics, and hope for transforming immigration. ************** #blackpanther #blackpantherfanart #wakandaforever #wakanda @bnplit @blacknerdproblems @blackgirlnerds @theblerdgurl @nerdsofcolor @blacktribbles @afrocomiccon @afropunk @afripolitans @theblerdvision @blerd.world (at Wakandan National Gallery - Birnin Zana) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnwcDKrB9eO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=jbnkvc1ma4fk

#blackfreedombeyondborders #blackpanther #blackpantherfanart #wakandaforever #wakanda

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