There's also what Janus posted and then deleted after I had replied to it, which was "Storm's the only african-american representation I need!"
Is Black Panther actually insulting? A Chinese review
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There's also what Janus posted and then deleted after I had replied to it, which was "Storm's the only african-american representation I need!"
Stop: Stop
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stop
This thing where you randomly show up to harass Fivemarks needs to end. Eat an infraction and stop doing it.
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Am I the only pissed off this thread exists, let alone has six pages? I find an idea of a Chinese guy trying to dictate what is and isn't offensive for Africans and African-Americans stupid, especially in wake of how insanely popular with both groups the movie was. It's like a British guy telling us what should and shouldn't be offensive to Polish, even if he is right I, as a Polish person, would rather an actual Polish critic to voice these complaints that some concern troll.
Yeah, but to be fair most of this thread is people disagreeing with the OP, so...
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Like there's an argument to be made that Wakanda sucks and it's "primitive aesthetic overlaying hyper-advanced technology" thing makes no sense but I can't imagine any version of that argument doesn't apply equally to well Asgard. Like there's a consistent pattern in the marvel cinematic universe that regardless of the powers or technology all fights restricted to pistol range at maximum and almost always devolve into melee. Once we've accepted the unfrozen WWII super-soldier fights by punching people and hitting them with his shield, the alien god uses a hammer, and the wizards know kung-fu I think we can just let the Afrofuturistic Zulu warriors pass without comment.
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There's a suspiciously large part of pop culture that has trouble suspending their disbelief if it involves accepting women or minorities as powerful actors. White dudes tend to not get such scrutiny.
I would be delighted if they made a Hollywood movie about Sikhs because then at least Americans would stop harassing Sikhs because they think we are Muslims( which is also wrong btw) I mean at least the average racist asshole would have to think of at least a few more minutes before harassing some Sikh so they can think of accurate insults. they might even research our culture and if because of this movie even a single person has a better life then I would be happy.
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No. He's America. His whole plot is that he's gonna impose Imperialism on the rest of the world for its own good. He's a mirror not only of T'Challa but of the audience. An Ex-US special forces operative whose job it is to do imperialism across the world, and now sees Wakanda through only the lens of that corrupt imperialism.
What he is thematically is the idea that imperialism is a natural result of strength. Wakanda is the strongest in the world, so under Killmonger, it will do what the West does. Impose its will.
Many of the people who find vibranium spears dropped through their rooves may be bad people, but they'll still be people.
Kokurokoki
"IDW DA NYA!"
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The Imperium of Man.
"We can create multi-kilometer starships with weapons that can wipe out continents and plasma bombs and FTL travel but make sure you pray to them every day and perform 8-hour rituals with incense and magic words so that they don't turn evil or break down on you."
Like I never really got this criticism from Black Panther. What's wrong with preserving tradition along with technological advancement? If anything I got similar vibes to Monster Hunter where their society has created airships and modern-ish artillery cannons and all sorts of cool magi-tech stuff but they still respect and preserve the traditions of their society to the point that violation of these traditions is considered to be punishable by death. Like I can understand if the execution is not done well but most of the criticism seems to attack the concept itself which I find ludicrous because plenty of sci-fi does this and most people don't complain.
Because it's being done by Non White non East Asian people.
It's pretty clear from the shock when T'Challa is challenged that there's a significant political aspect to the whole affair, and most of the time what actually happens is that before the challenge occurs anyone who is eligible to make a challenge is generally bought off via policy or other concessions or simple personal respect.
Other people have talked about the issues with the BLM comparison and why it's not actually a good or useful comparison so I'm not going to repeat those. But I do want to take issue with your suggestions that Killmonger only got where he was because of 'luck.'
Killmonger wasn't 'lucky' in the sense you're using it, which is to imply that he basically blundered into nearly blowing up the world. He was clearly aware of Wakanda, his father had told him extensively about Wakandan culture and society, and he knew what the fuck he was doing. Like, the movie makes it very clear that he is smart, dangerous, and very very good at his job-which is destroying people and societies. The movie makes it clear that he sought out those skills from a young age because he was planning for literally his entire life to go to Wakanda and destroy it, then use its remains to destroy the system that exists outside. And he literally saw how far Wakanda would go to preserve its secrets, firsthand, when his father was killed in front of him. So you know, he might kind of have had pretty good reason to believe that he would be heard out if he gave them Klaue's corpse.
The reason the reveal is that the narration at the start about Wakanda was what Killmonger was hearing ties it together. Killmonger knows about Wakanda, he knows a lot about it and blames it for letting his people suffer for centuries, he is using the knowledge to destroy Wakanda and possibly destroy the world, and he's not entirely wrong to blame Wakanda, but his judgment will come at an unacceptable human cost.
Also, T'Challa spends a lot of time trying to take Erik off the path of revenge, so it's not like his Civil War character development was ignored.
BTW: I like how you treat T'Challa as a 'wet noodle' when the two guys he takes on and actually struggles with are a fucking mountain of a man who is really really good at fighting and Erik "I literally killed so many people in combat that my entire fucking torso is an extended kill tattoo" Killmonger. And it's implied that the first fight with Erik was lost in part because he wasn't willing to kill a relative in cold blood and wanted to talk him down the path that seeking vengeance nearly sent him to.
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I don't want to dogpile you, but I'd like to address this in particular.
Ass backwards political traditions in real life include things like the age restrictions on eligibility for political office in the US(25 for Representatives, 30 for Senate, 35 for president or vice). It includes the whole use of electors to determine the formal electoral college count. And the partisan election of state judges and law enforcement officers, with them soliciting campaign donations.
The ability of many governors to appoint federal senators by fiat in the event that the seat is vacated to fill out the rest of the term. Or for a man to become first vice president, then president, without ever having to run for a presidential election within a year of accession.
And that's just the United States.
Let's not go into the details of the UK, which does not even have a formal written constitution.
The idea that modern or futuristic societies are devoid of legacy code is disproven in real life every single day.
That a fantasy billionaire is allowed to operate a set of personal weapon platforms with the firepower of a B52 squadron out of his personal mansion, and occasionally, the middle of New York City is significantly more incredible than having a small nation with a rarely used challenge mechanism for it's head of state.
And as for vibranium being a Do-Anything element, you might want to take a look at how central carbon compounds are to modern technological civilization, from coal to petrochemicals to composites.
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The "anyone can become king," thing is wrong. Anyone who is part of the royal family of the five ruling tribes can become king- technically speaking, though considering the surprise when a challenger showed up, it strongly suggest for the most part it's fairly ceremonial and potential challengers are little problem as long as the king has support of the four tribes, and the Jabari don't come down (which they mostly seemed inclined to do in the past, the modernization shaking things up).
And make no mistake, it wasn't purely N'Jadaka's birth and role of nephew of the prior king that made that possible, but also the support of the Border Tribe which had been itching for an excuse to flex it's muscles. Without W'Kabi's backing he could not have done much.
And make no mistake, it wasn't purely N'Jadaka's birth and role of nephew of the prior king that made that possible, but also the support of the Border Tribe which had been itching for an excuse to flex it's muscles. Without W'Kabi's backing he could not have done much.
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It's not even implied, it's explicit. T'Challa knocks down Killmonger and absolutely could have seriously injured him, but asks Erik to yield. Only after that does Erik get the upper hand.
Killmonger was looking to kill T'Challa (after breaking him a bit first). T'Challa was trying to reason with him and wasn't as motivated in a sense (whereas Killmonger had been preparing his whole life to kill Black Panther).
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I can see where the review is coming from: when you're supposed to have what were once the foremost civilizations in history, it can feel insulting for outsiders to pull out a "act backward while having a highly advanced bubble." It's something you see a lot in East Asia.
Unfortunately, that is cultural hubris, and not a healthy way of thinking.
Unfortunately, that is cultural hubris, and not a healthy way of thinking.