*GASP*

I said Black Panther was racist! That’s the most racist thing ever! I must hate black people!

Well, let’s back up and talk about the good stuff first, the I’ll get into how the movie treated white people and what I think of that.

Nakia was driving barefoot in a car chase.

 

Shuri was 99% awesome throughout the whole movie: a geeky young woman using her genius in so many different ways, fabulous in he roles as both little sister and “the guy in the chair,” not to mention she had an attitude problem, which I can always appreciate.

Super cool special effects, as always. They’re not called “Marvel” movies for no reason!

M’Baku and the Jabari were really fascinating. They always showed up unexpectedly, behaved unexpectedly, and overall were Just Creepy Enough. There was plenty of tension in every interaction between them and the rest of the Wakandans, but they turned out to be mostly-good-guys, in kind of a Han Solo sort of way. Kinda sorta. It’s my understanding that in the comics, he was definitely a villain; I think I prefer the MCU anti-hero version. I love a good anti-hero.

One of the most common positives I hear about this movie is that nearly the entire cast is black. For a story about African people in an African country that takes place primarily in Africa, I agree that an African-appearing cast is part of a very good foundation, and does indeed stand out because it isn’t done often – certainly not in movies this big. There seem to be a lot more films about white people in Africa, and I like this logical change-of-pace.

Some other random thoughts:

1. I’m not sure how I feel about Martin Freeman playing an American, or even a Hobbit; he’s a very good Dr. Watson, but maybe he should get more time in that role and less in others.

2. If you’re going to choose two separate languages to be spoken in a single (small) country, maybe they should be more closely related than Xhosa and Igbo? I think two different Bantu languages would be reasonable. Sidenote: Xhosa is fun to say, although I know I can’t differentiate between their SIX(!?) lateral click consonants.

Now onward, to the part where I offend people.

Shuri’s 1% non-awesomeness included when she called Agent Ross a “colonizer.” He wasn’t personally involved in any colonization, nor was any other living white person. I find the term incredibly offensive in any modern context, and I think so do most other reasonable white people. Picking a noun to use for just anyone of a particular color or heritage regardless of whether or not it’s applicable is racist. Also, statements like, “all white people are racist” are very racist. Or, “all black people are oppressed” (especially, “oppressed by white people”), which unfortunately was a bit of a theme in this movie…

“Hang on!” I hear you say. “Reverse racism doesn’t exist because there has never been systematic oppression of white people!”

Well, that’s a nice excuse. But racism isn’t about actions; it’s about attitudes. Attitudes lead to actions, not the other way around. So to that I say, shut up and stop judging people based on their skin color or ethnicity – being discriminated against doesn’t give you the right to discriminate, or to be a jerk in any way.

White people can be racist. Black people can be racist. Asian people can be racist. American Indian people can be racist. People can be, and often are, racist, because people are inherently self-centered and prideful. (Why does no one ever talk about the Asians? Another post, for a much later date…)

But very rarely, if ever, is a single character trait or thought process (positive or negative) universal in a given population; whereas every sin is probably represented somewhere in every group.

Back to the movie.

I have no idea who Ryan Coogler is, nor Joe Robert Cole, and maybe it should have stayed that way. The plot “development” was, uh, awkward at times, as well as some of the lines when they were trying to make a point. {{Okay, I’ve looked them up. JRC is nobody. Coogler also wrote Fruitvale Station (saw it, mixed feelings, but overall I thought it was well done) and Creed (which I unfortunately didn’t see).}}

Anyway, there was one statement that went something like, “Didn’t all of humanity start on this continent? So isn’t every people your people?” And that promotes your agenda of putting vibranium weapons into the hands of the “oppressed” so they can fight their “oppressors”…how, exactly?? And then another one approximating, “Just bury me in the ocean, with my ancestors who jumped from ships because they knew that death was better than bondage,” which is technically fine since the guy’s mother was African American, so he certainly had some ancestors who were slaves and other relatives of previous generations who committed suicide between Africa and the New World, but the entire story has centered around his Wakandan father, and ain’t no slave ancestors on that side of his family! So it just came across really weird.

And I’m still unclear on how T’Challa went from wanting to continue to hide Wakanda, for its protection, at all costs to wanting to share the vibranium with the world. What motivated him to change his mind? What role did his cousin play in it, or that other guy who took the side of the cousin over T’Challa? Did we ever get Nakia’s or Shuri’s or Okoye’s perspective on this? What actually happened to convince him that someone else needed the help of Wakanda more than Wakanda needed to keep their natural resource and its technological applications a secret? In that way, they kinda failed at rule #1 of writing: Don’t tell, SHOW.

Overall, though, I enjoyed it. When it gets to a $2 theater (which I think is $2.50 per ticket now), I’ll go see it again, and maybe be able to make more sense of some things or pick out additional tidbits. And you know, it’ll be really interesting to see how the knowledge of vibranium becoming universal impacts world events leading up to, and in, Infinity War.

~ On that note, Mosslet, please stay put until after I see Infinity War. ‘Kay? Love you. ~

Umm, what’s next? Oh, yeah. The after-credits scene.

*FANGIRL SQUEAL*

That is all.