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Ruben Genao: ‘Black Panther’ Is Not the Movie We Deserve

Posted by Ruben Genao on

“‘Black Panther’ is Not the Movie We Deserve” by Christopher Lebron covers the positives and negatives of the movie the black panther. One con mentioned in the article is the portrayal of warmonger as a villain in the movie. This brings us to the backstory of his father N’Jobu who set off on a conquest to get vibranium to arm black people around the world after he saw how black people were discriminated against, he was then assassinated leaving warmonger as a poor orphan. Warmonger wants to follow the footsteps of his father in eliminating discrimination but he is eventually killed in the movie too. According to Lebron ” This is precisely N’Jobu’s problem. In the United States, he learns of the racism black Americans face, including mass incarceration and police brutality. He soon understands that his people have the power to help all black people, and he plots to develop weapons using vibranium to even the odds for black Americans.” (Lebron). Villainizing a character that works for equality is one of the major downsides of the movie. One pro discussed in the movie is the portrayal of the black women in the movie as courageous, smart, independent etc. Lebron states “They are the film’s brightest spot: the black women of Wakandan descent are uniformly independent, strong, courageous, brilliant, inventive, resourceful, and ethically determined. I take it that a good deal of this is owed to Ta-Nehisi Coates’s success at elevating the series’ women to central characters with influence and power that turns more on their minds and integrity than their bodies.” One quote that interested me was when LeBron stated: “Even in a comic-book movie, black American men are relegated to the lowest rung of political regard.” after analyzing the movie further I noticed that this quote holds true since the hero is a white man that works in the CIA. This hero almost supports the idea that white men are at the top and solve the problems of the lesser people.

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Ruben Genao

https://engl21001.commons.gc.cuny.edu/author/rubengenao/

Comments ( 4 )

  1. Michelle Ortiz
    I also found the quote “Even in a comic-book movie, black American men are relegated to the lowest rung of political regard,” to be interesting. I feel like based on reading this article, the movie 'Black Panther' fails at depicting back American men. Christopher Lebron definitely feels that it is despicable that this movie fails to acknowledge African Americans. Even in an imaginary world this society fails to recognize the significance of black American men. I think you did a great job analyzing this main idea of the article.
  2. jenncy mejia
    I feel like you are misinterpreting the reason N'jobu was killed, he had good intentions but he was not killed over his intentions but over his plan to arm blacks with powerful weapons to end discrimination. His intentions were good but his plan was not, hs plan was psychotic, he was angered by the racism and wanted to ignite a genocide against whites.
  3. Christopher Collaguazo
    I was intrigued on your analyzation of the main idea of this article. When you talk about how American men are mostly portrayed as the " hero " of the movie, I also found this interesting. Since, I personally did not watch this movie I never really knew about this white CIA guy and how he saved the people from Wakanda. I feel like in this movie Black Panther, the portrayal of African Americans was not appropriate since the intention of the ones who were seen as "villains" was just to help liberate black people from the dreadful treatment they go through.
  4. Ali Husain
    I agree with Christopher that the movie Black panther and the portrayal of African Americans was not appropriate. I agree because I felt not only were they seen as "villains" but as people who are low. What I mean is that they show that the African Americans are lower on the social scale that the white man. I also like that you Incorporated that the "black women in the movie as courageous, smart, independent etc.". I also feel like that was the one part where the movie did good. Despite all the movies flaws this is showing women in a way that most movies don't. Lastly, the person's name is Killmonger not warmonger.

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