What happens when black people are allowed to thrive?
Black panther was an experience.
Not only was it a fun superhero movie, it was also a social commentary, it was also
a demonstration of the power of black women, it was also black excellence and opulence
on display, the riches abound.
It was so refreshing to see.
And it also makes a statement about why that black utopia is out of reach, and what the
pitfall, what that perilous flaw in the black community is really about.
OPEN
Hey, it's ya girl Ahsante helping you move consciously and creatively through life, so
lets go.
Let me start this review off by saying that I am not a superhero aficionado.
I didn't know what MCU stood for I had to google it.
And I actually don't know much about the details of the superhero universes.
But you know I am too Black and proud to not take my butt to the theater, putting my money
where my mouth is, ok.
I have a few points I want to make about this movie but first I want to just bask in what
I thought was glorious about it.
And don't worry this first part of the review is spoiler-free, I will let you know when
the spoilers are coming, not yet.
The movie was chock-full of those classic conflicts of legal duty vs. moral duty.
War vs. peace, revenge vs. reconciliation, all that good stuff.
I also love that this was a story for us, by us, about us.
Black ensemble, black lead, black villain, black director, black writer, blackity black
black.
And of course from a representation standpoint it's phenomenal to see a cast of strong black
characters, not dependent on white people, not subjected by white people.
So often when you have movies that star black people it's about how poor and sad and tragic
their lives are, aww isn't it sad.
But this is not a black sorrow movie, not a movie about being so many years a slave,
not a movie where *song* nobody knows the trouble I've seen.
Nah, we get some black joy and black love and black power in this movie hello.
The actors were amazing
The sets - amazing
The costume designs - lit, I mean gorgeous just the layering, the colors the adornment,
the attention to detail
I see you production designer Hannah Beachler and costume designer Ruth Carter - get it
going, what's good
I also have to shout out to Shuri, and the advances that occur when black women thrive.
Shuri is Black Panther's sister, princess of Wakanda,
and I love that she is the technological genius, not just behind the black panther, but behind
all of wakanda.
Like yes I designed this entire transportation system.
Yes I designed this virtual driving system.
Yes I know you think these beads are fine but I'm actually going to improve them and
just because somethings works well now doesn't mean it can't be better - yes black excellence!
I love the theme that sometimes it's better to be underestimated.
I'll just be over here putting in work and receiving my blessings, and I don't have
to brag about it.
I'll just be over here killing the game don't you worry about it.
I'm just minding my own business.
That is how I roll a lot of the time.
I love the nod to stolen African artifacts that hang in British and American collections
-
yup, did a unit on that during my art history days.
I was like - accurate!
I will also say that there are some valid criticisms to the film.
One was the lack of humor, and I agree that while there was more humor towards the beginning
and there were a couple of funny moments, the movie is by a large pretty serious in
tone.
And another things some folks are saying is that the Black Panther himself isn't super
interesting as a character as far as his motivations and doesn't go through much character development,
which is debatable and you have to ask yourself how his compares to other superhero's backstories,
but I think any simplicity in Black Panther's character just leaves room for a complex statement
being made overall,
it leaves room to reflect on the world of Wakanda and it's flaws, which I'll get
to in a bit.
And it leaves room for the women to shine, which I'm not mad about.
But I do think that the main draw of the film is the representation,
having strong leading black characters, strong black women warriors, having a celebration
of African inspired culture, giving people a sense of pride, and I think that is incredibly
valuable, in and of itself.
So overall I loved it, but let's go a little deeper.
There is a lot to get into with this movie, and yes this going to get into some analysis
so there will be spoilers ahead, be forewarned.
If you don't want spoilers stop here and skip to this part of the video - timecode
in the description.
Do doody do do.
Ok, so.
There are two overarching things I want to touch on as lessons from this film, and the
first is the role that emotions and empathy play in leadership.
By Wakanda's rules, the only thing that someone has to do to become black panther
is win a fight.
There's no council of elders has to vote, there are no other tests of mental agility
or strategy or moral compass, there's nothing about needing to be raised in Wakanda, .
It's just who's up to challenge - can you win the fight.
The problem comes when another character is a better fighter, but not a better king - that's
the point.
The film points out the flaw in traditional thought, and here it's literally Wakandan
tradition, that prowess and might make you the best leader.
Instead, the side that wins in the end values empathy, and reverence, and intelligence,
and consideration.
In the end, the problem is not solved by the biggest dude, or the toughest dude.
T'challa is someone who shows his emotion and his love for his family, and for his country.
And during their challenge, Killmonger tries to frame this emotion as weakness,
but in the end T'challa comes out on top, and his emotions don't make him any less
strong, any less of a man, of a king, of a black panther.
He is connected to his emotions in a healthy way that allows him to have his priorities
straight.
And T'challa even in his victory was merciful and offered to save Killmonger.
In T'challa's challenge with the White Gorilla he pushed him to yield, rather than
simply focusing on defeat.
This is exemplary leadership, in the film's eyes.
Even when you talk about the black panther's powers, they gear towards someone who is merciful
and empathetic.
The power of the black panther and the heart shaped herb is to heal, which is something
done out of love.
His suit is not made for attack, it's made for defense.
His suit absorbs the kinetic energy that someone else is trying to use against him, and uses
that same force to repel the attacker.
The powers are made for a man who is a protector, not an aggressor.
This movie flips gender norms not only in showing a leading man who is very connected
to his emotions, but also in showing some strong, powerful, warrior women.
The kings body guards were all women.
The person who's known as the fiercest warrior in the land, is a woman.
The people who do a lot of driving the plot forward are women.
They're the ones with strong moral compass who take up arms against Killmonger as he
takes the throne.
This is some literally kickass representation.
And there's this great moment in the all out fight - which is pretty much boys vs.
girls, blue vs. pink, like we a little bit went back to kindergarten if kindergarten
was a fight to the death.
Oyoke, who leads the women warriors is like I have the strength, and I have the sensitivity,
your rhino will yield because he loves me let me get them licks - but I will kill you
for my country.
And then my boy has to yield.
My boy has to yield.
Love conquers all.
All you need is love - babananana
The second overarching lesson of the film is that without recognizing and reconciling
our history, we will never be able to move forward.
I thought one of the most striking parts of the film was where we've already seen T'challa
go back to his past before taking the throne
we saw his father as one of the panther ancestors come down from his big family tree, and they
were in this vast African landscape.
And then we see Killmonger go back to his past, and he's back to the same apartment
we that saw earlier, that's all he has.
And the only person there is his dad.
And I was like - oh!
No mythical landscape for him?
What does Killmonger imagine that his past is like?
What he has in his past is not vast and wide it's this limited landscape with 1 ancestor.
By the way, where is this boy's momma?
And I see this as a metaphor for the heritage that Black Americans have access to, as opposed
to the heritage Black people from the continent can access.
As a Black American descendant of slaves, I don't have the same huge family tree,
I have the bit of it that's in America.
And that's all that Killmonger knows.
And he is unable to go back and reconcile his history, so he is unable to move forward.
Not only can he not see any of his ancestors, where is this boy's mother by the way.
But he can't reconcile the trauma of his father's death.
He's unable to forgive the sins of his ancestors, and therefore he cannot move on.
He is stuck in that moment, and he is stuck in an attitude of vengeance.
And you could make the connection between Black Panther killing his brother in America
while abandoning his American nephew
and Powerful Africans during the transatlantic slave trade selling their less powerful African
brothers into slavery leaving them fatherless to fend for themselves in America - you could
make that connection.
And Killmonger represents a lot of that unresolved resentment and trauma - taken to the extreme
of course.
But for Americans, it makes the point that until we fully acknowledge and condemn and
reconcile the sins of slavery and segregation and ghettoization all it's repercussions
in our past -
which some people still can't even acknowledge and condemn today.
Until we reconcile that, we won't be able to move forward.
I think it speaks volumes that the movie starts with the ghetto, the first frame is of the
make-shift basketball hoop, that's where this conflict all stems from.
And the film ends with the ghetto - with T'challa bringing in technology and innovation and
wanting to give back to this community and build it up, that is the ending solution.
T'challa is also unable to move forward without first going back.
Not only in the tradition of someone having to go back to their past before they ascend
to the throne,
but also before T'challa is revived and given this second chance, he goes back to
that mythical family tree and confronts his father about his sin.
T'challa has to go back and reconcile this problem that his father has caused, before
he can move forward, defeat Killmonger, and rule his country.
I think it's interesting that in the movie, we are our own villains.
Which on the one hand will happen if you're making it a black ensemble cast, the bad guys
will also be black,
but on the other hand it makes a point.
Yes you will have the white folks like Claw who are trying to come in and rob us of our
resources.
Yes you will have the white folks like Mr. CIA who think they know so much and need to
be schooled.
"I made this plane American standard for you sweety I'll walk you through this"
But we also have this inner turmoil.
And more specifically we are fighting against the legacy of colonization and slavery and
generational trauma that we have been subjected to, that Killmonger represents.
And the pitfalls of that black Utopia of Wakanda was in it's prior failure to reconcile those
issues of the past.
And there have always been disagreements within the black community about how to address those
things.
Do we go out and fight fire with fire, take an eye for an eye.
Or do we practice non violence and try to go about things more diplomatically.
Do we go with the mentality of everyone has to pick themselves up by their bootstraps
and work with what they have.
Or should we always be pushing for more, more opportunities and more access, and do the
talented tenth have a responsibility to push the rest of the race forward.
Aaaaand welcome back for my non-spoiler crew, you're in the right place.
But that's a lot of what Wakanda is struggling with.
Should black excellence be responsible for uplifting black people world-wide?
Should we handle black progress through violence or through laws and agreements.
And it's also struggling with what a lot of developed nations struggle with - isolationism
vs. intervention.
What right does Wakanda have to meddle in the affairs of other countries, especially
as people who's brethren have been so affected by colonization and meddling by predominately
white countries.
That along with ideas of looking back in order to move forward, and the role of emotions
and empathy in leadership, were some of the big themes I took away from the movie.
Other than the fact that black people are amazing, powerful, regal, and brilliant.
If you're new here and you're interested in social awareness, culture, and personal
development, then you should subscribe to get new videos from me every week.
And if you're into real life black panthers and black activists, then you should check
out my last video on Lorraine Hansberry who was more of an activist then you probably
realized.
And I mean, you want to talk about positive representation for Black Folks, you gotta
talk about her.
Big thanks to my patreon patrons, you all are so important in helping me to grow and
sustain this channel.
In the comments, let me know what you thought of Black Panther, because I know you went
to see it.
Oh I know you're not just going to skip out on Black Panther like that.
Even if you haven't seen it yet, I hope you enjoyed this review, but seriously go
see it.
As always, remember to live spiritedly and think creatively, and I will see you next
time.
What's making me happy this week is the fact that Black Panther is shattering all these
box office records!
Yahs!
It's important that this movie does well because then they'll make more movies like it, and
it will show that a Black ensemble cast can really succeed.
So, at this rate there'll be a Black Panther 8 which I'm excited about.
And also making me happy this week was the fact that I got a nice long 3 day weekend
for President's Day, so that was nice.
Welp, I'm going to go keep rooting for everybody Black, I'll be right back!
To find a job is like a haystack needle.
Cause where he lives, they don't use colored people.
Living just enough, just enough for the city.
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