I know there has been a bunch of hoo-ha on social media lately and there have been people on both sides saying why Black Panther is important and why it isn't. Well, opinionated citizens of the United States, I'm going to tell you what I think.
Black Panther IS important. Not because it's a primarily black cast. (Though, that's really cool in 2018). Not because of the soundtrack. (Shoutout to Kendrick Lamar) But because of some of the messages in the film. For example, when Killmonger was talking to the lady in the museum. She tried to convince him that the artifact was of the Fula tribe of Africa. His response? Oh, yeah it made everyone and their moms go...
He clapped back with, "nah, it was taken by British soldiers in Benin, but it's from Wakanda and it's made out of Vibranium." To say the least, the British museum lady was shook. When he said he wanted to buy the artifact she told him that it wasn't for sale. His final response? "How do you think your ancestors got these? Do you think they paid a fair price? Or did they TAKE IT like they took everything else?"
Now we can touch on the fact that it is a predominantly black cast. Not just any set of black people though. They have the young, popular, and good-looking black people. Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, Lupita N'yong'o, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya (he made it out of the sunken place), Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and more. The movie isn't about just African-Americans but also Africans themselves.
Also, the roles that women play in this movie. They are powerful, badass queens. Lupita, Danai, and Angela are always in those roles, though, in every movie or show they are cast in. We know Danai from The Walking Dead. A lot of us know Angela from a plethora of works but most recently, as a take-no-mess cop on "9-1-1". Lupita is just great all around, man.
This movie is important in ways that a lot of people don't understand. So don't bash my friends for throwing on the dashikis and headwraps because they didn't bash you when you dressed as Princess Leia, Skywalker, and Darth Vadar when Star Wars came out. Come on, leave it be. Wakanda forever.
