Black Panther

They’ve finally arrived!!!! Our reparations have officially started to trickle in. And no, they didn’t come in the form of 40 acres and a mule like our ancestors were promised. They didn’t even come in the form of a large check like Dave Chappelle tried to prepare us for; and I firmly believe that this hasn’t happened yet because at the time he proved to Black people that we’re not quite ready for something of that magnitude as we would spend the vast majority of it on Kool cigarettes and delinquent cell phone bills. No, they, and by "they" I mean the people who control the world (Steven Spielberg and Sting- if you can have sex for 40 hours and not cum or get tired, of course you rule the world) have first decided to empower us by giving us a true superhero that we can all believe in!

Now this happened for me decades ago when Wesley Snipes introduced the badass Blade to the world but even then I realized that he was only for a niche audience. Not all Black people can connect with a day walking vampire who hates and kills all other vampires. And who knows, maybe that’s part of the reason why we can’t overcome. If you don’t think a guy who says "Some muthaf*kas are always trying to ice skate uphill" after killing the ultimate vampire isn’t the coolest guy on the planet, then you have some serious soul searching to do.

But Black kids, Black adults, and honestly, everyone needed to see a strong, intelligent, and powerful Black superhero to not only help Black youth expand their minds and tap into the far reaches of their imaginations but to also help other cultures gain a better understanding of our viewpoint. Because sadly, having a real life Black President didn’t achieve this, he was apparently too busy sneaking into the country from Ethiopia and killing everyone with health care.

So director/co-writer Ryan Coogler knew just how important this film was. It couldn’t simply just be another cheesy addition to the Marvel universe and it sure as hell couldn’t be a low budget cousin of a Tyler Perry movie that only spoke to the lowest common denominator. This film had to be more than that. And I’m happy to say that he delivered in a major way! Heck, I felt so empowered after seeing it that for the first time ever I thought about signing up for Meet Black People dot Com just so that I could meet my Nubian queen with the hopes of taking over the world. But then a day later I met and talked to this beautiful Italian girl and I was back to my old ways. But I’m also an idiot, so this in no way reflects how the rest of our culture was affected by this film.

When making Black Panther, Coogler didn’t fall into the trap that the other Marvel movies do, which is to put so much focus on the staying true to the comics that actually coming up with a good story is almost an afterthought. With Panther, he decided to go the route of making a great film that just so happened to fit in the Marvel universe. Yes, he’s still true to the comic but the story is layered and touches on so many topics that it almost requires multiple viewings to catch it all.

In it, T’Challa is about to take his rightful place as the king of Wakanda, a hidden nation in Africa that has technology so advanced that it can change the world. But as he does so, he faces a number of challenges that would cripple the normal human being. He has to survive the challenge for his throne from a rival leader, he faces the pressure of keeping Wakanda and its resources a secret as the Black nations around him suffer, and he discovers a family betrayal that could come back to haunt him and his entire nation.

And this is where Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger comes in. Kllmonger’s role was, in part, what elevated this film to another level. I say this because he’s wasn’t just some cartoonish character who was a part of the sometimes silly Hydra Klan or even some virtual reality project that went wrong. He instead represented the frustrations, regret, and to a certain extent, the aspirations of every young Black male in America. Well, maybe not those weirdos who stand behind Trump with those Blacks for Trump signs, I don’t know where they come from. I’m still holding out hope that they’re just hired extras who are simply trying to pay the bills before being cast in the next Spike Lee film.

But anyway, yes, Killmonger is the extreme version of the Black man’s psyche. I’m not saying that Black men want to drop bombs on "Whitey" or anything ridiculous like that but wanting to pool our resources for the betterment of our people versus holding on to the little stuff that we do have is certainly a goal. The way he totally disrespected royalty whenever he addressed them encapsulated Americans general lack of respect for other cultures. And he had so many classic lines in the film; the final of which was one of the most profound lines ever spoken in cinema. I basically stood up and raised the Black Power fist after that!

But thankfully the movie wasn’t all serious as there was plenty of badass action in it! Every time Panther’s suit stored up kinetic energy and then released it to destroy SUV’s or armor covered rhinos, I nearly wet myself with excitement. And Tchula’s main bodyguard Okaye (The Walking Dead’s Danai Gurira) basically stole the show. Gurira brought Michonne’s fierceness to the big screen and made you fear her more than you did the king himself. Plus, every weapon used in the film looked really cool, especially when they controlled them using their awesome VR machines.

In the end, this film was funny, cool, and more importantly, relevant! And hopefully this raises the bar for future Marvel films as I can’t help but give it a rating of very TIGHT!