What is the Message of this movie? - Black Panther (2018) Discussion

[–] Buttholio (198) 6 years ago

A racially exclusive xenophobic ethnostate is cool if you're black but if you're white it makes you a Nazi. And armored war rhinos are awesome.

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[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

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[–] Buttholio (198) 6 years ago

Why would you fear black people if you were me? That doesn't really make sense.

Actually the main thing the "Nazis" wanted to do was extricate themselves from the corrupt world banking system that was destroying their country so in a way, they were after seclusion too.

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[–] MadamShogun (236) 6 years ago

What i got from it is that exclusion/isolationism is BAD, Buttholio is just making shit up...

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[–] NorrinRad (5090) 6 years ago

"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility", Nuff Said!

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[–] DracTarashV2 (4477) 6 years ago

Ryan Coogler on the film’s central theme: “responsibility and identity.”

Just know it’s not whatever these alt-right hos claim it is. Btw, screw you capitalist. :)

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[–] furiousstyles (4363) 6 years ago

always bet on black

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[–] Londonbridge115 (47) 6 years ago

The film highlights the schism between Africans and African-Americans and blacks from all over the diaspora. The relationship between the two has always been complicated. Because of slavery, African-Americans were stripped of their heritage and have no solid connection with Africa. Sometimes we (African-Americans) are considered “outsiders” by Africans even though we are technically the same people. Killmonger’s character represents blacks in America; he’s cheated out of his rightful heritage and abandoned in America. He is angry, and his anger represents most of what black Americans feel. Throughout the film he is called an outsider, not welcome. In the scene with his father in the ancestral plane, his father says the people in Wakanda will say he is “lost”.

This is why many African-Americans will identify with Killmonger’s character more so than T’challa. Chadwick Boseman himself said he identifies more with Killmonger and that T’challa is the true villain:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2018/2/28/17063218/chadwick-boseman-tchalla-enemy-black-panther

Throughout the film, everything Killmonger says is right but his methods are wrong. T’challa realizes this by the end of the movie by going back to Oakland and supporting other African-Americans in need because no matter how separated that are...they are his people too.

There’s more levels to this film but I think I’ve gotten to the core. There’s many articles explaining the message online but I’ll post a good article the explains it pretty well:

https://shadowandact.com/erik-killmonger-forgotten-wakanda

For those not wanting to read:

https://www.facebook.com/ScreenJunkies/videos/10156090108587403/

I hope that helps.

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[–] fleischwolf (294) 6 years ago

Why are you angry? Be glad that you live in America instead of Africa.

But there's always Liberia, given to African Americans as their own country. Awesome place to live.

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[–] Duck6 (425) 6 years ago

You are the only person around here who legitimately seems angry

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[–] fleischwolf (294) 6 years ago

I'm not angry, I just don't understand how you can be angry that you live in a developed country instead of a a Third World shithole.

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[–] Londonbridge115 (47) 6 years ago

Wow.

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[–] filmtenk (765) 6 years ago

Yeah our role models suck now.

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[–] Duck6 (425) 6 years ago

Good summary, thanks

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[–] Burk48917 (11075) 6 years ago

I don't think most modern Americans have ties to there ancestral heritage. I think the term African-American is the problem. If we all used Italian, German, Japanese, etc as a prefix before our name,it seems very dividing. We are ALL Americans,and except for native Americans,we all came from somewhere else. Let's try and just be people. We need to quit trying to separate ourselves,while at the same time complaining that we aren't treated the same. It's a paradox to hope to achieve both.

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[–] Londonbridge115 (47) 6 years ago

I understand what you’re saying here, and you’re not wrong; but it’s a bit different when you don’t even know WHERE your ancestors came from. There’s a huge difference between an Italian-American who knows exactly where their roots reside and where to go tofind them and an African-American who has absolutely no where to trace back. It’s an incomplete sense of identity that I’m afraid one wouldn’t understand if not in our shoes.

The advantage Killmonger has in the film is that he actually has that piece of information whereas most of us in reality do not.

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[–] Duck6 (425) 6 years ago

I would argue that this is a non-issue as a "white" person who has no idea of what my heritage is. If your argument is that somehow not knowing where your ancestors are from affects you negatively, I can speak from personal experience in saying that it doesn't affect me one way or another. I don't know anyone beyond my grandparents, and they were born away from their ancestoral land. I'm probably some mix of different European people. The only thing that concerns me is that my lack of skin pigment isn't suited for the climate in which I now live.

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[–] Londonbridge115 (47) 6 years ago

I see. I guess it differs from person to person but I definitely have an issue with it.

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[–] Duck6 (425) 6 years ago

Maybe it has something to do with your race defining you more than mine, due to social influences. Like, I don't think of myself as white or anything i'm just a person. I think non-white people are definitely more conscious of their race which is why you might think more about your heritage. And I honestly don't think whites thinking of themselves as the "default" race is necessarily a racist idea since we live in majority white countries with whites being the majority representation in the media. It is definitely unfortunate that non-whites are forced to be more conscious of things they can't control, but i think the perception that it is due to "racism" is flawed (not saying this is what you're saying but it is the common perception)

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[–] FilmBuff (6759) 6 years ago

This is a much more interesting discussion than a lot of what's going on on this board. I think one of the biggest challenges America has always faced has been the lack of an American culture or identity. We're all immigrants, and we all bring our home country with us. Over time, new generations gradually lose the ties to the old world, and blend into a homogenous mix that is the ever-changing American culture. Even then, it's not easy, because it's forever a work in progress as new immigrants arrive and introduce their cultures into ours.

You represent the later stages of this. You know that your great-grandparents, or maybe relatives even farther removed, came from Europe, but not much more. You're solidly ensconced in America. Meanwhile, other Americans were born elsewhere and are deeply steeped in their old world culture. No other country has this dynamic, and it makes things very challenging at times.

I don't really have much of a point here, other than to say this is interesting and something worth talking about.

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[–] Duck6 (425) 6 years ago

Actually i'm Australian but our culture is very similar in many ways. Probably the biggest difference is our "African-Australians" are mostly immigrants or children of immigrants, so they are very much African people as compared with African-Americas who are more American than African.

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[–] Londonbridge115 (47) 6 years ago

I totally agree with everything you said. Also is it sad that I’m not surprised you aren’t American? Our conversation and your responses were too civil. Lol!

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[–] NorrinRad (5090) 6 years ago

I don't think most modern Americans have ties to there ancestral heritage. I think the term African-American is the problem. If we all used Italian, German, Japanese, etc as a prefix before our name,it seems very dividing.

You would be thinking wrong but as an opinion goes you are entitled to it. Hyphenating a name doesn't cause one to be more or less an American. It may seem very dividing to you probably because you choose to see it as divisive.

Hyphenation does not define how one is treated unless you are a person who demonizes the use of identity. Americans come in all shapes, sizes, backgrounds, religions, ages, etc. All of those aspects and attributes are what creates Americans as a unique experiment in collective identity on this planet.

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[–] Starman (412) 6 years ago

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[–] filmtenk (765) 6 years ago

And honestly heritage and culture are overrated. I can be proud of my own culture but I’ll keep it to myself. Only the future matters. Maybe America needs their culture house to burn down so we can be without cultural possessions and start fresh.

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[–] NorrinRad (5090) 6 years ago

And honestly heritage and culture are overrated. I can be proud of my own culture but I’ll keep it to myself. Only the future matters. Maybe America needs their culture house to burn down so we can be without cultural possessions and start fresh.

Interesting take on Culture and Heritage.

I'm not sure I understand why culture and heritage are rated and/or overrated. Not even sure what that means.

Two things: (1) For many that have been stripped of their heritage/cultural identity, they didn't get the choice or option to decide if they can live with or without that connection.

(2) Culture and Heritage have their own intrinsic value to most societies and economies of the world and can be a currency for learning and growing.

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