I just watched Black Panther: "Parental Discretion Advised" "SPOILER ALERT" - If you haven't seen it, DO NOT READ THIS!!

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Wakanda Forever:

Despite my reservations, I was compelled to go ahead and watch this film by a good friend of mine, as well as because of the response from the global African Diaspora community. While my original thoughts remain, in that I’d hoped something like this would be born strictly from within the community, Marvel’s decision to give much of the creative energies to those from within the community, wrapped this concept nicely into an authentic take on heroism, and on superhero films in general. It also delivered an image of being “black”, that many have never seen.

I’m not going to speak on the aspects of the character in relation to the Marvel comics, because I really don’t care, but I would like to share my interpretation of some of the symbolism and elements involved in the story, the characters, and their implications to the world we live in. In short, this film delivered! I can imagine the writer and director were under a tremendous amount of pressure trying to figure out a way to portray this story in an inclusive manner, but they did an excellent job. They even allowed America to remain a helper/hero, and partner to the fictional country of Wakanda, which makes the film somewhat palatable for some of those alternative minds out there.

My Interpretation of the Symbolisms:

There was so much symbolism in this film that it could have been titled Symbolism. Rightfully so, this was the avenue chosen to make the film inclusive for African people across the globe. I could go into detail about the way the characters dressed, the colors they wore, even the geometric shapes and patterns that were representative of a few of the historical and major civilizations on the African continent. From the Zulu headdress T’Challa’s mother wore, to the red clay on the skin and hair of one of the elders, to the lip plates in mouths of the River Tribe, a wide range of representation was covered.

The primary thing I wanted to discuss however, is the story. T’Challa and Killmonger, were cousins, like African Americans and Africans today (depending on who you ask), sharing common ancestry, and that is what the bases for the story was. It was the relationship between these two distant relatives. One thing that was interesting was that despite Killmonger’s distance from his patriarchal homeland and the throne, he still held rights to the Kingdom. This concept speaks to “homecoming” or repatriation of the African American into Africa as a birthright, and the hypothetical idea of being accepted. T’Challa was distraught with the truth that his father, T’Chaka, had turned his back on Killmonger, killing his own brother (Killmonger’s father), and leaving the child to fend for himself in America. The main premise behind the conflict T’Chaka had with his brother was because his brother believed that Wakanda should not stand by and allow black people, or any people for that matter, to be systematically oppressed etc etc. Because T’Chaka’s brother had lived in America for a time as a spy, he fell in love with an African American woman, had a child (Killmonger), and then adopted the plight of the African American people. This reminds me of the history particularly from West Africa, in that the major Kingdoms when Europeans arrived to trade, aided and promoted the sale of peripheral African tribes and people, whom they were either at war with, or simply didn’t mind selling for profit. I believe the abandonment by T’Challa of Killmonger, was symbolic of that abandonment years ago during the early periods of the slave trade, before Europeans then conquered all the kingdoms and West Africa and enslaved everybody. under 200 items to wear of the wedding

Killmonger then is obviously African Americans in the flesh. Note his obvious hip-hop style, and the fact that almost 100% of the time they showed his character, hip-hop music played, symbolic of how classical music was used to tell stories with certain instruments representing the hero, the villain, victory, destruction etc. Killmonger was also fatherless at a young age, and as a result was broken emotionally, and lost as to what his identity was. Notice when he meets his father in the spirit plain, his father tells him that his people will say he’s lost and would treat him as an outside. These are stereotypical but necessary I think to get to the point. Charged by his experience of being black in America, saddened by a sense of abandonment from Africa, and angered by violence, Killmonger sought to redeem himself by discovering his own identity, imposing his culture on Africa for a forced melding and acceptance, and seeking revenge on colonizers past and present. T’Challa would naturally be more laid back due to not experiencing the same psychological trauma as Killmonger had.

My favorite part of the movie was when Killmonger and T’Challa first fought each other in the ceremonious duel. If you are familiar with Zulu culture and history, I believe this scene and much of Killmonger’s character (though representative of African American’s), was fashioned off of Chaka Zulu (Shaka). Shaka, the famed Zulu King was abandoned by his father because he was born illegitimately. His father’s thrown skipped him to then one of his half-brothers. He later returns, kills some of his own family, and claims his father’s thrown. One of the things Shaka is most known for is how he revolutionized combat in South Africa. Besides his military maneuvers, Shaka took the traditional long throwing spear prevalent to the region, and broke the shaft in half, making it more effective for close range combat. That adaptation of that weapon along with everything else Shaka, set the stage for him to claim his Kingdom, and Killmonger did exactly that.

In the end, T’Challa and Wakanda’s stance on their position in the world was shaken to its core by the knowledge of and interaction with their family across the water. Though it ended in death, the two parties reconciled, with the African finally giving the African America an opportunity to see his “HOME”, and by understanding his plight, and adopting it into their psyche. Basically, the two became one, balanced African representative of the Diaspora, because they were both extreme on different ends of the spectrum beforehand. When Killmonger was dying, he requested to be buried in the ocean, like those who jumped to their death from slave ships, as they understood death was a better house, than a house of chains. I believe this is symbolic as T’Challa says we can save you, but Killmonger chooses death, but represents the two ideological perspectives becoming one. This then leads T’Challa to return to the scene of where Killmonger was made, and purchase the buildings in the poor black neighborhood, to start the first Wakandan outreach centers. That location was in Oakland CA, also the birthplace of the Black Panther Party of the 1960’s.

I didn’t address the woman in this post (or the other 60% of the story) because it’s probably the longest post I’ve written, and I write long posts all the time, but I guess I will write about that another time or maybe in the comments if people get this far and even care to conversate. In any case, if this film is any indication of the future of the African Diaspora, and their relationship with each other, and the world around them, I’d say mufakas better watch out because shit is about to change.

Wakada foeva mufukas.