Black Panther

I just realized why my first viewing of Marvel's Black Panther was, "meh".

It was from all of the reviews by conservatives who see SJW everywhere they look.

I think we need to remember that it's a comic book movie.

Based on a Marvel character from the late '60s created and fleshed out by a Jewish author living in New York City.

Can't get more multi-culti than that, can it?  Amiright?

The "we see SJW all around us!" crowd really didn't sit back and watch the movie.

There are certainly better entries into the Marvel Universe.  There are also worse.

The very idea of Wakanda and how it does or doesn't make sense is also a problem, or not, in the comic.  It stems from hence it came and that was an attempt to be jarring about how dismal post-colonial Africa was.

A "what if" where an African nation hadn't been colonized and its leaders were able to thrive without European influence and assistance.  Then the convolutions that make that outcome plausible show exactly how implausible the idea really is.  Part of the "what if" was giving the nation of Wakanda a decidedly American cultural perspective, and making them isolationist racists!  Showing American faults through this negative image proxy.

But it really starts with, "we want a super-hero from Africa," then, "What's his back-story?"

I liked Black Panther, the comic.  He was a neat character.

I recall his powers being more training and heart-shaped-herb-magic than technological though.  The vibranium angle wasn't as fleshed out when I was reading, and it was fleshed out in books I typically didn't read.

But I gave the film a rewatch.

It's not near as bad as my first time through thought it was.  Because I stopped looking to be offended and just let it be at face value.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

There's a couple of issues that do stand out that bug me.

Killmonger is the son of a Prince of Wakanda and an unnamed American woman.  He puts on the oppressed African-American mantle, but...  There's no Wakandan descended African-Americans who are descendants of slaves.  Remember that technological superiority, isolation, racism and lack of colonization?  No Wakandan ever had to make the choice between death and chains.

The melange of styles appropriated for the various sub-tribes of Wakanda come from all over Africa.  Distinct and UNIQUE styles from other parts of Africa.  It was over-simplistic of the people doing the costuming and set-design to just lift these "African" stylistic elements and plop them into Wakanda.  Remember, isolation?  Wakanda should be distinct from the neighbors.