Black Panther: Why Wakanda Does Not Need Commercial Feminism!

Black Panther is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen! Of course, I am predisposed to saying that because there are a bunch of Black people in it. However, the colors, the landscapes and not to mention the casting, is very vivid and cheerful.

That is why this is one of my all-time favorite movies.

We all know that representation matters a lot and seeing a Black person on TV in a high-tech society gave me goosebumps! As a Black Brazilian girl, I didn’t grow up seeing Black people on TV. As a matter of fact, as an adult, I still don’t see them very often and never in positions of power or leadership.

Art Work by Tom Ribeiro https://www.instagram.com/tomdesenhos/

As Black Brazilians, we started to get in touch with our Blackness over the last 10 years or so. I said that to an American friend the other day, he laughed and said it sounded strange. I know it is hard to understand how is it possible for a group of people to have absolutely no idea of their own identity. That is because eugenics has worked very well in Brazil.

Eugenics is the science of culling an already marginalized part of the human population by controlled breeding to increase the desirable heritable traits that reflect the dominant society. It was widespread among Brazil’s leading scientists, educators, social thinkers, and many elected officials in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The effects are still being felt by Black Brazilians.

When I heard Black Panther was going to be released, I added calendar a reminder for not to forget tickets for the 12:01 am premier! I confess I was expecting the movie to be good, but not as amazing as It was. Over the last ten years, we have received quite a few superhero movies and we are getting kind of saturated (at least I am), so it does not matter how much you like them, when Marvel or DC announces a new release I do not get as excited.

(Spoiler zone)

The second thing that called my attention is the plot. This is not just another superhero movie, this is a story about revenge, justice, love, and identity (dramatic song in the background). King T’Challa has just lost his father to terrorism and is questioning himself on whether he is going to be as good a king as his dad was.

In the meantime, he wants to capture his father’s killer so he can have a fair trial. On the other side of the story, we have the “villain”, Killmonger, who is T’Challa’s cousin. What motivates him is the will to avenge his father’s death, because he was murdered by T’Challa’s father. He is a very strong man and is full of pain because his own family turned their backs on him and on top of that, he had to deal with the injustices of Black people all over the world. I do not consider him a villain because his motivations are noble, the only problem is his methods, that are violent and unfair.

The Black diaspora can relate to this pain. It is easier to believe that the world is a nice place if you have not faced its ugliness.

Killmonger believes that the people of Wakanda should declare war against White people all over the world and take the control, putting an end to Black people’s suffering. Considering our history, I believe it would be more than fair, but still, wars are not the best way to solve things.

It all boils down to pain and ashes. After the final fight, Killmonger is dying and T’Challa offers to heal him (they have the best medicine in the world!), to that he accepts his death and answers: 

“Bury me in the ocean with my ancestors who jumped from ships, ’cause they knew death was better than bondage.”

Wow, that made me shiver!

That scene, which is a reference to the enslaved Blacks who threw themselves out of slavery ships because it was better than live as slaves in foreign lands.
Commercial Feminism

The main goal of feminism is not (or at least should not) be for women to be LIKE men, but for us to have the right to decide who we want to be. Over the last few years, the internet has enabled us to spread our ideas and share our stories. The entertainment market has also taken advantage of this new tool and has been promoting movies, series, documentaries, plays, etc., to promote the idea of the importance of equality.

The last superhero movie that approached this subject was Wonder Woman. It showed her questioning certain behaviors that are sexist and brought the discussion to the table. We know that even social movements, that are supposed to promote equality, also segregate. That’s why feminism has so many branches and they rarely if ever include Black women.

Back to Black Panther, Wakanda does not need commercial feminism. In the movie, we can see Black women in a position of power and leadership, and nobody questions it. They do not even mention it, because this is their reality. At some point, M’Baku, the leader of the Jabari tribe, played by Winston Duke, asks why Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, is the head of the technology department because she is too young.

Not because she is a woman.

Also, different from other superhero and “feminist” movies, the women there do not dress to impress. So, for the first time, I did not see Black women being hypersexualized on the big screen. Because Wakanda has not had contact with the rest of the world, they have their own standard of what is beautiful, and what it means to be natural, to be Black.

All in all, Black Panther is a mix of everything that I like and admire in a movie, I can call it a masterpiece. It is a tasty and beautiful mix of great casting, a good soundtrack, beautiful scenery, and most importantly, representation!

~Lilian

Ms.LilianQueiroz (at) Gmail.com

 

If you enjoyed what I wrote throw me R$ 10 because good coffee in Brazil is expensive as shit!

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