Yea I don't get any of this at all. Didn't we already have the black super hero movie and shows with Hancock and then Luke Cage in the Marvel series on Netflix? What am I missing? Is this movie just better or something? Also, wasn't Blade a super hero? I think it is just all the racial stuff flying around twitter right now and the hate towards Trump, etc. They are making a bigger deal out of a movie because of the times we are living in.
The difference between this movie and the other movies around black superheroes is that this movie doubles as a black supremacist/etho-nationalist fantasy for some and those are the people making a really big deal about the movie. For normal people, it's just another Marvel superhero movie.
Ehhh....that a bit of a stretch. Most of what I've been seeing and hearing is that people love seeing a positive image associated with black people and/or African nations. Unfortunately, many of them haven't been taught some of the true history of the African continent.
A positive image associated with black people is not anything new, you see that all the time in movies honestly. The difference is that this is a movie about a fictional separatist black etho-nationalist country that is inherently superior in just about every way to the rest of the world and especially the rest of Africa that was colonized. It gives off the impression that colonization was the primary reason why African nations are not superior to all other nations. That's a fantasy that some people were really thirsty for. Everything else about the movie are things we've seen 1000 times before.
This was a 200 million dollar film helmed entirely by black people. If 12 years a slave failed no one would care. All in this a quarter billion dollar bet by Disney. That is why this movie is a big deal. If this movie flopped it would hurt black Cinema. What is the last big budget black movie.
Well, no; movies are made for mostly non-blacks and seeing blacks as avatars for rebellion, athletic aggression, hyper-sexuality, vulgar or child-like straightforwardness are basically what non-black audiences, probably only subconsciously, think blacks have to uniquely offer to the broader Western narrative. Also we don't stop watching movies or television if there are no blacks in it, so opportunity cost and marginal benefit don't work in the favor of taking unsure bets with black programming.
Did you know that those slaves weren't treated with the same cruelty, systematic separation from family, etc. that occurred in slavery in the United States? Did you know that after the slavery in Europe there wasn't a system of laws that sought to keep the other Europeans uneducated and out of power and employment? I'm not even speaking politically but from general writing standards - higher stakes make for better drama. The European slave films just aren't the same high stakes. Although there have been movies made about it. You might want to check out Captain Blood for instance. I don't know why there has to be a competition? I think people can enjoy both movies or dislike both movies. Nobody has to choose one over the other.
As far as mainstream movies go,there are some positive images out there to be sure, but as others have mentioned, you are more likely to see a story about a black person being mistreated (i.e a slave, poor, disenfranchised etc.) or criminal than you are to see a story about a group of black people that are smart and industrious. I'm referring to movies in which the majority or all of the cast members are black....doesn't happen very often although it has happened before. I know the group of black people you are referring to. I'm not sure how much you get to interact with them, but believe it or not they hate this movie overall. They see it as "another attempt" by the white controlled media to "exploit black people". That group of black people have been consistently pointing out that this movie was produced by a white owned company and therefore cannot represent black people. They are actively boycotting this movie and encouraging others to do the same. As far as colonization goes, as it relates to African nations being superior to others, we'll never know that with any degree of certainty. There have been documented times in history where African empires have been very dominant. I think it's also important to note that, with the exception of a few African nations like Liberia, Ethiopia and S. Sudan, African nations as we know them would not even exist in their current configurations without colonization. The borders of these nations are primarily the result of the "Scramble for Africa", so if you remove colonization of the continent you could have any assortment of borders drawn by whatever group happened to be dominant at that time. Essentially you have a hell of a Butterfly Effect.
Question: Do you consider all fiction with a majority black cast "not black"? Do you classify Coming to America, The Best Man, The Last Dragon, Barbershop, etc as black movies?
Well... 12 Years a Slave is a historical movie based on facts. Black Panther is a fantasy movie in a fantasy universe. The reaction is because of the genres 12 Years is another movie about slavery. I appreciate the movie. I appreciate any historical movie that may pique interest in real history. I don't want these movies to cease because well, those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it, and if people aren't going to read history well then they may as well see it through movies. As for Black Panther, it is something entirely different. I think the hype surrounding it is simply because the lack of black leads in fantasy/sci-fi films. Also because Black Panther in itself is a pretty neat character, he looks cool, he does cool things, it's not Hancock...that guy was forgettable. Black Panther has a pretty influential role in the MU as well, he's a key character, and Disney put a lot behind it. Luke Cage is a minor character in the MU... So yes, it's pretty rare for a fantasy film to have a black lead, I think that's why a big deal has been made of Black Panther and then the new Star Wars trilogy when it revealed that Finn would be a main character.
It's just a movie. We are the minority. Hollywood is a business I will never know a movie star. We complain and spend way too much time on superficial ish while ignoring. We can't run from ourselves into a movie
I'm not so sure about that, for quite a long time now it's been popular to cast the smart and industrious characters in a move as black men. It's why Nick Fury became black (which IMO was a great idea due to who they got to portray him), it's why so many movies have a Bagger Vance type character who is the wise character who can fix everyone. Perhaps once upon a time that was a rare thing, but in 2018, it's more likely than not. Yeah, that group of people are pretty much turds, so them complaining about the movie for those reasons also doesn't surprise me, but I've personally interacted with more than I'd like to and they were really pumped about the movie for equally stupid reasons. Honestly they are no different than any other group of racists.
Look kid, there are 140 simple minded fools who have put me on their ignore list, if you can't do any better than this, you'd be doing me and the forum as a whole a favor if you made it 141.
We're individuals, nobody's running from or towards anything but their own circumstances, incentives and priorities. Movies are about what people want to see, not explicitly what is, otherwise horror, science fiction or comic book properties wouldn't exist as genres.
A movie is art and art has a pretty big impact on society though. Not saying this one will though, at the end of the day it's just a superhero movie, but, I do think out of all the black super heroes the Black Panther is among the coolest. Along with Storm and Blade. I think it's cool just because he is a big part of the MU and it's neat that he's getting his time to shine and become a household name. Also cool for the black nerdy kids to have so many more heroes to dress up as and idolize that look like them.
