Obama, T'Challa, and Black People in America (Part 2)
I read a commentary on Black Panther scathingly criticizing T'Challa as a weak sell-out of a character, with Kilmonger being the only real hero and revolutionary in the movie. I thought long and hard about this criticism, and used other four comic book characters and movies to shape my conclusions.
What do Superman, Wonder woman, Thor, and T'Challa have in common?
They are all comic book characters.
Obviously, right?
But think about the implications of taking a comic book character and making him or her as real as possible, in a kind of historical fiction. Think of the problems that come from pressing reality on these characters, and of putting these four heroes in our real world histories. We'll start with The Man of Steel himself.
SUPERMAN
Some people had a problem with Henry Cavill playing the role superman because he's British. Why? Because, by some, this Kryptonian was conceived as a good ole' American. Maybe even a Republican. Even his uniform was connected to the American flag in some people's minds. In Superman 2, he put the American flag back on the White House after defeating General Zod. Yet Cavill's Superman in "The Man of Steel" showed us how a Kryptonian would be seen if one really came to our world.
He would be an alien. Plain and simple.
He was neither American nor British, though the Kryptonians happened to look white.
As an alien, he wouldn't be immediately trusted by the American government...nor by Batman for that matter. There would be issues as to his jurisdiction, authority, and accountability. Morally, a character like Lex Luthor would wonder where Kal-El was when he was an abused boy who needed a savior. After all, Lois Lane can barely sneeze in Nigeria without Superman flying all the way from Metropolis to say "Bless you." A real Superman raises real problems. So does a real Amazon Warrior Princess named Diana.
WONDERWOMAN
Was Diana a feminist? I don't think so. I think she embodied the feminist ideal...to a point...depending on how we think of or define feminism. But I don't think Diana came to earth for women. As the daughter or creation of Zeus, depending on the back story in DC history, she was either a goddess or a demigoddess. Not exactly a woman. Definitely not human. Definitely not focused on women's issues. In fact, Gal Gadot, a Jewish woman, may not embody every feminist ideal for every feminist. What about Black women who are feminist? Or even Jewish women, for that matter. Is Diana more a representative of Greek women, in terms of the mythology? That's not the impression I get of her. She doesn't seem to have a particular affinity to the Greeks any more than Thor, the Norse god of thunder, has an affinity to Norwegians or other Celts.
THOR
We don't think of Thor primarily from Norse mythology. We know that's where his character is from, but we don't focus on that. His coming to earth in the Marvel Universe also had serious implications, resulting in responses from Tony Stark and Nick Fury in relation to the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. A real Thor would cause real problems for the world and in the world, like a real T'Challa and a real Wakanda wouldn't work well in the real history of Africa, and of Africans in America.
T'CHALLA
So, if there was a real Wakanda, how could any oppression happen on the African continent, ever? How could slavery in America have taken place? Surely the previous Black Panther T'Chaka, and the Black Panthers before him, would have destroyed any attempts at oppression, wouldn't they? The slave masters and Hitlers of the world wouldn't stand a chance...or would they? Wonder woman fought in the war against Hitler, but where was she previously in the history of humanity? Where were any of the Amazons in any of the tragedies of human history? After all, they were created by Zeus to protect humanity, not just women, and not just Greeks (unless "humanity" meant "Greeks," like "all men were created equal," meant "all white men were created equal?") Where were any of the Greek or Norse gods, or the Kryptonians, or the Wakandans, when we needed them?
Do you see the problems we create when we place these characters in our histories...if we insist they must fit perfectly and neatly into these histories?
Of course, my goal was to deal with the issues that come up in the movie "Black Panther." Kilmonger's issues. T'Challa's issues. Nakia's issues.
Whether we're dealing with Superman, Wonderwoman, Thor, or T'Challa, the implications of what real life would be like if they entered our world are not simple...and we usually don't think too deeply about them...unless the hero is T'Challa.
CLICK HERE FOR PART 3
What do Superman, Wonder woman, Thor, and T'Challa have in common?
They are all comic book characters.
Obviously, right?
But think about the implications of taking a comic book character and making him or her as real as possible, in a kind of historical fiction. Think of the problems that come from pressing reality on these characters, and of putting these four heroes in our real world histories. We'll start with The Man of Steel himself.
SUPERMAN
Some people had a problem with Henry Cavill playing the role superman because he's British. Why? Because, by some, this Kryptonian was conceived as a good ole' American. Maybe even a Republican. Even his uniform was connected to the American flag in some people's minds. In Superman 2, he put the American flag back on the White House after defeating General Zod. Yet Cavill's Superman in "The Man of Steel" showed us how a Kryptonian would be seen if one really came to our world.
He would be an alien. Plain and simple.
He was neither American nor British, though the Kryptonians happened to look white.
As an alien, he wouldn't be immediately trusted by the American government...nor by Batman for that matter. There would be issues as to his jurisdiction, authority, and accountability. Morally, a character like Lex Luthor would wonder where Kal-El was when he was an abused boy who needed a savior. After all, Lois Lane can barely sneeze in Nigeria without Superman flying all the way from Metropolis to say "Bless you." A real Superman raises real problems. So does a real Amazon Warrior Princess named Diana.
WONDERWOMAN
Was Diana a feminist? I don't think so. I think she embodied the feminist ideal...to a point...depending on how we think of or define feminism. But I don't think Diana came to earth for women. As the daughter or creation of Zeus, depending on the back story in DC history, she was either a goddess or a demigoddess. Not exactly a woman. Definitely not human. Definitely not focused on women's issues. In fact, Gal Gadot, a Jewish woman, may not embody every feminist ideal for every feminist. What about Black women who are feminist? Or even Jewish women, for that matter. Is Diana more a representative of Greek women, in terms of the mythology? That's not the impression I get of her. She doesn't seem to have a particular affinity to the Greeks any more than Thor, the Norse god of thunder, has an affinity to Norwegians or other Celts.
THOR
We don't think of Thor primarily from Norse mythology. We know that's where his character is from, but we don't focus on that. His coming to earth in the Marvel Universe also had serious implications, resulting in responses from Tony Stark and Nick Fury in relation to the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. A real Thor would cause real problems for the world and in the world, like a real T'Challa and a real Wakanda wouldn't work well in the real history of Africa, and of Africans in America.
T'CHALLA
So, if there was a real Wakanda, how could any oppression happen on the African continent, ever? How could slavery in America have taken place? Surely the previous Black Panther T'Chaka, and the Black Panthers before him, would have destroyed any attempts at oppression, wouldn't they? The slave masters and Hitlers of the world wouldn't stand a chance...or would they? Wonder woman fought in the war against Hitler, but where was she previously in the history of humanity? Where were any of the Amazons in any of the tragedies of human history? After all, they were created by Zeus to protect humanity, not just women, and not just Greeks (unless "humanity" meant "Greeks," like "all men were created equal," meant "all white men were created equal?") Where were any of the Greek or Norse gods, or the Kryptonians, or the Wakandans, when we needed them?
Do you see the problems we create when we place these characters in our histories...if we insist they must fit perfectly and neatly into these histories?
Of course, my goal was to deal with the issues that come up in the movie "Black Panther." Kilmonger's issues. T'Challa's issues. Nakia's issues.
Whether we're dealing with Superman, Wonderwoman, Thor, or T'Challa, the implications of what real life would be like if they entered our world are not simple...and we usually don't think too deeply about them...unless the hero is T'Challa.
CLICK HERE FOR PART 3
Comments