Black Panther (2018) asks the question What do the well-off owe those less well off, and how should they deliver? The country of Wakanda appears to be another backward, poverty-stricken African nation, but hidden behind illusions, both technical and cultural, is a technologically advanced society, careful of its secrecy, monarchical, well-off, and happy. The King is known as Black Panther, not just a title, but a description of his physical prowess, enhanced through a secret botanical concoction, as well as some fun technological aids.
But the plight of African Americans is a troubling issue for the King in the abstract, an attribute soon transformed into the personal when an hitherto unknown American relation, appalled at the condition of the people of Africa in America, and knowledgeable of the true nature of Wakanda, appears with a claim on the throne.
A deadly claim, which he asserts with skill.
The King gone, the usurper gives full vent to his emotional fury at how his fellow Africans have been treated, vowing to arm them and subjugate the descendants of the colonialists and slavers. Orphaned, and then abandoned by his extended family, he has little respect for limitations or morality, only for vengeance over the past abuses which still echo through today’s society. Wakanda’s leadership is torn between loyalty to the throne and horror at this departure from Wakanda’s chosen path of withdrawal from the greater world. Soon families are disputing over the proper path to take.
But at the point of no return, Wakandan society plunging into civil war and advanced weaponry about to be delivered into the hands of the oppressed, a savior appears, and the usurper meets the personification of a mature leader, congnizant of his responsibilities to both Wakanda as well as greater humanity – not just oppressed African descendants, but everyone else as well. The usurper, soaked in his emotional rage, is swallowed by it, and lost.
The victor now must choose whether continued withdrawal is best for Wakanda, or a move designed to ease oppression wherever it exists. What will they choose?
This movie is an embodiment of the real-world questions mentioned above, leading to both intellectual and emotional meditations of great relevance to today’s various societies concerning wealth, poverty, and responsibility. The Wakandan leadership’s various discoveries concerning the world skillfully introduce us to the issues at hand, and more importantly the possible reactions, from vengeance to defense of the status quo to the difficult quest of reducing the oppression without setting off a world wide war, as those who hold the power are usually loathe to let it go.
The acting is excellent, the story well-constructed, and thankfully not interlaced with sex, which would have been distracting. There are some very good special effects, and also some reminders of the world as it is today: African landscapes, a link to our past that reminds us that the past is not necessarily something to be forgotten, but remembered for the lessons it can bring to our world today.
Recommended.
