Alec Estrin
COMPSTD 1100
April 3rd, 2021
Context Presentation: Black Panther
Black Panther was a hit when it was released in the year 2018. It was directed by Ryan Coogler and starred protagonist Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa and antagonist Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger. This movie is exceptional in many ways and one of its most interesting aspects is how people identify themselves, and how it drives their perspective.
One of the most often spoken about characters in this movie is its “villain” Erik Killmonger. One of the things that makes him so interesting is the different aspects of his identity, more specifically his intersectionality as an African American who grew up in Oakland without a father, and his identity as a member of royal family of Wakanda. These two aspects of his identity come to an eventful clash when he returns to Wakanda and reveals his plans to end their stance of isolation. Something that is very interesting to consider when hearing this plan is how his intersectionality has formed his perspective, and also how this perspective is different than the people of Wakanda.
Being an American is a big part of Killmonger’s perspective. As stated by Christopher Lebron, a writer for the Boston Review, he says “The CIA agent Everett Ross says of Killmonger, “he’s not Wakandan, he’s one of ours,” later observing that Killmonger’s coup is what the U.S. government “trained him to do.” The part of Killmonger that makes him a supervillain is not the part of him that is African” (Serwer, Adam). I think that this quotation is very meaningful as it shows that the part of him that is evil, is evidently because of his experiences as an American. He had experienced first-hand the injustices that African Americans face in this country, and he trained his whole life to change this injustice.
The people of Wakanda have had no such experience. They have lived a very prosperous and excellent life. In addition, they do not identify themselves as African Americans the same way that Killmonger does, but instead identify more as the people of Wakanda. This idea is made clear in a statement made by Ragi Bashonga, a writer for the Oxford Handbooks Online, as he states “For Killmonger, Wakanda belonged to the bigger continent of Africa, and Africa itself is considered to be the origin of Black people as a race” (Bashonga, Ragi). In contrast, “Wakandan identity is produced through a social location, a narrative, and a set of values, rather than a geographical place” (Bashonga, Ragi). These differences in perspective lead Wakandans to value “the nation state rather than race [as] the most important symbol of identity and it was worth protecting from others and from contamination” (Bashonga, Ragi). Dani Di Pacido from Forbesalso states that “Even Chadwick Boseman said of his character, “I am the enemy … It’s the enemy I’ve always known. It’s power. It’s having privilege” (Placido, Dani Di).
These differences in perspective are vital to recognize in order to truly appreciate this film. By understanding these differences in perspective where Killmonger views himself as an African American, and the people of Wakanda instead view themselves as Wakandans, it allows the viewer to truly see what drives the main conflict of the movie, and is it ultimately makes this movie so exceptional and interesting.
Works Cited
Bashonga, Ragi. “Home, Belonging and Africanity in the Film Black Panther.” Oxford Handbooks Online, 8 Oct. 2020, www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190930028.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780190930028-e-19.
Placido, Dani Di. “Why Killmonger Was Such A Compelling Villain In ‘Black Panther’.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 5 Mar. 2018, www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2018/03/05/why-killmonger-was-such-a-compelling-villain-in-black-panther/?sh=34615a1424aa.
Serwer, Adam. “The Tragedy of Erik Killmonger.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 21 Feb. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/02/black-panther-erik-killmonger/553805/.
I think it is interesting how the film “villainizes” privilege. For so long, people with “privilege” have taken advantage of Africa. The colonization of Africa, enslavement of Africans, and white privilege today are all examples of this. The film shows how privilege can be destructive in the form of the villain. This can try to communicate to audiences how privilege has affected Africans in a negative way.
Hey, Alec! I enjoyed reading your post as i think it is a good introduction into what we will be focussing on in this module. The fact that intersectionality plays such a large role in the overall narrative of this story is very interesting to a person who has seen the movie as just a plain MCU installment. That is one of the great things about watching a movie more than once. A person can only understand so much in an initial viewing that the second time around allows them to really reflect on the characters, their motivations, and how their life leads them to be what they are.
Nice post. I really enjoyed your in-depth analysis of the characters. Taking a deep dive into a movie and its underlying meaning is a great way to learn about certain topic. As I watch this film again, I’ll definitely take your thoughts into account. Before reading your post, I had never thought of Wakanda as an ideological place, but rather a geographical one.
Great Job, I like how you were able to find a different meaning and specific details in the movie. I definitely think that the producer portrayed each character different for a reason, so that we could understand that differences and uniqueness is good. Even when its against the powerful and popular thing or person as it was in the film.
Hi Alec! This is a really interesting post! I thought it was interesting how you pointed out that it was Killmonger’s experiences as an American that lead to his evil traits. I hadn’t thought about how America’s erasure of black identities contributed to how he viewed Wakanda. Wakandans knew about the mistreatment of black individuals in America, but they were not Wakandan individuals specifically. They did not have that American experience in which specific black identities were erased and “Black” itself is the connection that people are able to make with one another. In Killmonger’s world, all that mattered was that the people that were suffering were black, and that meant that they were his people. Wakanda did not have this experience, and so while they viewed it as not really their problem, Killmonger viewed them as letting their own people down and betraying them.
Hi Alec!
I really enjoyed reading your post. It makes me look at the film a little differently. I like how they incorporated a villain who became a villain due to the violence and suppression he felt in America. This film is trying to show how African Americans could live if there were not suppression based on race. I never really looked at the film this way but I am happy that you have opened my eyes to it. Thank you!
Great presentation! I think it is very useful information to understand the difference between the main characters and how they were brought up. It was also a good point saying that the antagonist became this way due to the way he was treated in America. Erik faced injustice throughout his life and was upset knowing that the people of Wakanda didn’t have to experience this injustice. He wanted revenge on the injustices he faced and the only way he could achieve this was through the power and privilege Wakanda held. Great job!
This is a great presentation Alec! Thank you for providing a lot of context to why a lot of Black Americans feel the way they do about their ethnicity’s history. It is very interesting to see how this connects to what the film was trying to portray in Killmonger’s entire persona. His anger was caused by a deep hatred by how him and his people were looked at. Again, thanks for the great paper.
Hi Alec! I really enjoyed reading your post. I never thought deeper about how the villain identifies as an American, and how that creates the conflict between him and the Black Panther. I really like you last quote, the enemy is truly privilege. Understanding the larger meaning behind this post really allows you to dive deeper into the film. Well done!
Hi this was a great post. I think Killmonger’s identity was a huge part of the film. With the ideas of having to figure out which identity was more prevalent. He wanted to be apart of one that was shut out to him. This is was makes him such a great villain. He was a soul that was confused and just wanted to know his culture.