After watching Marvel’s Black Panther, the take Marvel brings in displaying black culture in a major film was unprecedented. The movie focuses and takes place in a futuristic world known as Wakanda. From an outsider’s perspective it seems that Wakanda is a representative of what Africa could reach as far as advancements and society if cut off from the rest of Europe. Before the Europeans arrived in Africa, Africa had vibrant economic, social and political structures. These were severely disrupted by Europeans to create wealth for themselves. European dominance over most of Africa through the transatlantic slave trade lasted 440 years, from 1444 to 1885 (Alcott, 2008).
In the news, Africa is often portrayed as a third-world country with very few resources. It has even been said that “Africa has been identified as a place with endless poverty, diseases, conflict, and violence” (Jones 2018). Although in Marvel’s Black Panther, Africa, in the form of Wakanda, is displayed in a much different light. Black Panther’s vision of Wakanda is seen as a bustling metropolis of vibranium-powered futuristic skyscrapers, racing trains and soaring spaceships” (Johnson, 2018).
Similar to the European expeditions of Africa in past history, foriegn countries in Black Panther try to exploit Wakanda for its natural resources in the form of vibranium. In one scene in particular, Klaw (a protagonist in the film), played by actor Andy Serkis, set’s a heist in order to steal artifacts from a museum that are important objects to the Wakandan people. This creates an indirect parallel to real life events, yet still hidden, under the events happening in Marvel’s fictional country of Wakanda.
Today, Africa is still facing the effects of the European dominance and suffers from a lack of resources. Africa also suffers economically due to various reasons including lack of equal trading as well as the taxes imposed on the country. However, in Black Panther, Wakanda is thriving alone without the help of any outside sources.
Works Cited
Alcott, Washington. “The Underdevelopment of Africa by Europe.” Revealing Histories, Revealing Histories, 2008, revealinghistories.org.uk/africa-the-arrival-of-europeans-and-the-transatlantic-slave-trade/articles/the-underdevelopment-of-africa-by-europe.html#:~:text=Before%20the%20Europeans%20arrived%20in,years%2C%20from%201444%20to%201885.
Johnson, Tre. “Black Panther Is a Gorgeous, Groundbreaking Celebration of Black Culture.” Vox, 23 Feb. 2018, www.vox.com/culture/2018/2/23/17028826/black-panther-wakanda-culture-marvel.
Jones, Nate. “A Brief History of Wakanda, Black Panther’s Fictional Utopia.” Vulture, 15 Feb. 2018, www.vulture.com/2018/02/black-panthers-wakanda-explained.html.
This is an interesting parallel to refer to when watching this movie. I personally have not seen Black Panther yet and i think that by drawing these parallels with Africa and Wakanda will be eye-opening and I will be looking for the similarities/differences I see when it comes to comparing the two.