Ryan Coogler & What it means to be African
Black Panther was the first black superhero movie by Marvel, depicted its black cast of characters in a powerful, innovative way, and broke box office records – safe to say it was monumental. Black Panther was the greatest reflection of ‘blackness’ the world has seen and celebrated African culture throughout the film. This history breaking film would not have been possible without director, Ryan Coogler. In order to better understand Black Panther, it can be helpful to know how Coogler influenced the film, his life as a director prior to this breakthrough and what he brought to the table.
Coogler is thirty-one years old and was born in Oakland, California. Coincidentally, his first connection to Black Panther came when he was a little boy reading comics. Coogler was never able to find a comic book character who looked like him, until he was introduced to Black Panther by the store clerk at his local comic bookstore.
Coogler attended Saint Mary’s College in Morgana, California on a football scholarship. He had plans to “become a doctor and be a positive influence on my community” (Pirani), but his creative writing professor urged him to consider screenwriting. Coogler made the decision to ditch the football team for the University of Southern California school of filmmaking where he first began screenwriting.
Prior to directing Black Panther, Coogler was catching the attention of film critics for his short, indie style films: Fruitvale Station and Creed. Fruitvale Station, his first film, is based on the true story of Oscar Grant who was killed by BART police officer Johannes Mehserle. Creed is an American sports drama which served as both a spin off and sequel to the Rocky film series. Coogler was drawing the attention of many winning awards at Sundance Film Festival, Cannes and others… which ultimately caught the attention of Marvel.
In Black Panther, Coogler saw the opportunity to “explore in this film what it means to be African” (Greene). Upon being chosen as director, Coogler took his first trip to Africa. Coogler’s trip heavily inspired the look, sound and overall feeling of Black Panther. Wakanda was a beautiful depiction of African culture, while still being modern and innovative. Coogler also emphasized women in power – which Coogler says “That’s Africa, man! that’s one of the things that makes T’Challa brilliant. He knows how to get out of the way of amazing women in his life.” (Green)
Coogler’s dedication to keeping Black Panther a powerful, fresh and true to its roots African film was what made it so truly monumental. It generated $1.3 billion worldwide, was the highest-grossing film by a black director and won three Oscars. And Coogler’s career is just getting started…
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Greene, David. “Director Ryan Coogler Says ‘Black Panther’ Brought Him Closer To His Roots.” NPR, NPR, 15 Feb. 2018, www.npr.org/2018/02/15/585702642/director-ryan-coogler-says-black-panther-brought-him-closer-to-his-roots.
Macaulay, Scott. “Ryan Coogler.” Filmmaker Magazine, 2012, filmmakermagazine.com/people/ryan-coogler/.