Black Panther, directed and co-written by the black/African-American filmmaker Ryan Coogler, marks a superb, politically engaged evolution in the Marvel Studios superhero series
Black Panther, directed and co-written by the black/African-American filmmaker Ryan Coogler, marks a superb, politically engaged evolution in the Marvel Studios superhero series.
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For this reason, and for being a breathtaking black empowerment film made in the superhero mould with panache, it certainly deserved an Oscar nod. The DC or Marvel superheroes template is to have goras put on Earth, or created by the US military, to defend the US from its enemies. But Coogler makes this a high-tech, futuristic Afro-centric film, with solid political and emotional issues at its core, that nonetheless packs in plenty of 'James Bondery', with fancy gadgets and fast-paced action. Black Panther is a radical black superhero film because it mostly ignores America and white men, and boasts an impressive nearly all-black cast.
More importantly, it sees Africans as not only controlling their own destiny, but playing an active, benevolent role in world affairs. Critically, rather than some boring, generic plan to save the world from annihilation, the dilemma at its core echoes the political predicament between Martin Luther King Jr, who believed in passive resistance to oppression, and Malcolm X's call for militant black activism. And yes, women play key roles militarily, scientifically and socially.
The story is about the fictional country of Wakanda, in the heart of Africa, that appears all forested and backward to the white world, but hidden inside it, is a technologically advanced, futuristic world full of monorails and flying saucers, all driven by "vibranium". Coogler hints at the utopia Africa might have been, had colonisers not stripped it of its natural resources, including gold, diamonds and uranium. Its ruler T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who ascends the throne after his father the King is killed, and becomes the Black Panther superhero in a crisis, is a low-key character, troubled about Wakanda's future. He is challenged to the throne by Erik Killmonger (Michael B Jordan, very sexy), his black cousin from America, who wants to use vibranium to back a worldwide black uprising.
The only whites are villains — arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) who wants to steal vibranium, and a CIA agent (Martin Freeman) who later turns good guy. The women are empowered in different ways: Danai Gurira is a spear-wielding warrior of Dora Milaje, an elite female fighting force, Lupita Nyong'o plays Nakia, who wants Wakanda to play an active role in the peaceful development of other nations, and Shuri (Letitia Wright) is a lively scientist who uses vibranium for the advancement of Wakanda.
The film is co-written by Coogler and Joe Robert Cole. Indeed, the name of the superhero harks back to the Black Panther Party, established in the US in 1966 for militant black empowerment, starting with challenging police brutality towards black people in Oakland, California. Coogler's powerful film Fruitvale Station (2013), that won prizes at the Cannes and Sundance film festivals, is also about Oscar Grant III, an unarmed, young black civilian who was shot dead on New Year's Day in 2009, by the police in Oakland, California.
Black Panther is such a thrilling empowering superhero film, why don't we have a terrific Indian Dalit superhero film? Especially as the Dalit Panther movement, established in Mumbai in 1972 for Dalit empowerment, was inspired by the African American Black Panthers in the USA. Navayana already has a brilliant graphic novel Bhimayana, on Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar's fight for Dalit empowerment. Pakistan has its terrific Burka Avenger TV animation series for women's empowerment created by Aaron Haroon Rashid. Jiya, a school teacher in a shalwar kameez, takes on a superheroine avatar in a burqa, and fights baddies who shut down girls' schools, and fights for justice, peace and education. She is skilled in takht kabaddi, a martial art form that involves throwing books and pens to fight gender-based crimes by the villain Baba Bandook, and the delightfully named slimy politician Vadero Pajero.
There is also Bilal: A New Breed of Hero, an animation feature, inspired by the real-life story of Bilal Ibn Rabah, an African slave who became one of the most illustrious names in Islamic history. Co-directed by Pakistani filmmaker Khurram Alavi with his producer Ayman Jamal of Barajoun Studios, it opened at the Dubai Film Festival in 2015. Methinks there are a lot of Indian superheroes waiting to make it to the big screen.
Meenakshi Shedde is South Asia Consultant to the Berlin Film Festival, award-winning critic, curator to festivals worldwide and journalist. Reach her at meenakshishedde@gmail.com.
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