Black Panther Flashcards
Black panther is the
17th film in the marvel cinematic universe. The highest grossing film franchise in history
It was directed by
Ryan cooler (creed) and released in February 2018
The film shows us the
Ficitional African kingdom of Wakanda which has avoided European colonisation and acheived technological superiority through the use of chemical called vibranium
T’challa (chadwick boseman) must fight
A number of foes who oppose him becoming king after the death of his father
Black panther t’challa first appeared in
Fantastic four #62 released July 1966
The film was produced by
Marvel studies a famous comic book brand that is also subsiary of the Walt Disney company.
Black panther was extremely succesful
Broke records for the highest opening weekend in the USA and also performed well globally.
How much has the film grossed worldwide
Over 1 billion worldwide with 48% in non US countries
How much has the film grossed worldwide
Over 1 billion worldwide with 48% in non US countries
It was also one of the only superhero films to be nominated
For a best picture academy award
It won 3 Oscars for
Costume
Production design
Original soundtrack
Historical context
From 15th - 20th century
European powers colonised African countries and exploited the continent for both resources and slave labour. Africans were branded savages by the European invaders their cultures dismissed as primitive
During the early 20th century African Americans attempted to establish a
New black cultural identity with movement such as harlem renaissance
The black panther party October 1966-82 was a
Political activist group established initially to provide armed monitoring of police behaviour and prevent police brutality in the US. It was controversial with many panthers being killed in confrontation with police
Cultural context
The science fiction blockbuster and superhero genres have traditionally been dominated by
White male characters. In the 1990s actors like will Smith and Wesley sniper did break ground playing characters. But recent action and especially superhero films have rarely featured African-American actors in their lead roles
For the last 15 yrs marvel films have
Topped the box office. Though these regularly featured non white characters they were often sidekick eg. The falcon in captain America films.
There have been very few superhero films with a
Female lead wonder women and captain marvel being exceptions
Black cinema has traditionally consisted of
Issues based social realism eg. The films of spike Lee or have been Arthouse/prestige pictures eg. Moonlight 2016
Blade 1998 is one of the few superhero films to have a
Black main character
In 2016 the #oscarsowhite meme drew
Attention to the lack of diversity in the films nominated.
Us/European media tend to portray Africa as an
Underprividdlefd developing country focusing on civil wars famine and terrorism. The victorian branding of Africa as the dark content hasn’t evolved very far
Very few feature films from Africa
Reach the western mainstream and films like blood diamond 2006 and captain Philips 2013 though featuring sympathetic African characters still portray Africa as a dangerous and barbaric place
Barack Obama 2009-2019
America’s first African American president. Created many initiatives that aided minority and women’s group. From universal healthcare, to college anf entreneurship access funds for the under priveledgdd
Donald Trump the current president has vowed to reverse
Many of these winning support from mostly white ring Americans who consider such initiatives unfair.
