Black Panther: Something Something Politics (Part 2)

I’m a little miffed right off the bat, because there was a Zero Punctuation video with a subject that was perfect for this Black Panther post -- but I can neither find nor recall where it is.  It’s a shame.  So I’ll have to speak from memory, and I apologize in advance if I get this wrong somehow.  Especially to Yahtzee.

Anyway, in the ZP video, there’s talk about character diversity -- and Yahtzee, true to form, takes it to task.  He jokes about how absurd it is for a character to only be relatable to an audience (or one person in particular) if they share a gender or race.  As if that’s all that matters, or failing to accommodate that means the game, or movie, or whatever is a failure.  It got a laugh out of me, but only because, like a lot of jokes, it hits hardest because there’s a kernel of truth to them.  Speaking personally?  I’m okay with main characters not being black (as an example) even though I’m black.  As long as the character is good, I won’t complain.

So given its nature, does Black Panther force me to recontextualize my opinion?  The answer to that is…not really.

SPOILERS for Black Panther incoming.  I know I normally toss in quotes from Marvel vs. Capcom here, but I did that last time, BP’s a new arrival without much material to pull from, and Marvel Infinite is on life support.  So have some Dragon Ball FighterZ memes instead.

DOWN YOU GO.  Into SPOILERS.

Black Panther: Something Something Politics (Part 1)

*massages forehead*

*takes a deep breath*

*sighs*

*puts on a full suit of armor*

All right.  Let’s talk about Black Panther.  And “politics”.  In the largest air quotes you can imagine.

PREDATOR ARTS!  PANTHER BITE!  PANTHER BITE!

LIKE AN ARROW -- RIGHT THERE!

AIR INTERCEPTOR!  DID YOU THINK YOU WERE SAFE?

(That’s my signal for the incoming SPOILERS.  Blame Mahvel.)  

(And bless Desk.)

RE: Black Panther

I both love and hate the position Black Panther has put me in.

I hate it because it’s going to make me look like I’ve got less brainpower than a dead goldfish.  It seems like being a Marvel movie is basically an anathema these days, to the point where the mere mention of one can, at best, draw responses of “Yep, another one.”  At worst?  I’d prefer not to think about it, because how dare I enjoy a mainstream product by a major corporation, or something to that effect.  And now here I am, about to sing praises about the newest movie -- about to clap my hands like a seal because I, and many others, have been conditioned to go “Yeah, another one!”

Despite that, I love the position I’m in.  I’m wary of saying this about the movie because it is the newest to date, and it is another one to throw on the pile.  But…yeah.  I think this the best one yet.  I’ve seen 15 out of 18 of these movies, and it’s the best one.

And I’m not just saying that because I’m black, and most of the cast is black.  So you in the back with your hand raised?  Put your hand down, imaginary idiot I’m calling out.

Black Panther! Also Novel Stuff.

I know what the title says, but fair warning: this post will skew more toward novel stuff than Black Panther.  Gotta get people to click on my stuff somehow.  Don’t worry, though.  You’ll get a thicker post on Marvel’s latest soon -- and I’m sure I’ll find some way to spice up this post with the Wakandan king’s solo debut.

So before I get ahead of myself, let me say this to start: I’m bringing the blog out of hiatus mode in the next week or two.  I’m still debating whether or not I want to go full throttle from here on out; I know what I want/need to upload first, after all, but I haven’t committed to the scheduling of it.  So we’ll see.  Either way, it’s about time for me to put more focus on blogging instead of offline word-smithing.  And I’ll explain the reason for it soon.  As in, within the next few paragraphs soon.

But before I get ahead of myself (again), let me say this to start (again):

Go see Black Panther.  It’s the best one.

The best one.