#killmongerwasright

Like when he mentioned how all the African artifacts in that museum were stolen.

Cause they were.

Every museum has stolen shit.

No one ever wants to talk about it, though.

No one wants to bring it up.

How did those African artifacts get there?

Why were mummies taken from their resting place? Isn't that a bit disrespectful?

Not everything is for everyone to see and know.

Humans have too much knowledge as it is, and look what we're doing with it.

All the new knowledge we get, we use to exploit others.

Let's talk about the things that no one wants to talk about.

Let's bring all the uncomfortable shit up.

Open your eyes and see that you need to stop hitting snooze on the wake-up calls given to you.

I may be young, but I am by no means stupid or ignorant.

My mother taught me what goes on, I've seen it, and I've read it.

I have put two and two together too many times for someone to tell me it's wrong.

Everything just needs to go untouched.

Unchanged if it's not hurting anyone.

There's a way this world should be, and it isn't the way it should be.

But everyone doesn't wanna leave their comfort zones to make a change, but then they complain about how it is.

Day 3: Favourite Villian

→ Erik Stevens AKA Killmonger from Black Panther

Birth Name: N'Jadaka son of Prince N’Jobu

Killmonger was right

Black Panther was the movie, the movie that rocked the box office, our expectations and in some instances: society.

Black Panther followed the newly crowned King T'Challa of Wakanda and covered his ascent to the throne, fall and battle with his cousin Erik Killmonger. Now that we are vaguely caught up, let's see why Black Panther was so effective at wowing us and what lessons writers can learn.

Characterization

T'Challa comes to us fresh from an introduction from Civil War. We know nothing about him save his father is dead and he is Black Panther. Over the course of the film we see T'Challa grow from an idealist who believes that Wakanda should maintain obscurity to somebody who wants to stand up for all the injustices Wakanda ignored. We see T'Challa become a hero through pain, realization and fear. His arc is extensive for a two hour film but they pull it off beautifully.

Side Characters

T'Challa may have been the star but Shuri wins the vote. The girl is walking sass. Shuri is introduced as a run-of-the-mill little sister. She wins us over through humour, a great personality and some memorable moments (Colonizer). Shuri, though important, is a minor character. By giving her as much attention as a main protagonist, you give us a real relatable character.

The role of women

Who really rules this movie? The women. They own this movie, hands down. Nakia is one of the best love interest Marvel characters. She doesn't always agree with T'Challa and doesn't seek power for herself. She wants to help the people in Africa who really need help. The Dora Milaje, T'Challa's bodyguards are effortlessly bad ass and imposing. Nobody ever questions their place in battle. Okoye is one of my favorites. Her banter with T'Challa and the royals makes us feel apart of a family. Her fighting skill is unparalleled. She is loyal to Wakanda even against her husband. And Shuri? We have no space to write down how much she rocks.

Worldbuilding

Wakanda is real from the first moment you see it. No arguments. You see the Wakanda scenes and it feels real. The ceremonies, opinions, culture and language strive to build Wakanda into a realistically feeling world. This is worldbuilding at it's best.

Diversity

Black Panther only has two white characters, the Tolkein white guys if you will. Black Panther is a movie that has brought thousands of people of different backgrounds. Diversity brings people closer together and let's audience members feel represented and celebrated. Black Panther has succeeded where other superhero movies fall short: it has saved a world by bringing people together.

Themes

Black Panther's main theme in a sense is the injustice black history and culture. Wakanda is a superpowered nation with resources we can only dream of. Yet when the people of their country were being enslaved, Wakanda did nothing. This creates the initial conflict and gives Kilmonger a reason to challenge T'Challa. Injustice is our theme. It's heavy and poignant. It weighs on the mind even months after seeing the film. Themes are supposed to stay with you and make you question your opinion on the subject. One line from Black Panther sits with me even now : "Bury me in the ocean, like my ancestors who threw themselves off the ships...because they knew death was better than bondage."

Subtlety

This is the cherry on the sundae for me. Throughout the movie we get little subtle foreshadows. Shuri contests T'Challa's opinions about change, then later he changes them. Kilmonger's dad tells him that the Wakandan sunsets are the most beautiful, Kilmonger repeats the line as he dies. When picking a suit, T'Challa picks the plainer necklace for practicality but staring longingly at the more ornate one first, showing us the kind of person he is: wanting glory but choosing a different path.

Villain

Erik Kilmonger is one of fiction's greatest antagonists. He takes T'Challa's place as king, destroys the Black Panther herb, tries to send weapons out into the world and tries to kill our favorite characters more than once. Why is he effective? Because he is right. Kilmonger believes that Wakanda failed the world which it did. Even T'Challa realises this, lashing out at his ancestors. We know Kilmonger's view is right but his execution is screwed. He wants to cause mass war and genocide. This is not alright and this makes him our villain. We sympathise with Kilmonger, during his death and scenes with his father. The best villains are those we understand.

It's not help that we're providing. We're the cause of the suffering of the Venezuelans. Our country put sanctions (basically an act of war) to cripple the Venezuelan economy to cause social unrest in an attempt to get the people to rise up against their leader. Venezuela has more petroleum than Saudi Arabia, but unlike the Saudi's the Venezuelan government takes the profits from the sales of petroleum and uses it to help the people of Venezuela. It's what Hugo Chavez did and Maduro is trying, however unsuccessfully, to be the leader that Chavez was in the face of American imperialism. America backs 70% of all dictators around the world. America is in bed with Saudi Arabia, one if the most repressive regimes In the world. America has has 25% of the world's prison population. America's voting system is one setup for rich land owners to have all of the power and the votes are taken in easily hackable machinery that no one can look into because it's proprietary software. Not to mention, twice in the 21st century the person with the most votes isn't the winner of the election. I say all of that to say this: our country is not in a position to call another country undemocratic or to tell another country what they get to do with their natural resources. Ask yourself this question: when has America's interference in another country ever yielded positive results? Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Chile, Libya, Cuba, Syria and the list goes on and on.