#sliceosunshine

I haven’t read much of it, though I would be interested in that one about how he treats black women. I know there are people who think he was right, and I knew that would happen too. There will always be people who say that villains are right, especially when the villain is an attractive man (though usually not if he’s black so that’s new). 

In this case, I want to be clear that I don’t think his actions were right, nor do I necessarily think his plans or his intentions were right, but I DO think that he said SOME things that shouldn’t have been villainized, and that the problems he had with the main characters and the country of Wakanda should have been explored with more respect by the characters. Especially when some of those same characters.... already seemed to agree?

Specifically: Nakia’s WHOLE THING in the beginning of the movie was about how Wakanda owes the rest of the world (and especially the rest of Africa) their support, and that when they CAN help people but they DON’T that’s morally reprehensible to her. She does not back down in this, and by the end of the movie T’Challa agrees with her. 

All of those points are... also.... Erik’s points. He just ALSO believes that “Wakanda owes the rest of the world (and especially the rest of Africa, and ESPECIALLY black people in general) their WEAPONS and MILITARY support as reparations for their silence throughout a history of oppression”. And he, you know, goes about getting that by trying to gut Wakanda (and T’Challa) in the process. 

I’m not one of the people saying he was RIGHT. Just that he wasn’t a monster, and that the narrative CALLING him a monster felt disingenuous and strange while presenting Nakia’s views are morally right. 

It’s not like Nakia and T’Challa don’t also murder people-- they just murder BAD people so that somehow prevents them from the same judgement that gets passed on Erik.

The problem with talking about all this though is that this really ISN’T what I want to focus on about this movie. The movie itself obviously has this problem, but overall it’s an AMAZING MOVIE and I don’t want to be criticizing it more than I’m praising it, and I hope most people AREN’T criticizing it more than praising it. 

I want to focus on how feminist this movie is, on how amazing all the actors and characters are, on how excited I am to see T’Challa and Nakia’s relationship evolve, and Shuri grow up over a series of Black Panther movies. I want to see Okoye and W’Kabi make up, and W’Kabi have to earn back T’Challa’s trust so they can be close again. I want to see more of M’Baku, PERIOD.