Steem Education: Political Identity, Real Live at Film Black Panther "Wakanda"

Politic Identity
This is Marvel's first superhero movie whose scriptwriter, director, and main player are acted black. Black Panther tells about the elite's gait in a prosperous black country with the most advanced technology in the world.

"I feel like, 'this is something big'. I've never been in a studio with so many blacks before, "said Lupita Nyong'o, who plays Nakia, in an interview with the New York Times, February 12, 2018.

The black country was standing between the cliffs and the towering hills, and the jungle of trees and waterfalls. The area of ​​the country is relatively small and adjacent to Lake Kivu, one of the major lakes in Africa. He shares borders with Uganda in the north and east, Rwanda to the south, and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the west.
He was named Wakanda.

political awareness
In the eyes of the international world, Wakanda is only a third world country with a black population attached to the horizon of poverty, famine, and conflict. The Wakandan community is even depicted Ulysses Klaue, a black market actor from the US who played Andy Serkis, as barbaric alias uncivilized. The story of Black Panther and Wakanda is indeed fiction. Black Panther was first created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1966 as one of the Marvel comic characters. The premiere of the Fantastic Four # 52 comic, Black Panther is the first black superhero character and created with political awareness. But despite the fiction, he still has his own truth. Indeed - citing the expert on gender, postcolonialism, and culture of Professor Melani Budianta - not truth in truth. But the story has the truth symbolically and metaphorically at the heart of the essence behind the invention.

practice of colonialism and imperialism

The first truth, for example, is the creation of the Black Panther as a counter-narrative form of the white racialist imagination. For Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, a superhero should not just be someone who can beat a criminal. But also able to beat the idea of ​​racism that degrades blacks. In the West's view - and that often arbitrarily appoints the West is to appoint a white man or Caucasian race - blacks are represented more closely as evil or wicked. A generalized bias applies that non-whites are no more civilized than whites. This white supremacy was built through the practice of colonialism and imperialism for hundreds of years. Countries of colored populations were colonized, their natural wealth robbed, and their society enslaved.

In a conversation with Carvell Wallace (an African journalist and author living in Oakland, USA), Black Panther director Ryan Coogler recounted his experiences when talking with his parents about how to deal with the world as a black person.

Coogler asked a question about identity: what does it mean to be black or African?

Coogler then imitated the answer from his parents. "You know, you have to have a conversation about the race. And you can not talk about racism without talking about slavery. And by talking about slavery it raises the question, 'Okay so how was it?' "
When asking the last question, his parents described a place that would eventually begin in Africa. Therefore, Coogler seems perfectly fluent in his political views in Black Panther. Political views were even immediately raised since the film began in a field in Oakland, USA.

Black Lives Matte

Oakland is the birthplace of Coogler in 1986. Oakland is also the setting for the debut film, Fruitvale Station (2013).

Fruitvale Station raised the true story of the death of a black man named Oscar Grant. The 22-year-old man was shot by police on the morning of the beginning of the New Year 2009.

Random police shootings of blacks in the United States are often seen as a form of strong white arrogance caused by the inequality of social standing. Oscar was shot in handcuffed hands, unarmed, and posture that meant: not fighting. Oscar's death also triggered sadness, anger, and protests from the public It was the year when the Black Lives Matter had not become such an integrated movement in 2013. The Black Lives Matter began as a call to action to respond to the violence perpetrated by the country and anti-black racism. The goal is to connect black people around the world who have a shared desire to demand justice. However, the solidarity that is built is not limited to blacks, but all those who also oppose racism. Oakland was also the birthplace of the Black Panther organization in 1966. The organization is part of the American civil rights movement. On October 15, 1966, Black Panther for the first time patrolled the behavior of police officers in Oakland and opposed police brutality against blacks.

Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

That is why we can see the seriousness of Coogler working on Black Panther. Moreover, he considered the importance of Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) position in particular, and of course Hollywood in general. "This is my second time working in a studio system. They say it's a studio system, but it's actually a system of people. This is who runs the studio, and how they run it, "Coogler said, Monday (12/2).
"When you see Disney, this is a place interested in representation, not just for the sake of representation. Because the representation is what works, which will create something of quality that the world will embrace. That's what causes success."
On another occasion, Coogler also mentioned the importance of superhero movies as a medium in conveying new myths. And every myth-making always contains a certain political blow or action.

"That's why these movies make a lot of money. That's why people talk about it. You know what I mean - people dress like them (the actors-actresses), "Coogler told National Public Radio on Sunday (18/2)."There's a huge audience - not just people of color, but everyone - who wants to see different perspectives in making this myth. They want to see something fresh, they want to see something new, but it also feels very real.

After the opening section in Oakland, Black Panther heads to Wakanda. There T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) was crowned Wakanda's leader to replace his father, T'Chaka, who died of a terrorist attack while at the UN office in Vienna, Austria. T'Challa's first mission was to thwart human trafficking smuggled through the wilderness of Nigeria. During the operation, T'Challa meets Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) who is disguised as one of the smugglers.
Nakia is Wakanda's spy with regional operations in various countries. The T'Challa and Nakia meetings in the mission uncovered the subsequent political stance of Black Panther. At that time Nakia considers T'Challa has foiled his mission. Then to T'Challa, based on his experience in various countries, Nakia questioned the attitude of the Wakanda state during this time that shut itself from the outside world.
"Wakanda is strong enough to help others and protect himself," Nakia said.
The prosperous and technologically sophisticated world wizard does indeed have the greatest natural resources of the Marvel world, the vibranium. With vibranium, Wakanda becomes a country that can not be equaled by any country, including the United States.