'Black Panther' and Why Representation Matters

    In two years, during Black History Month, the Marvel Cinematic Universe will make its first foray into diverse storytelling with a film that boasts an almost entirely African/African-American cast - Black Panther, which is the story of the African king of a fictitious country, Wakanda, that is extremely technologically and financially advanced, who doubles as a superhero that inhibits the spirit of a panther to fight evil. Obviously, this is a pretty freaking big deal. Why, some might ask, does this matter? Why can't black audiences, or any audience members of color, relate to white protagonists? And the answer is that we can - and that we've been forced to do so for hundreds of years. There's nothing wrong with casting white actors at all. But in a case like Black Panther, where the cast is almost predominantly black excellence, a feeling of victory can be usurped.There's been a real surge of blackness this year in the media. From activism like Black Lives Matter to music like Beyoncè's LEMONADE, it seems the new "trend" is to be black and proud. Only it isn't a trend, since we've been doing this for years. So it only makes sense that as a population, the entertainment we consume should reflect the reality of the world around us, which is growing more diverse by day. But that isn't the case. People of color make up 24% of onscreen roles - and that isn't even counting the number of lines they have. (If I had to take a gander at it, it'd be around 9%.) And sometimes, people of color can't even play roles meant for people of color - case in point by casting like Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen, Scarlet Johansson in Ghost in the Shell, and Nat Wolf as Light Yagami in Death Note. In two of the three cases, there will be measures taken to ensure that the actors appear Asian, rather than simply casting Asian talent. Why not cast Asians? It's not like Asians don't have tremendous power at the box office - four of the top ten movies of the year so far have come from China. Black people have proven to have strong box office muscle as well, with films like Ride Along, Straight Outta Compton, and The Best Man Holiday performing extremely well. So why has it taken this long for us to get a movie like Black Panther? Here's the thing, white readers - by casting a white actor in a role meant for a person of color, the message is being sent to those people that the white actor was more important than them. It's being sent to them that the white actor deserved to play that role more than an Asian actor. Or, if we're looking at the financial side of things, that white actors can deliver more at the box office for some reason. There is at least some logic to this, as white Americans are still the majority in the country, so it only makes sense that they would be the biggest portion of moviegoers. However, that makes absolutely no sense given the tremendous records of non-white led films doing extremely well. Look at Star Wars: The Force Awakens. You could argue that it's Star Wars, so it would have done well anyway, but if white audiences overall were really THAT against diversity in the cast, they wouldn't have gone to see it. And they did. Multiple times. (As of the writing of this article, the film is the third highest grossing film of all time.) Look at the Fast and Furious franchise. Sure, a lot of people went to see Furious 7 out of respect for Paul Walker's tragic death, but the franchise was performing tremendously well before that - Fast 6 made over $800 million worldwide, and there's barely any white characters in the main cast. How do you explain that? 

     See, to audience members who rarely see themselves in the entertainment they consume, representation matters. It matters a great deal. The way you view entertainment and the role models you create for yourself can have tremendous effects on the way you view the actual world. If a black child grows up and ninety percent of what he sees in the media are white characters, white actors, and roles meant for white people, that's going to set a message deep within him that white is what's best, causing him to be ashamed of his blackness. That simply isn't true. Black kids should be able to see themselves reflected in popular entertainment - because while it's possible to relate to characters unlike you, it's much easier to relate to someone who is more like you. It makes you feel as if someone with your gender, sexuality, or skin color can accomplish anything. 

     Imagine the response of young black boys watching Black Panther. Imagine how much joy it will fill them with to see a hero who has a Negro nose, smooth brown skin, and nappy hair just like them. Because that's the movie sending them the message that they can do great things - and that's pretty important to the self-esteem of the black community. Particularly little black boys and girls.

     If we keep letting white people dominate the media, they'll dominate everything else as well. Messages of white supremacy will continue to resonate in the minds of black kids, and they'll continue to believe that white is what's right. In all reality, that's the exact opposite of the case. Everyone should be given equal opportunity to play wonderful characters on screen - and with Black Panther, it seems the black audience has finally been given the opportunity to do just that.

     People have said the Black Panther movie doesn't have mass appeal and won't do very well at the box office. Well, judging from the amount of social media attention the film garners - every time someone's cast, their name trends for hours; some wonderful fans got the hashtag #BlackPantherSoLIT to trend pretty much all night last night; and many people said the film's titular character T'Challa was their favorite part of Captain America: Civil War - I would disagree with that. Creatively, the film looks strong already, with Creed director Ryan Coogler helming the picture, and a cast of fantastic actors so far including Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, and Lupita Nyong'o. And this amount of hype for a film two years ahead of its release has never been a bad thing.

     The Star Wars franchise is incredibly progressive, with a female lead and two men of color as her derring-do sidekicks. Marvel's making strides, not only with Black Panther, but with their Netflix series Luke Cage which debuts this fall, which also stars a mostly-black cast. DC as well, with Wonder Woman, the first female-led superhero film, coming out in 2017, and Suicide Squad, which comes out in just a few months, having a cast that's evenly split with white and non-white actors. Progress is being made. But we can't let it stay progress - this has to become the norm. Go out, see all these movies multiple times with your friends, and show Hollywood what we've been trying to show them for years - representation matters.

Written by Myke Mason
Edited by Tamia Davis