Race and Film: How Black Panther is a Celebration of Blackness and Pan-Africanism
Submission Type
Event
Faculty Advisor
Joanne Diaz
Expected Graduation Date
2018
Location
Room E106, Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Start Date
4-21-2018 10:00 AM
End Date
4-21-2018 11:00 AM
Disciplines
Education
Abstract
Film has a long history of poor representation of black people, often sidelining them or relying on hurtful stereotypes. Black Panther is a major motion picture that features a predominantly black cast that tells a nuanced story about Africans and African-Americans. A majority of critics from the New York Times, The New Yorker, and Rolling Stone agree that the film draws on the politics of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. as well as identity and the African diaspora. However, while the assessment is correct, the critics do not go far enough in their analysis of the film and its characters. Through close readings of the film and interviews with Ryan Coogler, co-writer and director, I will deepen existing critical analysis to show how Black Panther embraces pan-Africanism, visually, aurally, and politically.
Race and Film: How Black Panther is a Celebration of Blackness and Pan-Africanism
Room E106, Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University
Film has a long history of poor representation of black people, often sidelining them or relying on hurtful stereotypes. Black Panther is a major motion picture that features a predominantly black cast that tells a nuanced story about Africans and African-Americans. A majority of critics from the New York Times, The New Yorker, and Rolling Stone agree that the film draws on the politics of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. as well as identity and the African diaspora. However, while the assessment is correct, the critics do not go far enough in their analysis of the film and its characters. Through close readings of the film and interviews with Ryan Coogler, co-writer and director, I will deepen existing critical analysis to show how Black Panther embraces pan-Africanism, visually, aurally, and politically.