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Black Panther Dominates More Than Just the Box Office

In February of 2018, the Marvel Cinematic universe released ​The Black Panther.

Receiving a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and grossing over one billion dollars worldwide, ​The

Black Panther​ is easily one of the best films of the year - superhero or otherwise. What

differentiates this box office epic with other superhero films and why is this receiving so many

positive reviews? African American and Feminist critics have the answer. In Ryan Coogler's The

Black Panther, elements of African American Theory and Feminist Theory are found in the cast

and in the Dora Milaje, the elite female warriors who protect the king. These elements made

Black and female moviegoers want to attend this movie by making them main characters in a

society which underrepresented black and female protagonists.

In African American history, the Black Arts Movement of the 60s was a very important

way in which Blacks fought against their oppression. During this time period, theorist Amiri

Baraka commented that "black writers have an obligation to the race through such means as ...

providing positive images of African Americans" (Tyson 348). ​The Black Panther f​ ollows the

ideals of the Black Arts Movement and of Baraka by having a mostly Black cast and even a

Black director. By having such iconic Black actors such as Chadwick Boseman, Danai Gurira,

and Lupita Nyongo, director Ryan Coogler is giving positive images of Black men and women to

a society which primarily portrays them as thugs and villains. Having an almost entirely Black

cast helps to give positive representation of Blacks and elevates their status, encouraging many

Blacks to go out and see a movie about themselves. Coogler's use of Black women also had a

positive effects on his movie.

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One can also view this film through a Feminist lens. Feminism constantly fights against

the idea of the Patriarchy, or the idea that women are inferior to men (Tyson 81). Coogler's ​The

Black Panther ​destroys this idea by making the kingsguard, the Dora Milaje, completely female.

Logically, one would only give the job of protecting the king, the most important person in the

monarchy, to the strongest and smartest warriors. For the longest time, that job has been given to

men, as women are always thought to be inferior. By making women the role, Coogler has made

it so that the women are the strongest in his world, effectively dismantling the patriarchy and

encouraging women to see how the movie where they are portrayed as fierce warriors.

The Black Panther'​ s success was not based solely on the fact that it is an epic superhero

movie. It was also because of the positive representations given to Blacks and to women​. ​These

two groups, who have faced oppression, were given the opportunity to see themselves portrayed

as heroes in this movie. They were able to finally see themselves as important superheroes

without having to pretend that they had a different skin color or pretend that they weren't weaker

than other people. That is why ​The Black Panther​ was so important to society.