Nikolai Kuvshinikov

Professor DuBois

IDIS-149

15 October 2018

UnLearn Reflection

For UnLearn week, I went to watch the movie “Black Panther”. This was the first

time I had seen the movie, and I am not going to lie, I really dislike Marvel movies.

There’s always just too much going on. And, yet again, I was left confused by the end of

“Black Panther”. However, I was able to pull some big ideas out of the movie that relate

to what UnLearn event is about. UnLearn week is basically about unlearning

stereotypes and trying to create a community that is more inclusive and diverse. This

movie was unapologetically black, something that you really do not see too much of

these days. We always see all-white casted movies, so why should an all-black cast be

so different? I am not sure – but it is. This movie was one of the first of its kind. It seems

so normal for us to see an all-white cast, and by having an all-black (mostly all-black)

cast, we begin to be more inclusive as a community.

Another big theme I pulled out of this movie was the radical way it portrayed the

black community. We are used to seeing stereotypical roles for black people in many

movies, like poor people or crime-related storylines. This movie was different however.

The people of Wakanda (the fictional country in the movie) have some of the most

advanced technology to even be created in the Marvel universe (as far as I know of at

least). Yet again, this seems odd to us – to see people of color be portrayed as these
super-advanced people. This ties into UnLearn week by giving new roles to people of

color, not just sticking with typical roles that we are used to.