Friday, February 16, 2018

Day 7 Wake-up Call

Mark Wigmore gave a movie review yesterday morning on JazzFM.  He explained what makes the latest Marvel movie - Black Panther - a stand-out movie.  He was very excited about this movie.  It is the most positive view of black people ever presented. The setting is a technologically advanced African nation.  The cast and characters are black people who are smart, powerful and interesting.  No movie has ever been made with this premise before. 

Reviewers are excited by the social and political message of the movie:
"But Black Panther also offers the kind of story that so many of his fellow superheroes can’t: a legend that empowers those with brown skin, cherishes Africa, and rewrites history to create a black monarchy that rules the most intelligent and powerful country in the world".
Another reviewer describes the social and emotional impact: 

"I had the privilege of watching the film while seated in front of Denzel Washington, beside Whoopi Goldberg and in the company of almost every major black actor and celebrity on the east coast: Chris Rock, Gayle King, Tyra Banks, Robin Roberts and more. Denzel was moved to tears by the movie, said he felt like a proud father, and predicted it would make a billion dollars".

This could be called a  "social moviement."  It seems to hark back to the Black Panther "social movement" of 1966 when this comic was created.  There is great excitement building.  

Something most of us haven't heard of is at the centre of our North American society in a sudden.  It's Afrofuturism - Afrofuturism addresses themes and concerns of the African diaspora through a technoculture and science fiction lens, encompassing a range of media and artists with a shared interest in envisioning black futures that stem from Afrodiasporic experiences.  More from Wikipedia here

This picture is one of the buildings on the Ringling Museum site in Florida. 

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