The post below is
written by my friend Sujayendra. He is working for Zomato, likes gaming a LOT,
reads too and is currently burning calories like an arsonist pouring
accelerant. Please welcome him to the blog people!
The Bilge Master
Do you want to know why Black Panther is a good movie?
It introduces African mysticism into the mainstream
Hollywood spotlight without being subjected to the exotic touristy bullshit
this particular industry portrays any non-white country. I mean, look at Danny
Boyle's vision of Mumbai.
Hell, look at Windtalkers, a movie from 2002 that was
supposed to be about Native American Codetalkers from the Second World War, but
instead, it is mostly centred around Nicholas Cage's problems. This industry cannot even do right by their own
people, let alone some country across the world. To this day, there are no
proper movies about Codetalkers, men who turned the tide of war for the
Americans against the Japanese. They weren't even offered citizenship to their
own lands until 1920, and their contributions to the war were only recognised
after Obama came to power. A full 60 or so years after the war.
Black Panther explored previously uncharted
territories in movies, by letting Coogler go wild with the influences he wanted
to use. It's no coincidence that this movie's depiction of the people of
Africa--and mind you, I'm specifically talking about the people here, is unlike
any other movie done before. And this is not because they are Wakandans--the
movie uses a real language for its people, the clothes and accessories are very
much a part of their cultural heritage.
There are very few movies like it, and even
fewer--perhaps this might be the only one, that has been as honest to the
people it represents. The fact that it is still part of the MCU is an
afterthought, an overarching plot that is there. But the issues in it are very
real, and still present. That alone makes it worth the nomination.
Does it deserve to win? I'm not rooting for it,
despite how much I enjoyed it. There have been better movies this year, but
that is my subjective opinion. I've no illusions about the minimal chances it
has against a movie like BlacKKKlansman. But that won't stop Raju Moviebuff,
and Chomu 'I say the N word ironically' Pandey from claiming that the movie is
'objectively' bad, without a shred of irony or a sense of what the movie
represents.
Obviously, we should all listen to the astute opinions
of the people it doesn't represent. After all, if a movie they didn't like gets
nominated, it's infuriating, but with this, it's only because the Oscars would
be called racists, of course. There is no other reason, apparently.
You couldn't be more transparent if you exchanged
bodies with a jellyfish.
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