| contestgamer said: The problem is that it being a cultural/social statement for POC is promoted as a BENEFIT/FEATURE of the movie that is to be celebrated. The fact that it IS mostly black played a significant role in this becoming the (ATM) 4th highest grossing movie of all time in the US. |
There are two separate issues here: 1) whether there's anything celebratory about a primarily black cast movie doing well (understatement) at the box office, and 2) whether the casting played a significant role in its success.
Taking the last claim first, I don't see how you would draw that conclusion, given all of the films with a predominantly (or completely) black cast which have done worse at the box office, and some quite poorly. Perhaps there's something about the combination of a Marvel movie about a black superhero which was also well received critically that has helped to spark its success -- but that's a lot of factors coming together, and it might be hard to parse them intelligently.
As for the first, it seems to be a reaction to longstanding fears or prejudices that films with predominantly black casts won't do as well as films with predominantly white casts. Is that a cause for celebration? Maybe so, especially if you believe that there are still remnants of discrimination within Hollywood and etc., and/or if you have a vested interest in similar projects getting off of the ground.
| contestgamer said: MANY people have celebrated this movie not primarily for it's merit as a movie, but it's merit as a social and cultural influencer for POC. The problem with that? There are other groups of people that can do the exact same thing this movie did, which is deliberately make an attempt to hire all white crew, staff and actors and promote it from the angle of being a social/cultural statement and get killed by the press. Which would be the correct position. However that should be the correct position when any group does it |
Perhaps it's true that people are celebrating Black Panther for "its merit as a social and cultural influencer," whatever that means, but the reviews I've read mainly discuss its merits as a film. I went to see it both because it's a Marvel film -- and I am invested in that universe, for better or worse -- and because I had heard that it was good. I expect mostly that other people went to see it for these same sorts of reasons. If some black father took his son to see it because he wanted his kid to have the opportunity to see a black superhero on screen, I'm supposed to take issue with that?
Is that what you're arguing against?
