Today, Explained - Black Panther Is the Most Important Movie of 2018

Episode Date: February 20, 2018

"Black Panther" is the biggest movie in the world, but what makes this comic book adaptation more important than the nearly 20 Marvel movies that came before it? Sean Rameswaram attends a "Black Panther"-themed engagement party and speaks to Evan Narcisse, writer of the "Rise of the Black Panther" comic books, to find out. (No spoilers!) (Transcript here.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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This is Today Explained. When I was seven, eight, nine years old, my prime comic book years, the store in my neighborhood that sold comics did not have the best selection. You had your Batman, your Superman, your Spider-Man, Archie. Seeing someone who looked like me didn't really feel like an option. And that didn't even feel weird. Most people I knew hadn't heard of Sri Lanka, the country where my parents were from. Most people I knew couldn't even say my last name. So it felt pretty normal to dream of being a white guy. My brother wanted to be Batman,

so I was left wanting to be Spider-Man. Anyway, fast forward a couple decades, it feels like there's a new superhero movie every other week. I'm not holding my breath for a big South Asian superhero movie, but it sure is nice to finally see Black Panther. The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations. A mantle passed from warrior to warrior. Now because your friend murdered my father, I also wear the mantle of king. Black Panther already feels like the most important movie of the year. And to understand why, you have to understand who Black Panther is.

Your Highness. Under the Black Panther mask is T'Challa, king of a fictional African nation called Wakanda. What do you know called Wakanda. What do you know about Wakanda? Wakanda is the most advanced country in the world thanks to this crazy fictional super metal called Vibranium. It's stronger than steel and a third the weight.

It's completely vibration absorbent. It powers their trains, it powers their weapons, and it's the special sauce in Black Panther's superhero suit. Despite all of its sophistication, Wakanda keeps a low profile. Most people don't even know it exists. As a result, no slave trade, no colonialism, just this dream of black excellence. Black Panther shows up for just a few scenes in Captain America

Civil War, but you know when an exciting new superhero shows up for a few scenes in a Marvel movie, big things are ahead. Just one year later we had a trailer for a standalone Black Panther movie. I waited my entire life for this. The world's gonna start over. I'ma burn it all. For some fans, seeing the poster alone, just the poster, was almost too much to take. This is what white people get to feel all the time.

All the time! All the time! Since the beginning of cinema. All the time! You get to feel empowered like this and represented. This? This is what y'all feel like all the time? feel empowered like this and represented. This? This is what y'all feel like all the time? I would love this country too. Before Black Panther even came out, it felt like a game changer.

But if there were any doubts, this weekend drove the point home. Representation matters, and it's good for business. Welcome, welcome. People were dressing up to go see this movie. People were renting out entire theaters for private screenings. People were celebrating their major life events at Black Panther. I'm Terrence, this is Tiffany. This is our engagement party. I went to the Alpine cinemas in Brooklyn the night Black Panther opened. Terrence and Tiffany seemed more excited about the movie than their own marriage. Is there a chance it

doesn't meet your expectations? No chance. None whatsoever. I believe in it. I've always been a big fan of Chadwick Boseman. I've actually got a crush on him since he was on Lincoln Heights. I'm sorry to hear that. That's cool. That's cool.

She knows about me and Rihanna. Rihanna doesn't know about me and Rihanna, but she knows about me and Rihanna. You know, our family is here. Our friends are here. Our coworkers that support us and our blackanna. You know, our family is here, our friends are here, our co-workers that support us, and our Black love. So that's what it is. Yeah, I know what she said. Pretty much on point.

I don't think I've ever been in a more rapturous movie theater than Terrence and Tiffany's Black Panther screening. People were yelling, people were crying, people were laughing. And it wasn't the kids in the theater freaking out. It was their parents. The ones who grew up wishing they could see themselves saving the world. Black Panther made a ton of money over the weekend. Over $200 million. It broke all sorts of records, including the biggest long weekend haul ever.

Kendrick Lamar's soundtrack is the number one album in the country. Michelle Obama endorsed the movie on Twitter. Congrats to the entire Black Panther team. Because of you, young people will finally see superheroes that look like them on the big screen. I loved this movie and I know it will inspire people of all backgrounds to dig deep and to find the courage to be the heroes of their own stories.

So, what took so long? Why were there three Iron Mans, six Spider-Mans and an Ant-Man movie before this? I asked the guy who's writing the Black Panther comics right now after the break. This is Today Explained. Hey, are you struggling to get to sleep? If so, the fine people at Mattress Firm want to help.

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and do not sleep on their bedroom decor. They've got you covered figuratively, but also literally. Go to mattressfirm.com slash podcast to see their latest deals. Mattress Firm offers 120 night sleep trial to ensure perfection and 120 night low price guarantee so you know you paid the perfect price. Again, go to mattressfirm.com slash podcast to learn how your sleeping could be tremendously improved. I'm Sean Ramos from This Is Today Explained. So yeah, we know that Black Panther is more than just another comic book movie,

but what took so long to make it? If you were a superhero, what would you call yourself and what would your power be? Oh man. The Haitian Sensation. Probably super speed. Evan Narcissus is a Black Panther fan going way, way back. Probably nine or ten years old. Now he's a grown-up and writes about comic books for io9.

And I'm also writing Rise of the Black Panther for Marvel Comics. So he seemed like the right person to ask what makes this particular story and character and movie so gosh darn important. You know, Sean, I'm almost genetically engineered for this moment, right? this particular story and character and movie so gosh darn important you know sean i'm like i i'm almost genetically engineered for this moment right um um this movie like hit me so hard i wept the first time i saw it and i wept probably exponentially more the last time i saw it. It's very personal. It's very metaphorical, and it feels like a big slice of myth and Shakespeare and Blackness all layered on top of each other. I had high expectations that I tried to temper,

and it exceeded those expectations. There's one character called M'Baku, who in the comics is a supervillain called Man-Ape. And he's played by Winston Duke. I was lucky enough to go to the premiere in L.A., and I talked to him after the movie. I was like, you know, growing up, we used to make fun of this cat.

Like, he was a clown. Come, Black Panther, and face the Man-Ape! And I said, nobody's going to do that now. Nobody's going to laugh at this character now. And that's by virtue of his performance and the way that Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole, the other guy who wrote the screenplay, conceptualized this character. They knew that, yes, there's a history of stereotypes calling a black guy an ape. So let's not do that.

And furthermore, let's make this guy ideologically sound in terms of his argument and the plot. They radically reinterpret these characters in some ways that are better than the comics,

which pains me to say as a guy who's writing Black Panther comics now, but there's a few things that they do in there and I'm like, damn it, I wish I could have done that.

Tell me what made you cry, Evan. Oh man, I mean like literally the first line. Tell me what made you cry, Evan. Oh, man. I mean, like literally the first line. What? What's the first line? A little boy saying, Baba, tell me your story. And then he just starts talking about Wakanda, the history of Wakanda. And, you know, the thing that the movie does is if you come from somewhere else that is not America,

if you come from another culture that is not white, and if you feel a longing for that place and your sense of self in that place or your sense of self having to simultaneously exist in two places at once, if you feel any of those things, this movie's gonna hit you with like a ton of bricks. King of the wisdom, king of the ocean, king of the respect, king of the optimistic and dreamers that go and get it. King of the winners, district and geniuses with conviction. King of the fighters, king of the fathers. You talked about the movie being sort of steeped in metaphor and myth. What is Wakanda? What does it mean?

In the real world, Wakanda is basically the dream of a black culture, of a black people that's never been compromised by white supremacy, by colonialism, by racism, discrimination. And that's a powerful idea that has some historical reference, but not on the scale that we see in the movie. It's a space of completely free Black agency where you don't have to worry about

what looks respectable or palatable or certain standards of beauty. Why didn't anyone in this hyper-capitalist society think of this 30 years ago? I'm confused. Because there's a bunch of bullshit attitudes and preconceived notions and quote-unquote conventional wisdom about what plays across the world in terms of Hollywood output. And that's, you know, white people. But nothing about the Black Panther is designed to be a repudiation of other groups' humanity. It's primarily a celebration of Black humanity. And, you know, one of the things about Black Panther that's exhilarating and frustrating

at the same time is this is a perfect storm, okay? We got Ryan Coogler, who's coming off Creed. You've got the cast, Chadwick Boseman, who's a ridiculously talented performer, Lupita Nyong'o, Daniel Kaluuya. But then you've got older generations of actors like Forrest Whitaker and Angela Bassett. Like, this movie took, like, a very specific planetary alignment to make happen. And what I want is for the next movie that has similar goals or ideas to not need a perfect storm to happen. You know? Like, there shouldn't be this feat of institutional bravery

to put out a movie that has mostly black people in it. Right. Black audiences will show up, you know? And non-black audiences, too, you know? Evan, what do you think this movie means to kids? I mean, when I was young, I saw some lesser black superhero movies. I saw Blank Man.

Get ready to rumble! Meteor Man. Meteor Man's in town! I saw Blade. There's worse things out tonight than vampires. Like what? Like me. I saw Spawn.

You sent me to hell, Jason! I'm here to return the favor! It was a real rough run for a minute there, right? Blade is okay. I'm wondering, like, what do you think it'll mean to see this all-star cast and then this all-star soundtrack and, like, actually get to go buy toys that are centered around a black hero for kids? You get to save the world. You get to save the world. You get to change the world. You know, the thing about superheroes is that they're, by their very nature, they are aspirational, right? So often, these meditations about what human beings can and can't do happen through white faces. And to have

it happen through black faces is like, ridiculously meaningful. Like it's so important to have a villain who's like semi-sympathetic, charismatic, and compelling and a black guy and have him pit off against a hero that is compassionate, clever, and in a loving relationship with his sister and his mom and have these huge stakes be part of it too. That lets you know you can change other people's lives for the better.

Like that's important messaging to experience from kids of any group, any background. But Black kids so rarely get that directly beamed right at their heads and their hearts. And that's what's really important about this movie. Maybe the night that my dreams might let me know All the stars are closer All the stars are closer All the stars are closer Maybe the night that my dreams might let me know All the stars are closer

All the stars are closer All the stars are closer Tell me what you're gonna do, tell me Evan Narciss writes the comic book series Rise of the Black Panther for Marvel. Shouts to Keisha TK Dutess for inviting me to her friend's engagement party in Brooklyn and to Vox's Christina Anamashan for lending her voice to today's episode. I'm Sean Ramos-Burham. This is Today Explained. I hate people that feel entitled. Look at me crazy cause I ain't invite you. I'm Sean Ramos for him. This is Today Explained. Sean, Julie Bogan, social media manager. Great show launch.

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