Black Panther

Black Panther is a movie which stems from the large Marvel universe. It was directed by Ryan

Coogler and produced by Kevin Feige. Neither of the two have any prior experiences that

would, on the surface, lend them knowledge of accurate African depictions. However, as I will

explore, they were fairly spot-on when showcasing African culture in this movie--albeit in a

roundabout way. Black Panther takes place in the fictional country of Wakanda, hidden from the

world in hopes that they can escape the European colonization which has plagued the rest of

the continent. The movie explores themes of racial divide, politics, rituals, familial bonds, and

obligations as warriors. The first thing we see is a creation story, which mirrors actual African

creation beliefs, with various deities. In the case of Black Panther, the deity named is Bast, an

Egyptian god. Following this, we see depictions of warrior women sworn to protect the throne,

which has real-life basis in the form of Dahomey Warriors. Moving forward in the movie, we see

the main character, T’Challa, on a mission to rescue a group of women being trafficked by an

armed militia in a forest. While this can happen unfortunately, it may not help the stereotype

Africa currently faces with this. Moving forward still, we are introduced to the colorful heart of

Wakanda. We learn that they are in possession of Vibranium--a rare and precious resource.

This mirrors real-life Africa with the diamonds from Sierra Leone. This melding of different

cultures is something we see quite a bit throughout the movie. A prime example of this is the

different groups shown. They discern themselves with the tongues spoken, clothes worn, and

texts used. We see real-life African garments worn, hear Buntu languages, such as Xhosa,

spoken, and Eboh script used. While the country of Wakanda is fictional, it draws many accurate

parallels to the Africa we know. Another piece worth mentioning is the connections to ancestors.

The movie showcases this by way of the ancestral plane--a place in which the recipient of Bast’s

blessing goes following a ritual. There, they talk to their ancestors who give them advice on how

to carry out their duties as the king, and subsequently the Black Panther. While it is not believed
in African culture that you can be on the same plane as your deceased ancestors, it is very

much believed that they exist with you, and are watching over you. It is common practice to pour

out libations onto the earth, so that the spirits know you welcome them. Black Panther shows us

a snapshot into African culture without explicitly saying where they are from. It shows conflict

between groups, ceremonies, dancing, elders in positions of leadership--all of which is based on

African truth, and really is not too different from Western culture. It also does not hide the darker

side of African history--citing colonization, slavery, and artifact-stealing as main plot points. It

commentates on the moral dilemma a nation such as Wakanda has, where they have the

resources necessary to liberate their people who have been victimized and oppressed by the

white man for generations, though at the cost of more bloodshed. This essentially illustrates the

similar, but opposing ideals of Malcom X and MLK Jr, which is elevated even more by the name

Black Panther, also being the title of the Malcom X idealists. This is especially cool when you

realize this is all under the guise of a superhero movie.

Blood Diamond

The 2006 film ‘Blood Diamond’ is about the 1991 civil war in Sierra Leone. It follows two men

who navigate their way through the dangerous diamond trade, amongst said civil war, in search

of a lost son. It was directed by Edward Zwick, and produced by Marshall Herskovitz, Graham

King, Paula Weinstein, and Alexzander Breault-Boucher. Before diving into the meat of this

movie, it is worth noting that all of the individuals just named are white, and had no prior

experience working on an African-centered film. Even Charles Leavitt, the writer of this film, is

caucasian, and had no previous experience with a work of this kind. While Leavitt did do a fair

amount of research into the diamond industry, he did not focus on Africa as a whole.

Additionally, his version of the script was rewritten by Zwick and Herskovitz. Ultimately, the

downfall of this film is its mainstream appeal. It takes very real events that unfortunately
happened in Sierra Leone, and cranks it up to ten. Because frankly, violence sells, and this is

evident because of the various awards the film was nominated for. To be clear, I’m not saying

that this is a bad movie by any means. In fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit, but not for its realism. An

unfortunate trope that appears in this film is the “white knight,” which is, in this case, Leonardo

DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly. These two actors are what garnered the majority of the film’s

attention, but ultimately overshadow the characters that should be getting the most attention.

But what is accurate? Mainly, the child soldiers--an absolutely horrific facet of that war, which

was unfortunately confirmed to be true by numerous sources. Even still, this film focuses more

on the children’s acts of violence, rather than what led to them becoming that way. This same

lens is shown throughout the film, focusing on mass, gratuitous violence instead of showing

individual experiences, to the point where it leaves the audience feeling numb. The scenery in

Blood Diamond is portrayed as intimidating, tense, and overwhelming. Though it was a tense

time, I fear that the depiction of Africa shown here may perpetuate a stereotype of it being

desolate. Full of violence. It doesn’t stop to take a breath of relief--to show any of the continent’s

beauty until the tail end of the film. But by then, does it really matter? After sitting through shot

after shot of people getting gunned down in the most grotesque way possible, who among the

audience is interested in visiting Africa?

Lumumba

Lumumba is about Patrice Lumumba, a politician who served just two months in office. It was

released in 2000, and produced/directed by Raoul Peck. It was a joint production between Haiti,

France, Belgium, and Germany. This film does not hide what it is. It does not appeal to the same

Western stereotypes, rather opting for a reality-based portrayal of the events which transpired.

Like Blood Diamonds, it is based on real events, but Lumumba stays true to history, and does

not aggrandize violence for the sake of higher ratings. It does show real footage of appartheid,
protests, and violence, but never does it glorify it. The towns shown are bustling, and with the

times. They are not desolate, rather they look beautiful. But not all is well in this story, as they

were being inhabited by Europeans--under leadership not of their own, and longing for freedom

from Belgium. The employers are white, the leaders are white--just about every person who had

authority over another was white. In squads of African soldiers, there was always one European

amongst them. Though the Europeans were the minority in that region, they had all the power.

And that was evident by the names they called the Africans (one such example being “baboon,”

a disgusting slur for anyone of African heritage. This film as a whole deals more with politics

than anything else, lending credit against the stereotype that Africa is full of violence. It’s a

thriller film, but not by conventional means. As stated, it focuses on the intense negotiations

between the captives and the captors. Framing it in this way lets a white audience sympathize

with the Congo natives, and to bring attention to the parallels we see still today. Another thing

that is accurate about this film is the women. They are shown to be strong, and stand up to

armed, white officers in the face of prejudice. Towards the halfway mark, it is revealed that

African soldiers have even started to retaliate--raping and killing white women, which

heightened the tensions to a breaking point. This put even more pressure on Lumumba, who

was simply trying to obtain peace while being the face of the nation. Overall, this film does a

fantastic job at showing Africa in its beauty, amongst a trying time. Though its retelling of the

politics, the scenery, and the struggle endured by the African natives, my image of Africa has

changed for the better. I now have a heightened respect for Africa and its history of strong,

independent people who are always looking towards the future with hope for betterment.

Black Girl

Black Girl is a 1966 French/Senegalese film, produced by André Zwoboda--a French

screenwriter.The film is about a Senegalese girl who goes to France to work as a maid. Though
the job was consensual, she is quickly treated as a slave. The opening shots are of her, in

African dress, getting off a ship. This may be a stretch, but I’d say that this mirrors the slave

ships of the 18th century--which doesn’t have much to do with the image of Africa, but I think it’s

worth mentioning. When the girl arrives at the apartment, it cuts to a shot of an African mask,

which we can assume was either stolen by colonizers, or a replica. Either way, the subtext of

this is that the girl is seen as a commodity, or an artifact, rather than a person of equal

value.Another thing that may or not be intentional is the color of the apartment. Of course, this

movie is in black and white, but it looks like everything in the apartment is aggressively white,

which puts a stark contrast between her and the foreground. The girl, who we now know as

Diouana, came to take care of the children, but the “mistress” shouts at her to do other chores

instead. In fact, there are no children to be found. At a dinner party, Diouana is told to make rice,

though she has never done it before, saying to herself that she’s “no cook,” but manages to do a

fairly good job. When the party guests taste it, they remark that it’s “genuine African cooking,”

which again frames Diouana as an artifact in their home--no different than the mask. Following

this, the guests discuss Africa, saying that it would be nice to visit Dakar. Another adds that

Africa isn’t safe with all the civil war (the same war shown in Lumumba). Another says that

Senegal is safe, and that “Africans only eat rice.” This short conversation says a lot about their

image of Africa. Though there was a civil war going on at the time, it was confined to one part of

the continent. That’s like saying “Europe isn’t safe because there’s a civil war going on in

Denmark.” They see Africa as violent, and full of starvation--as shown by the rice line. After this,

a guest approaches Diouana, grabs her and says “I’ve never kissed a black woman before,”

before kissing both of her cheeks. While this isn’t being traditionally racist, it is again portraying

her as a commodity. We then get a flashback to a rural part of Dakar, where Diouana looks for

work. One thing about this flashback that I thought was cool was the phrase “the sun passed

over us many times,” in reference to her waiting on the street for work. This is of course

accurate to how many of the African people tell time. We then see that the mask was actually a
gift from Diouana to the couple, which they say “looks like the real thing.” The husband looks

around, seeing all the other masks he already has in his home, and decides to put her gift on a

ledge. At the end of the film, Diouana gets her money and immediately packs up for her trip

home. She remarks that she is a slave because she knows no one. She does not have her

family, which reinforces the fat that familial values are strong in Africa. But the tragedy is the film

is that after all they put her through, she was given miniscule wages. In retaliation, she went to

the bathroom, laid in the tub, and slit her own throat. Some of her last words were “I’m going

home.” The husband later travels to Dakar to return Diouana’s belongings, as well as give her

mother the money. Ultimately, her mother refuses the money, and who we can assume is her

brother, dons the mask and follows the husband on his way out. He is visibly shaken by this,

which we can assume is a representation of Diouana becoming a vengeful spirit, destined to

follow the ones who subjected her to slavery. This film was a breathtakingly sad look into how

African colonization affected its natives.