Black Panther and Representation

Recently the star of Black Panther, Chadwick Boseman passed away.  It’s rare that I feel much emotion when a star passes away, but this one both took me by surprise as well as made me quite sad to hear.  I enjoyed his work in everything I saw and he was not much older than me so there was definitely that brush with mortality as part of it.  However, it was deeper.  This guy was a superhero.  And not an old grey out-of-shape former superhero.  I literally within the last year had watched him on the big screen helping to save the world.  Obviously, very few knew about his cancer.  He still was living his lie, making movies, doing what he loved and that makes him even more of a superhero than his film roles.  Rest in power, Mr. Boseman you will be missed.

I have often heard “representation matters” when it comes to film and television roles.  Until sometime fairly recently, I don’t think I grasped how crucial that actually is.  I once again have had a lifetime of privilege when it comes to representation.  Until very recently, Hollywood would select the actor they liked and put them in the role, even if they didn’t fit the description.  That’s ok on the surface until you realize that means white people played roles that they shouldn’t have.  It’s one thing if the role is just about “man from England” to pick the BEST ACTOR, but they were putting white people in to play Asian roles and not long ago even native American roles.  Now, if you are about to stand up and say that what I am saying is a load of shit, let’s just revisit the uproar of Idris Elba being reported to possibly be the next James Bond.  The uproar that Bond “is white!” was massive.  But why would he have to be white?  I mean I believed he was British, yet they had a Scottish man play him at one point.  I think the crucial part when casting a Bond will always be “dapper and can pull off the accent”.  Elba would 100% be able to do that. 

I grew up with every hero on-screen looking like me.  Superman, Batman, the Hulk, Spiderman, the Punisher, everyone not named Lando from Star Wars (Mace came later in my life, don’t @ me) and the list goes on and on.  I vividly recall an interview for Terminator 2, where Joe Morton, a black man for those not familiar with him, talked about his trepidation of taking the part of a black man in a sci-fi movie, because they always die quickly.  Spoiler alert, his character does indeed die, but not early and also in a brave and story altering sequence.  While both Spawn and the Blade trilogy have a black main character, those movies happened before the huge superhero movie breakthrough.  Those movies were not as big as any of the Marvel movies have been.  The reach of those films while important, does not match what Black Panther has done.  Marvel has a character present across more than just his own self-titled film, and a character of consequence whose entire nation serves a critical role in the entire series of movies.

The day after Mr. Boseman passed away, I wore my Black Panther shirt.  I listened to the movie’s soundtrack.  I actually mourned his passing.  Like I said earlier, we were close in age so it’s not like I looked up to him the way a child does.  I can only imagine how powerful it is for a young black child to see this larger than life character.  To see a superhero to look up to that you could be.  The imagination is a wonderful thing and being able to imagine being that man on the screen has been something I played at as a child.  From a professional athlete to a superhero, being able to align myself as someone larger than me, stronger than me, it gave me something to cling to and a belief that I could aspire to be that one day.  I am thankful for the Black Panther being brought to the screen, and for how awesome the movie and the character were.  The success of that film I hope will open the doors for more like it.  I hope that my kids, their friends, and all the little kids are able to see someone on screen and look up to them, imagine being them, and dress up and play as those characters. 

I applaud the shift in Hollywood as actors apologize or leave roles that are written to resemble someone else.I look forward to seeing a role written for a specific appearance or condition being filled by someone with that appearance or condition.Representation matters.It is part of our identity and tells us that we can achieve things.No child should be deprived of that experience of seeing someone they identify with on screen and getting to dive headfirst into that fantasy world.That spark of imagination leads to creativity and storytelling that otherwise may never be touched.Creating that, allowing us all to have access to that will make the world a better place.When we enrich our children, we are creating a better future for them and for the world.The vibrancy of their storytelling, the new creations that will abound from their minds and the sheer delight it will create in the next generation and so on will hopefully serve to unite us and bring us together.I look forward to seeing what the generation that was blessed with Mr. Boseman’s portrayal will yield.So, next time you see a possible casting of someone in a role and you feel that “now wait, this character should be….” Stop yourself.There certainly are times where maybe that argument is valid.I would say never cast someone who isn’t a black man in the role of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.But when it comes to comics and fantasy, remember the reason we love the genre so much is that ANYTHING is possible.You can kill some heroes, and they come back an issue or two later.Some others simply regenerate.Don’t limit anyone’s creativity or imagination.Then pay your money and go enjoy some amazing stories and think of how the world is a better place thanks to T’Challa.