I also do not want the movie to be 100% focused on the human characters, but the comments everyone is reacting too seem so minor and do not imply this at all. If the protagonists are POC in 90s Brooklyn, their ethnicity and culture is inevitably going to be part of their character(s), even if that only extends to the slang they use, music they listen to, etc.
The fact that some grown-ass men today are reacting this strongly to the mere suggestion that nonwhite 90s kids are going to act like nonwhite 90s kids is probably the strongest argument for
why we still need this kinda emphasis, even if it's just in the marketing and barely noticeable in the movie.
Also, none of the comments in the article suggest this is what's happening at all, but are we seriously going to pretend that oppressed minorities suffering from injustice is a theme that does not resonate in the slightest in a franchise about warriors fighting for 'the right of all sentient beings' against tyrannical jingoists?
-Kanrabat- wrote:I don't consider the first Black Panther movie itself to be "woke" at al. Its marketing was, but not the movie. In fact that movie is ironically "anti-woke". Manly men, Wakanda is a closed-borders country with ethno-centric values. The marketing was "woke" by chanting "diversity" while the movie was anything but diverse.
As for the second one,all i heard was its just some generic "fast food" movie. And if you split hair and over-analize it, it's actually "racist" against Hispanics. TlDr, Black Panther 2 is NOT "woke" at all. Just "meh".
In fact, movies tha are pure woke are thankfully rare. The problem is often the marketing who act like a real Tartufe and pretend that their generic Hollywood junk will "change the world" or something.
Did you...watch the first movie? The core plot was about *changing* those exact values, and the movie ends with Wakanda opening its borders and T'Challa making an effort to specifically address the 'woke' Killmonger's concerns. Not to mention the focus on the women (Shuri and the Dora Milaje) and references to white people as being 'colonizers' (and where on earth did you get the impression of 'manly men'? Every major male in the movie cries or expresses sensitivity/'wokeness' without shame at some point in it). It's awkward that this movie tramples all over your point, but that's a pretty weak reason to insist that it isn't incredibly 'woke'.
And you can't really have an opinion on the sequel if you haven't seen it and (from the looks of it) know very little about it.
From your language I assume you won't consider (off the top of my head) 'Mad Max: Fury Road', '12 Years A Slave', 'Get Out', 'Moonlight', 'Blackkklansman', 'Wall-E' (hell, most recent Disney animations), 'The Help' or 'Persepolis' to be woke either. All focus very heavily on woke themes and/or characterization and all were successful, either financially, critically or both. And if you don't consider those to be woke, I can't really fathom why you're getting so upset about some innocuous comments about Rise of the Beasts.
What's really bizarre about all this is that Bumblebee already set the precedent for this in a major way. Hailee Steinfeld's character was a huge focus (both in marketing and the movie itself), with the film going into her family, history, personality and trauma. People like you didn't seem to mind when it was a white girl, but apparently trying to do the same with nonwhite people is completely enraging?