Microcosm: The 'Black Panther' Movie and the Importance of Representation

Microcosm: Situation regarded as encapsulating in miniature the characteristics of something much larger.

You could ask anyone I know. I am not personally a fan of action or sci-fi blockbusters. I either fall asleep or spend the time estimating the cost of each explosion or fake spaceship.

However, there is one movie that I am excited about: Black Panther.

Black cast, black lead, black director, black soundtrack (long live Kendrick Lamar), and all that in a super-hero movie with the mainstream prevalence of a Marvel motion picture. I am not in any way Afro-centrist or Afro-supremacist, but this movie really means something. I went on Twitter to have a look at the #WhatTheBlackPantherMovieMeansToMe, and related to many things that were said by some. However, of course, some people criticise the general enthusiasm for this movie. They say that Black Panther is already quite popular in comics, or that it’s not the first black super-hero movie. Blade was the first one. Yes, Blade was a real trail-blazer but it was R-rated, and it was at the time when super-hero movies weren’t as popular as they are now, with a gross of several hundred thousand dollars. I heard recently that the movie did not mean much anyway, and that it is a form of Blaxploitation, because at the end of the day, Marvel is owned by white people, and they’re just using this movie to sell tickets, and most of the profit will go to them. It is true that, of course, in terms of material gains, white owners will get most of the profits. However, this movie is about more than that.

Representation is what matters, and this one is strong and powerful. This time, it is not just a stereotypical token black guy with minimal air time because you need one to look diverse. Not just the large and loud cliché black woman to make the crowd laugh. Not just a black cast in movies about slavery or gangs. For once, this is a black cast in a super-hero movie, which is usually a very white space, discussing blackness as a strength and power, and not as weakness or the source of our suffering.

It is also set in Africa, which is very important. African-Americans, for instance, despite the presence of the word in their name, are not very connected with the African continent. Moreover, generally, people in the West have this cliché idea of Africa and disregard all the resources and wealth the continent has. Celebrities have dressed to the premiere wearing African prints, and showing their pride in their roots. Most importantly, the story line of the movie is inherently political as the wealthy and resourceful Africa depicted in the movie wasn’t colonised. It raises questions on what Africa would have been like now if it hadn't been colonised.

On my Twitter stroll, I stumbled across a few tweets from "not racist" Trump voters who didn't get why there was so much excitement for an all-black cast and that maybe we were the racist ones for not wanting diversity. They also argued that we shouldn't be enthustiatic about the movie as we haven't seen it yet and that praise should only be given if the movie is actually good. It might be hard for White people to understand the importance of representation, because that’s all they’ve ever known. I’ve grown up in an all-white environment in the rich suburbs of Paris. My favourite stars were white, the dolls I played with were white. I wanted my hair to be as straight and long as theirs. I wanted my skin to be as fair as theirs.

It makes me very happy and slightly emotional when I think of all the black kids, boy or girl, who will go to the cinema and see super-heroes who look like them, and whom they would want to dress like for Halloween. It will strengthen their belief that they can be who they want to be, and that the colour of their skin isn’t a weakness, but it can be a strength if they want it to be.

It is a microcosm of the general importance of representation in all sectors of life. Media and entertainment play a huge part and help shape how we build our identity. I hope it will show how important representation is, and invite people in power, whether it is media, entertainment, politics or business, to help build a more representative and inclusive representation of our diverse societies. Not just for the sake of it, but because it is a social need for all. Representation leads to self-affirmation, which leads to self-belief, and self-belief is a founder for entrepreneurship, personal development, and growth.