black panther
black panther what is it ?
Black Panther is the 17th film in the ‘Marvel
Cinematic Universe’, the highest-grossing film
franchise in history. It was directed by Ryan
Coogler (Creed) and released in February 2018.
Historical Context
• From 15th-20th century, European powers
colonised African countries and exploited the
continent for both resources and slave labour.
Africans were branded ‘savages’ by the European
invaders, their cultures dismissed as ‘primitive’.
Cultural context
The science fiction blockbuster and superhero
genres have traditionally been dominated by
white, male characters. In the 1990s, actors like
Will Smith and Wesley Snipes did break ground
playing black characters, but recent action
films and especially superhero films have rarely
featured African-American actors in lead roles.
• For the last 15 years, Marvel films have topped
the box office. Though these regularly featured
non-white characters, they were often sidekicks
(e.g. The Falcon in the Captain America films).
There have also been very few superhero
films with a female lead (Wonder Woman)
harlem renaissance
Economic and Political Contexts:
Worrying statistics about the amount of
unarmed ‘people of colour’ (POC) shot by
US police led to the #blacklivesmatter
campaign, which has utilised social media
to raise awareness of an issue that has often
been ignored by mainstream media.
different ways it was advertised ?
Lexus car ' long live the king'
fashion show 'welcome to Wakanda catwalk'
superbowl adverts
nba games
360 degree consumer experience
'cultural event not just another superhero film'
regulation
• The BBFC (an independent, non-governmental
body) classifies film and video releases in the
UK. However, local councils have the power
to overrule BBFC decisions and rate films
differently (e.g. This is England was rated 18
by the BBFC but several councils rated it 15).
• The theatrical release of Black Panther
gained a 12a certificate. Look at the BBFC
website for what constitutes a 12a
Cultural industries – David Hesmondhalgh
this film has a very low risk for the producers.
The character of T’Challa and Wakanda were
introduced in Captain America: Civil War, the
comic is over 50 years old, and all previous
Marvel films have been hugely successful. On
the other hand, having such an Afrocentric
film could have been seen as a commercial
risk, especially outside the USA and Africa.
Curran and Seaton ‐ Media and power
limited creativity when making mainstream films as they are a big company and know their product Is gonna get sold
Black panther party
A activist group that stood against police brutality and many were killed