A dad’s review of Black Panther, guest blogger Fred

“a real shame that Black Panther, a movie unique for its black star power and its many thoughtful portrayals of strong black women, depends on a shocking devaluation of black American men.” Boston Review

“I started a new job a few months ago and have been buried. I stuck my head up from beneath a mountain of paper last night and finally took the kids to see Black Panther. I've been looking forward to it because I'd heard some pretty good things about it from people whose opinions I value. And about mid-movie I started questioning the intelligence of my friends. And yet I sat there with my children, all the way until the final moralistic preening message of responsibility and sharing. I really did want to like this movie.

After the movie I talked to my kids about how unlikely it is that a single spectacular resource (even extraterritorial Vibranium) could enable a people to master the physics of aerodynamics, the science of medicine and the fiction of anti-gravity. (Otherwise, perhaps Botswana would live in diamond palaces and be free of HIV/AIDS.)

I told them about the plight of Venezuela, with its fantastic climate, beaches and oil riches. I talked about the century (or so) of "enlightened" thought that enabled American forefathers to create a system of government that established God-given rights to the individual, supplanting what were previously the rights of society and/or the government. I told them about the principles (and hard work) behind laissez-faire economics, arguably the single greatest factor in driving the most extraordinary technological advancements in history.

But a discussion (that sounds more like a lecture from dad) simply can't compete with Hollywood's CGI, 3D soundscape and idealistic naïveté of a better future.”