Marvel’s Black Panther (BP) was more than just black empowerment - it was about female strength!
If you’ve watched the movie yet you would know that it hit a home run when it comes to basically everything. From the storyline to the depth of the characters and the overall message of Wakanda being a sort of African utopia – the movie was near perfect.
But what really caught my eye was its representation of women.
Unlike in most superheroes movies where women are usually portrayed as the damsel in distress e.g. Marvel’s Spiderman, the Hulk and Iron Man – BP took a completely different stance on the females in its movie.
Usually when you watch superhero movies you’re always left wishing these superheroes were real and they could come to save you from some greater evil out there – but after BP I felt like the superhero.
Here are 3 things that left me feeling invincible after Black Panther
*Huge spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk
1. T’Challa’s love interest
Nakia (played by Lupita Nyong’o) is anything but a damsel in distress.
The movie starts with her mid-mission saving enslaved women in Nigeria. Black Panther ‘interrupts’ her mission – much to her annoyance – to tell her that his father has died and he would be taking over the throne in Wakanda.
Throughout the movie, Nakia is portrayed as a trusted advisor to T’Challa and even saves him after he almost dies. He asks her multiple times to be his queen but she has other plans to fight for women around the world.
Nakia is a representation of an independent woman who follows her dreams and lets nothing stop her and T’Challa loves her for it.
2. The Dora Milajae
Black Panther’s body guards are all female and they’re badass!
Their general, Okoye (Danai Gurira) is the epitome of strength. I dare say that without Black Panther’s super human powers – she would definitely kick his butt in a fight.
When the men of Wakhanda turned their back on T’Challa, the women fought them until they finally surrendered. Okoye was even prepared to kill her husband for the King because that was her duty. They protected their King at all costs that showed strength, power and resilience.
3. The master mind behind the technology
T’Challa’s sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) was the mastermind behind the technology that created Black Panther’s suit. Not only was she behind the suit but she is also pioneering medical science that that healed Everett K Ross after he took a bullet to the spine and Buck Barnes from Avengers: Civil War (watch Black Panther until after the credits to see).
This showed that women can be innovative and not just secretaries (Tony Stark).
The huge supporting roles in the movie were given to strong black women who didn’t need saving but rather protected the main character. We weren’t belittled or weakened and that’s what makes Black Panther revolutionary.
I can only hope that Marvel will carry on portraying women like this in the movies to come because little and big girls (like me) need to know that they too can be powerful and that they can be superheroes too.
Thank you Marvel
