Should Non-Black People watch Black Panther?
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Film and television have always been dominated by white actors. Characters that should really be portrayed by black/Hispanic/Arabic etc people have been inappropriately handed to white actors. Now that the general public is savvier to the film industry’s attempts to ‘whitewash’ everything, there is a huge demand for more diversity in movies, and roles to be played by an actor of applicable race. If you look at films such as Noah (in which Russell Crowe and Emma Watson portray characters of Middle Eastern descent) and The Hunger Games (Jennifer Lawrence playing a character described as ‘olive-skinned’ with dark features), you can see that actors of colour have unfairly missed out.
This is why Black Panther is such a big deal. For once, African characters are being played by African Americans and people from other countries who are also of African descent. It’s an overdue but huge step in the right direction for the film industry.
However, this film has brought out a lot of trolls who are trying to sabotage the movie and create racial division. If you see any of these tweets on your timeline, please be aware that they are fake profiles:
https://twitter.com/levon_whiteguy/status/962221652984696832
WHITE PEOPLE BLACK PANTHER RULES
Do not see the movie in first week so that PoC have a chance to see it first. If you've already bought tickets, give them to a PoC.
Post a positive review at Rotten Tomatoes. Do not wait to see the movie first.
Sit in the back of the theater. pic.twitter.com/SZYLKjeknm
— Dr. Ashanti Van Buren (@AshantiVanBuren) February 3, 2018
There have been reports of disgruntled people leaving poor Rotten Tomatoes reviews of Black Panther just to try and undermine it. It’s childish, spiteful and racist but luckily, most of the real film experts and journalists have already remarked what an amazing film it is. We all know why people are trying to sabotage it. Put simply, a lot of people want Black Panther to fail so that they can justify whitewashing in the future.
The best thing to happen to Black Panther would be if every single screening all over the world was completely sold out for the first few weeks. The actors and crew behind the movie will want it to break records and become the highest grossing film of the year.
That is why it is complete madness to try and exclude non-black people from watching it. Some people have demanded that non-black people don’t attempt to view the movie in its first few weeks. Why? Even if it means missing out on tickets for the first few screenings, it is in everybody’s best interest to ensure that this movie is in high demand. The more of a frenzy we can create around this movie, the more likely other production companies are to leave the whitewashing behind.