There's no place like this to call home

[sovay]

And later in the afternoon, I combined the prevailing concerns of the last twenty-four hours and saw Ryan Coogler's Black Panther (2018) at the Capitol Theatre with gaudior and rushthatspeaks. I can't write about it right now, but it's a gorgeous film: worldbuilding, performances, music, myth, serious and beautifully realized Afrofuturism. The thing where if you get enough women in the same cast together, they have conversations about honor and technology, not just men. I want my toolkit-loving niece to be old enough to show her this film for Shuri. Casino shootouts and war rhinos. Maybe the next time Nabiyah Be's on film, she'll get to sing. Once upon a time the most familiar way into this story would have been through the eyes of Ross of the CIA, and this is not his movie.

Comments

[genarti]

Yes, yes, yes. I've only seen Black Panther once, and I need to fix that.

[justice_turtle]

I loved that the one time the two white characters talked to each other, they were talking entirely about the black characters and Wakanda.

(I loved everything else too but that really struck me, the race Bechdel or whatever one calls it. I’m not sure about using “reverse” in this context — I’m not quite awake enough to parse out the syntax of it — but *inarticulate hand gestures* that. That was neat.)

[asakiyume]

Looking forward to seeing it, hopefully while it's still on the big screen.

[dhampyresa]

Black Panther is AMZING and Shuri is the best!

[gwynnega]

I haven't managed to see it yet, but I will in the next week or so!

[kore]

Once upon a time the most familiar way into this story would have been through the eyes of Ross of the CIA, and this is not his movie.

YES, THAT. And in the earlier films he would've been sympathetic, and in the later films he would've been a symbol of colonialism, and in this he's just a bit player. Loved it.

[lillibet]

One of my favorite reactions was a friend's daughter who said afterward that she wishes we'd got to see Shuri's girlfriend. My friend asked "Did they mention Shuri having a girlfriend?" and the kid said "Nah, but don't you think she has one? And she'd have to be really cool."