The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Powerful women support the ‘Black Panther’
With a 100 percent positive score on Rotten Tomatoes and a predicted blockbuster opening, Marvel’s “Black Panther” is likely to go down in cinema history as the most successful movie boasting a black superhero.
But part of what makes “Black Panther” so special is the range and depth of the female characters who pop up in the movie’s fictional Wakanda, an African nation preparing for a transition of power.
The king has just died and his son T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) – aka Black Panther – is about to assume the throne. But there’s trouble on the horizon thanks to the appearance of bad guy Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). T’Challa, aided by scores of powerful females, aims to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people. So, who’s on T’Challa’s team? There’s Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), T’Challa’s mother; Shuri (Letitia Wright), T’Challa’s genius sister; Okoyo (Danai Gurira), the chief of T’Challa’s team of female bodyguards; and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), a former lover of T’Challa’s who now works as a spy.
An Oscar winner for “12 Years a Slave,” Nyong’o was overjoyed to be helping tell a story in which the female characters are wholly supportive of each other.
“There’s [usually] a competitive spirit [among female characters]…but this film freezes all that,” notes the actress. “And we see women going about their business and supporting each other. Even when they argue with each other, and have different points of view, they are still not against each other.
“I think that’s extremely important…[also because] there’s so many of us in the film, we really get a sense of the fabric of Wakanda as a nation. We see women alongside men and we see how much more effective a society can be if it allows women to explore their full potential.”
In some ways, T’Challa’s kid sister Shuri is presented as more intelligent even than her older brother. It is Shuri, after all, who is responsible for concocting futuristic technology which helps to keep Wakanda afloat.
British actress Letitia Wright was pleased not only with the irresistible way that Shuri was conceived by screenwriters Ryan Coogler (who also directed) and Joe Robert Cole but also by the depiction of the men in power.
“What I love about [the movie] is [how supportive the men are],” she says. “The men aren’t, like,‘You shouldn’t be in technology, and you shouldn’t be in math.’ They’re like, ‘No, go ahead.’ T’Challa is, like, ‘Go ahead, Sis. This is your department. This is your domain. Kill it.’
“He says, ‘Just do your thing. Stay in your lane.’ That’s the mentality of the king, and that’s brilliant. Everybody’s got their own lane….So I think] she’s cooler than him but not smarter than him.”
Coogler (“Fruitvale Station,” “Creed”) credits many of the women behind-the-scenes with helping him shape the world of “Black Panther.”
“They weren’t hired because they were women, they were hired because they were the best for the job,” says Coogler of cinematographer Rachel Morrison, costume designer Ruth E. Carter, production designer Hannah Beachler, assistant director Lisa Satriano, co-editor Debbie Berman and exec producer Victoria Alonso.
“I was incredibly blessed to have these people, to have their perspective and fingerprints all over [the movie].”
For her part, Angela Bassett was happy that “Black Panther” celebrated the African tradition of prizing strong, powerful women.
“I was so pleased that this story…supported the [concept] that, in African culture, they feel as if there is no king without a queen…. I think this story highlights the queen as warrior and the young sister too.
“So I was so proud to have my daughter, and my son [see the movie] last night because…they were feeling themselves.
“And they stood taller after last night.”