Further Thoughts on Black Panther

Just a general geek-out post about the level of care and thought that went into Black Panther.  Today, I’m looking at the makeup of Wakanda itself.  The film has so much to love about it – the characters, the themes, the action sequences – but I always come back to Wakanda’s as the greatest of the film’s many assets.

At every level, from the sets to the costumes to the dances, a huge deal of thought went into the look and feel of Wakanda.  It’s critical that this technologically-advanced kingdom has an aesthetic entirely its own.  Because Wakanda is a country entirely its own.  Unlike the rest of Africa, it was untouched by colonization and slavery, so its culture has no western influence.  It has technology and advancements beyond any developed nation, but it grew independently of any of them and so has a distinctly-African look unlike any city in any world-power country.  All of Wakanda’s architecture is embellished with vibrant colors and bold designs, and one of their key pieces of technology, their kimoyo beads, also serves as jewelry.

Many designers working on the production have discussed using multiple African countries as inspiration for the look of Wakanda, and similarly, a number of the actors use different accents from different countries.  I certainly understand arguments that this pan-African aesthetic could feel lazy or overly generic, that it contributes to a sense of “Africa” as one big country instead of an enormous continent made up of dozens of distinct cultures.  However, this was a conscious decision from the production team, one not made out of laziness or ignorance.

Instead (as Chadwick Boseman explained when he appeared on The Daily Show,) the purpose of the pan-African sensibility is twofold.  First is the idea that Wakanda is the oldest nation on earth, that all African cultures have their roots in Wakanda.  Over millennia, peoples have spread out across the continent and developed in different ways, but no matter how far they’ve gone or how much time has passed, we see the different hints of Wakanda that have remained in their cultures and traditions.

Second, Boseman pointed to a greater emotional purpose, a way of claiming Wakanda for all of Africa and the whole of the diaspora.  Those who worked on the film brought the individual customs, designs, and even accents that resonate with them, that remind them where they come from.  All this brings a truth to the film that would have been hard to fake, along with a universality that makes room for all Africans and African-Americans who want to take ownership of the “Wakanda forever” symbol.

I would have been impressed anyway by all the obvious dedication and talent poured into creating Wakanda onscreen.  But this careful consideration and emotional truth only makes me love it more.