It has now been a little over a week since Black Panther officially opened in theaters and I am fresh off seeing it yet again. And, if the information is correct, the movie has made over $700 million at the box office in the 10 days since its release. Plus, it looks as if the movie will hit $1 billion (yes, billion-with-a-B) in less than a month from date of release.
It really should surprise nobody that the reaction to the movie has been this positive and strong.
Black Panther is a movie with a Black protagonist that isn't about U.S. chattel slavery, the modern-era Civil Rights Movement, or some magical Negro who saves the day for white people.
Black Panther is a movie in which ALL of the main characters are Black and nobody is a drug addict, a pimp/prostitute, an incarcerated person, a formerly incarcerated person, a con artist, or any other stereotype that America has perpetuated for time immemorial.
Black Panther is a movie in which Black people are living normal lives. (strange to say that about a superhero movie, but it's the truth)
In short, Black Panther is Black people being able to be Black without the white gaze.
And damn, if that ain't something joyous.
So if you want to understand why Black Panther is breaking records all over the place, know that the reason we say #WakandaForever is most people of color never get to see ourselves without the white gaze mediating it. It's truly something special.
more on what Wakanda has to tell Unitarian Universalism later.
