Public Thinking Event: Black Panther

On February 14, for our first Public Thinking Event of the semester, we focused on the release of the upcoming film Black Panther. We asked attendees to review and chime in on some of the reasons why various commentators thought that the film was so important. We also asked attendees to collectively come up with some of their own reasons why they thought Black Panther was such a significant cultural event.

Why the film matters:

Black Panther is important as it finally provides a comic-inspired movie that places black people at the center of the plot, without needing assistance from white counterparts. Black representation is rich as the black characters are the superheroes, not sidekicks, and are not in need of a white savior to resolve all conflicts. –Rae’Jean Spears

Those of us who are not white have considerably more trouble not only finding representation of ourselves in mass media and other arenas of public life, but also finding representation that indicates that our humanity is multi¬faceted. Relating to characters onscreen is necessary not merely for us to feel seen and understood, but also for others who need to see and understand us. When it doesn’t happen, we are all the poorer for it. This is one of the many reasons Black Panther is significant. –Jamil Smith

Related:
• Spring 2018 Programming