"Black Panther" ignores what it should have been amazing: the social structure of Wakanda

Monica 2021-10-19 10:01:10

Before the Black Panther was released, what attracted me the most was Wakanda's unique flat land buffing method as a "haven". With the blessings of God and getting inexhaustible energy, how will a social system independent of the global secular world be different from our lives? What originality will there be in terms of social structure and civic thinking? How do people live, walk, and work there? How does Wakanda's advanced social structure break through our imagination and surprise us laymen?
It's a pity that the movie didn't give an answer.

There are basically three dimensions to the depiction of Wakanda. One is the macroscopic view of the entire city, with African-style magic buildings; the other is the close-up of specific streets. The side stalls are booming; the third is the advanced modern maglev train and advanced laboratory in the cave. However, in close scrutiny, the overall social scene is difficult to justify.

First of all, what is the mode of production in Wakanda society? With unlimited energy, how can the machinery in the factory use energy for production? What role does artificial force play in this society? Are there countless middle-class white-collar workers in high-rise buildings? How does their financial industry develop? If you have the material guarantee of abundance, what is the way of life and entertainment for the people of Wakanda? There is not a single screen.

Secondly, why do civilians who should have a high level of social development still keen on eating roadside stalls? Why is the traditional small commodity economy so developed? The bustling street scene in the film is not like an advanced city that uses "lively bazaars" as enjoyable experiential consumption, but more like a market that plays a basic "commodity exchange" function in an ordinary small town in an African country in the stereotype. Therefore, this kind of civic life is completely incompatible with the advanced social structure it should have.

You may have to say that, the city streets in "Blade Runner" are also full of poor people at the bottom, people are also eating roadside stalls, even in the future of advanced technology, there will still be poor people. ? That's right, because the setting of "Blade Runner" itself acquiesces that the gap between rich and poor will be greater in the future, and technology has created a different way of life, and the social structure remains unchanged. In "Black Panther", the social structure is not clear at all. The movie itself created the illusion of the Shengming monarch protecting the people. In theory, the gap between the rich and the poor in society should not be too large. Should everyone be self-sufficient, self-conscious, and self-aware like communism? However, there are only a large number of citizens in the film, without showing the middle and high class, the elite class and the oligarchs. If the Black Panther family knows everything except the citizens, then the social structure should be quite primitive, backward and authoritarian, which is too far from the image of the "compassionate" king.

The biggest bug is that Wakandari, who has advanced technology, cannot see the intellectual elite, nor can he see the consciousness of the citizens. Those high-rise buildings, those maglev trains and advanced weapons must have been iteratively developed by generations of intellectuals, and the only intellect in the film is the sister of the Panthers, and there is no second scientific researcher, teasing me Woolen cloth?

In addition, the setting of the villain is also very speechless.
Just like Hawking has been calling for so long not to take the initiative to contact life in outer space, SpaceX still proudly sailed into the depths of the universe; so many science fiction movies depict terrible artificial intelligence, Facebook and Google are still sparing no effort to develop AI technology. As a collective unconscious, human’s greedy desire cannot be imprisoned at all. “Even if I don’t do it, someone will do it, so I have to do more not to fall behind.” This is the instinctive driving force for human development. I don’t believe in watts. No one in Kanda society wants to connect with the outside world and use unlimited energy for personal gain, which is simply contrary to human nature. If I were to change the script, the villain of the first part of "Black Panther" would definitely come from the researchers inside Wakanda. They wanted to use advanced technology and energy to trade with the outside world, and even to contact outer space. The leader had to think about the issue of truly opening up to all mankind. Such a setting is much more realistic than the race for the throne.
I beg, the supposedly developed social structure is still choosing the regime through armed struggle, and if you have the throne, everyone else is convinced. If the throne is robbed, you can easily take it back? There is no political system at all, and the plot is developed solely on the basis of the sense of justice in the screenwriter's mind.



In short, the Wakanda society itself in "Black Panther" should have a lot to do, which can amaze all our laymen. This requires a mastery of the laws of human development and a rich sociological imagination to build a A paradise that justifies it, not the illusory scene that is completely overhead. I am so disappointed.

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Extended Reading

Black Panther quotes

  • Nakia: Eyes up. Americans. I count three.

    Okoye: Five. How could you miss Greased Lightning there behind you?

    T'Challa: [noticing Ross] Six. Just spotted an old friend who works for the CIA. It just got a little more complicated.

  • T'Challa: Agent Ross.

    Everett K. Ross: Your Highness.

    T'Challa: You are buying from Klaue.

    Everett K. Ross: What I'm doing or not doing on behalf of the U.S. government is none of your concern. Now, whatever the hell you're up to, do me a favor, stay out of my way.

    T'Challa: I gave you Zemo.

    Everett K. Ross: Didn't I keep it under wraps that the king of a third-world country runs around in a bulletproof cat suit? I'd say we were even. You really need to leave, now.

    T'Challa: Klaue is leaving out that door with me. You've been warned.