The dramaturgical views presented in the film Black Panther are based on existing African cultures portrayed through African costumes. Throughout the Black Panther, several dramaturgical aspects mark specific cultural milestones, and the fictional state of African culture in Wakanda which were adeptly represented. It is the story of T’Challa, the leader of Wakanda, who has supernatural powers, but he is challenged by an adversary who plans for a global revolution.
Dramaturgy Concepts
The basic concepts of dramaturgy include; Challenging the Power Structures, vibrancy, spirituality, identity, and communalism within African and African American societies. The male characters are reacting to challenging situations with vibrancy and violence, usually in vain. But just like the other action movies, women moderate the flow of the film by leaping into action and influencing the activities of the men (Johnson, 2017). On viewing the film from a post-colonial perspective, there are significant conflicting images about African-Americans. Notably, the depiction in the movie is a self-reliant and proud African people who outshine the typical depictions of black people in an American film.
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On the other hand, there are some aspects of colonialism embodied in the entire film. The film reveals the colonial traffic supremacy to a higher level, rather than concentrating on scientific inclinations for a prosperous society, citing that Wakanda is advanced in technology (Breznican, 2017). Additionally, Africa has been identified as a dark continent where the Westerners still hold the colonial stereotypes and infight among the tribes. The film clarifies issues of black empowerment and presents safe concepts for whites to view blacks. Strategically, the role of the aristocracy and African loyalty has been criticized, where mortal combats are used to determine leadership (Breznican, 2015). The film is a black movie, having so much weight on the black audience that has experienced under-representation for a very long time.
Analysis
The back region is depicted in the film where Zuri disguises information regarding his undercover partner, N’Jobu (Hoer, 2007). When King Chadwick Boseman (T’Chaka), realized that his brother N’Jobu was assisting the black-market dealers in stealing vibranium from Wakanda, he killed him. He ordered Zuri to lie that N’Jobu got lost (Strom, 2014). To maintain the lie, Zuri added that N’Jobu left behind his American son who grew up as Stevens, but later on, adopted the name “Killmonger.” After King T’Chaka died, his son T’Challa took over kingship according to the tradition. T’Challa approaches Zuri to get information about N’Jobu (Naylor 2019). Zuri explains to T’Challa that N’Jobu wanted to share the Wakandan technology with Africans to help them conquer their oppressors. However, as Killmonger kills Klaue, he is taken to Wakanda before the tribal leaders, where he reveals his identity to be N’Jadaka. Killmonger plans for a combat ritual where he tackles Zuri and kills him and overpowers T’Challa who is later presumed dead, after that he ingests the heart-shaped herb.
The front region and sign vehicles are still evident in the film, and they form a more significant part of the main themes (Johnson, 2017). To begin with, N’Jobu appears to be more secure with the Wakandan identity, but he is cited as a traitor when he was realized to be revealing the secrets of Wakanda to the outsiders. Killmonger’s personality appears to conflict with itself. He is faced with struggles that he can never understand. Killmonger has un-ending hatred for T’Challa and the people of Wakanda, and on the other hand, he is attempting to destroy the western identity. Killmonger gets pride and pleasure in his dual citizenship and expresses his flaunting African-American dialect in the throne room to needle down the Wakandans (Johnson, 2017). Immediately, he changes to Xhosa, changing the demeanor of the Wakanda showing his duality in language and identity.
Secondly, T’Challa struggles to reveal his true identity by fighting Killmonger, who seems to be more powerful. After being defeated by Killmonger in the first combat ritual, T’Challa is taken by Nakia, who uses her herbs to cure him (Eells, 2018). T’Challa is determined to fight Killmonger and succeeds in stabbing him through his Black Panther suit. After accomplishing his mission, T’Challa proceeds to the United Nations to reveal the true nature of the Wakanda community to the world. The people of Wakanda hold onto their traditions to keep themselves safe from outside incursion (Hoer, 2007). Throughout the film, T’Challa struggles to establish a balance in upholding the old ways as well as leading Wakandans though the future. Additionally, Killmonger reveals his true self by choosing to die a free man rather than being healed by the herbs or be incarcerated.
Lastly, a dramatic realization is another concept depicted mainly in the film ( Johnson, 2017). The Wakandans concurrently fight against the colonialists M’Baku, Killmonger, and Klaue. Killmonger decides to exploit the ritual combat tradition to take the throne and hand over the Wakandan culture into the hands of outsiders. Killmonger conducts several dramatic changes in Wakanda’s position, thus threatening the Wakandans’ way of life (Coogler 2019). As a result, T’Challa realizes that holding onto the Western cultures rigidly may lead to stagnation; therefore, there is a need for action to strengthen the country.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the film Black Panther is an excellent illustration of the African-American identity, described as feuding ancestries brought together by a hyphen. There is a tension of being an African American in the sense that blacks are not wholly accepted as Americans. However, the African American identity has been forced by circumstance and history, and therefore, it is hard for the Americans to reject it.
References
Breznican, Anthony (July 23, 2017). "Black Panther cast details their secret Comic-Con footage" . Entertainment Weekly .
Breznican, Anthony (December 2, 2015). "Black Panther: Meet Marvel's fearsome warrior from Captain America: Civil War" . Entertainment Weekly .
Hoerl, K. (2007). Mario Van Peebles's Panther and Popular Memories of the Black Panther Party. Critical Studies in Media Communication , 24 (3), 206-227.
Naylor, T. (2019). Paratextual Battlegrounds and Critical Power Struggles: Justice League, Black Panther, and Contemporary Film Reception (Doctoral dissertation, University of Huddersfield).
Ongiri, A. A. (2009). Spectacular blackness: The cultural politics of the black power movement and the search for a black aesthetic . University of Virginia Press.
Strom, Marc (October 28, 2014). "Chadwick Boseman to Star in Marvel's Black Panther" . Marvel.com .
Johnson, Tre (October 17, 2017). "Black Superheroes Matter: Why a 'Black Panther' Movie Is Revolutionary" . Rolling Stone .
Eells, Josh (February 18, 2018). "The 'Black Panther' Revolution" . Rolling Stone
Coogler R. (2019). Black Panther (film). Grade Saver.
