Black History Month Special: Psychology Analysis of the Movie Black Panther I

The Darkness Hidden Under the Glorious Wakanda

— A film analysis concerning aversive racism and social domains

In memory of Chadwick Boseman

Happy Black History Month! In February, we celebrate Black history and heritage. One of my films in which African-Americans act the leading roles has always been the Black Panther.

With the advent of the 21st new era, racial conflicts in the United States has once again intensified with the economic crisis in the morass of epidemic. Minority groups like black Americans are still sinking into poverty, drugs, and street violence. The news that the American police wantonly shoot and kill innocent blacks hasn’t been a common occurrence; while many black people are entitled to earn the right for a change, how is it possible if the system itself is corrupted by some racist statesmen who abuse their white privileges?

The most phony and ironic kind of racism is delineated as aversive racism-the behavior in which people consciously, and explicitly support a racial group in an egalitarian way but unconsciously harbor negative associations toward the group. Firstly, the conflict in the story was initiated by such awful racism that was instilled in the antagonist’s mind ever since he was young. Compared to T’Challa who grew up like a baby in a cradle in Wakanda, everything seemed more than unfair to Eric Killmonger. He lost his father since he was a child, and he couldn't recognize his ancestors because of his father's involvement. Growing up in a helpless environment, on the street, and under the influence of racism, he was left with meager love and became a cold-hearted killer. The villain’s words and deeds were however contradictory; although he killed people, his original intention was actually hopeful, that is, he wanted the oppressed black people of the world to stand up. He seemed to have a universal value that even Wakanda lacked; nevertheless, it is worth noting that the peace he called for was not real peace but the ambition to build another empire. His disguise can be seen through his turning against to his own people from Wakanda. There are three different social domains and they are largely influenced by the past childhood experiences. Specifically, he threw a bomb to T’Challa and his accompanies when they captured Klaue; he seemed to be in love with his African-descendant girlfriend who helped him steal the artifact, while the split second he killed her when Klaue held her in hostage. How can this be called heroism if his moral domain was evaporated and he instead chose his psychological aspect to follow his own motive as building a dictatorial regime. However, T’Challa was conflicted between morality dilemma and personal dilemma. At the end of the movie, the Wakanda King accepted the villain's point of view and shared the domestic technology and resources with the world. In terms of growth, he chose to take the risk and show his country’s true strength in front of the world as a peaceful way to improve the status of black people around the world and work hard to improve their lives. In this way, the image of a kind-hearted, powerful king who strived to protect his subjects is fresh on the screen.

On the other hand, the role of agent Ross serves as a sharp contrast to aversive racism. During the shootout, Ross was dying from a spine injury to protect black panther’s ex-girlfriend. Just when Killmonger was preparing to transport weapons to the world and sabotage world peace, T'Challa came to challenge him and commanded an army to kill T’Challa . Agent Ross contributed significantly in the fight: he drove the plane to abort the enemies’ plan. This can also be explained by the assigned article written by Gaertner and Dovidio:

Supportive of the hypothesis concerning how cooperation reduces bias, among participants induced to feel like two groups, the introduction of cooperative interaction increased their perceptions of one group and also reduced their bias in evaluative ratings relative to those who did not cooperate during the contact period. (p. 626) ¹

Indeed, in-group identity can mitigate the aversive racism. Here, both agent Ross and T’Challa had the same goal—to protect the world peace and their same enemy was Killmonger. Cooperation reduces bias, and this finding explains why agent Ross as a white male could work efficiently and prejudice-free with people in Wakanda. It is also interesting how T’challa took agent Ross back to Wakanda for treatment regardless of the risk of exposure. Here his morale domain again appears. As the king of a country and the patron saint of a country, he was very conflicted because it might risk revealing the country’s greatest secrets, other countries’ swarming to grab resources, and being enslaved and abused to repeat the history. He agreed because he was guilty of his father’s wrong behavior. In order to compete with Killmonger for the throne, when facing such an enemy who almost killed him, he also gave him a chance to survive when he could kill him without blinking his eyes.

All in all, the movie successfully includes colorful African cultural aspects and parallels the black empowerment; “Black Panther Party” in 1966 was established to change the lives of suffering black people but it was attacked by white supremacists. The movie Black Panther reverses the roles of the black and the white and brings black descendants under the spotlight with advanced technology as a strong support. However, whether it is the high-tech spacecraft at the beginning, the gold mine under the building, or the simulated spacecraft of Wakanda, no matter how colorful the "African Futurism" dresses Wakanda, it cannot conceal its backwardness in the political system. Isn’t this still a feudal monarchy composed of several tribes that retains hereditary system? If absolutely shutting down the country would be excusable, but spies alone would be sent out countless. If it is because of poverty, it is excusable, but Wakanda is the richest country in the world. Just when Killmonger killed people at will, the people watching on the waterfall did not even stop it. The Royal Guard continued to be loyal to the new king regardless of black and white. This system seems to be more or less sloppy. Last but not least, the notion of “an African country hidden underground” also implies negative connotations. It is ironic how an African country is strong and free of colonization or slavery only when it is self-fettered and closed to the rest of the world. The idea of the isolation of Wakanda is now seemly a product of aversive racism itself.

References

Gaertner, S. L., & Dovidio, J. F. (2005). Understanding and addressing contemporary racism: From aversive racism to the common ingroup identity model. Journal of Social Issues, 61(3), 615–639. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2005.00424.x