Black Panther director Ryan Coogler pens a touching thank you to fans

Opening night in Oakland, CA included many dashikis, lots of dancing, and a surprise appearance from hometown boy Ryan Coogler!

http://abc7news.com/video/embed/?pid=3092859

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OK maybe this was an unfair characterization but did anyone else realize that the last thing T’Challa did before the credits rolled was to gentrify a low-income Oakland neighborhood?

I thought he bought just one building that was already condemned for an outreach center. Or did I miss a detail…

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He bought at least three adjoining buildings for cultural and scientific outreach centers. While I’m sure that would be good for Oakland’s economy I bet you could also expect to see rents in that neighborhood skyrocket.

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“See, and this is why we never left Wakanda in the past…”

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Understatement. I the costume designers must’ve had the funnest job on the crew.

That was my thought as well.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think that’s overthinking it a bit. :wink:

That is to say, given that it’s a comic book universe, I think they magic away a lot of the logistics of real life. I mean, the Marvel universe comes within a centimeter of annihilation several times a year. Ain’t no one living in the universe without some serious PTSD. And the economics of clobbering New York would frighten even the most committed Keynesian. And where the hell does SHIELD get its endless funding from? I don’t see any Inhuman bake sales. And Tony Stark tried to hook the East Coast power grid up to an arc reactor he plugged in himself. I assume he budgets for assassination attempts by Koch Industries.

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Nazi gold?

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You’re right of course, in a comic book universe that would be an unqualified good for the community. The gentrification issue just occurred to me because it was a pretty hot topic when I was living in Oakland.

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Actually kinda describes the brief female singer for Gwar, if you look up all the stuff she got up to.

My thought, every time this comes up: Pop culture has a term for “Mary Sue” but no real equivalent for a male character exhibiting the same praeternatural skills and abilities. In fantastical stories, sometimes a character is just superhumanly good at things. It’s nothing that needs defending or calling out.

A “Mary Sue” is more of a self-insert. A character that is so idealized and perfect that they are a wish fulfilment proxy for the author. You could call the male equivalent “Gary Sue” or just “Mary Sue” as the term isn’t generally considered to be gendered despite the origins.

Wouldn’t it be Hydra gold?

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Since they fought both - que the “why not both?” gal.

Yes, 3D printing: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/23/movies/black-panther-afrofuturism-costumes-ruth-carter.html

I figured it had to be. I was mesmerized when it came on the screen.

What is unfortunately is that the term has morphed away from that. The MRA crowd has clamped onto it and use it as their battle cry for anytime a successful powerful female character appears. Look at Star Wars and compare Rey to Luke. Both backwater nobodies who quickly can master the force. Rey is automatically assumed to be a Mary Sue where Luke was never held to such ridiculous standards.

Anytime now I see someone use that term and fling it at a fictional character I must now always evaluate the source and look for the internalized misogyny.

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