Wakanda forever, am I right, folks? Wow, what a film! As an ally of all disenfranchised people, I logged into my Fandango premium account several months ago and bought a ticket to the midnight premiere of Black Panther. Supporting such an important movie was a no-brainer for me, an extremely woke white person. I always support black creators and narratives when it’s socially beneficial and convenient for me to do so, and this is definitely one of those times. Most importantly, by seeing this historic film on opening night, I think I’ve bought myself a few more years of ignoring my cavernous personal well of implicit racism.
You better believe I opened my various social media platforms and signal boosted Black Panther to all of my friends and communities as soon as I walked out of the theater. Sure, everyone I follow on every social network is also a white person who’s posting about Black Panther, but I think it’s still important for me to get the word out. I’m not calling myself a hero for doing it, but it would be nice to get acknowledged as a friend of all people, races, and creeds.
By focusing on posting about this film across social media, I sure as heck won’t have the mental bandwidth to open my Twitter profile and realize I’m not following any black folks on there. I’m following three celebrity dogs on Instagram and not a single black person? That’s awful! But, confronting the terrible reality of my implicit bias would be a nightmare, so I refuse to do it. It’s much easier to go see a movie starring black actors and then act like deep-seated racism doesn’t constantly distort my daily outlook. Seriously, though, Killmonger was such a nuanced villain. You have to go see this movie.
My favorite two movies of the past calendar year? Obviously Get Out and Black Panther! I mean come on. They’re such important films, I could go on and on about them. You want me to name a black person I’ve elevated in my professional field using my immense systemic privilege? I’ll have to get back to you on that. Can we please continue talking about Black Panther instead? What a fun and lively movie-going experience. I only shushed people twice during the movie, which is a record low for me.
I sincerely hope after the huge success of Black Panther, Hollywood wakes up and realizes it’s time to stop making monochromatic superhero movies. Movies like Black Panther need to become the norm rather than the exception. I can’t wait to tell that supremely good opinion to the only black person with whom I’m friends. Well, we’re not friends so much as people who go to the same barber. I could learn his name, but my energy would be much better spent actively ignoring the fact that I’ve never dated anyone who doesn’t look exactly like me. It’s exhausting being such an incredible ally, but somehow I manage to do it.