Is Wakanda Truly Forever?

 Week 13 Response:

In the Frieze article "The Limits of Black Panther's Afrofuturism," Gerry Canavan critiques Ryan Coogler's 2018 film Black Panther for having a limited and superficial portrayal of Afrofuturism that fails to effectively challenge the damaging structures of power and oppression that are found in our world. Canavan admits that Black Panther is a noteworthy milestone for black representation in Hollywood. However, he argues that Wakanda, the fictional black nation and setting of the film, is depicted as too much of an isolated utopia, which ultimately fails to confront the nonfictional systems of oppression that are continually reproduced to impact black people around the world. What Canavan is saying is that while Black Panther was a Hollywood blockbuster that introduced many Afrofuturist ideals to the mainstream, it created a world that is too removed from our real world history to ever actually reimagine the societal structures it is trying to address in a uniquely impactful and lasting way. 

Canavan's critique of Black Panther in his article is thought provoking and important because it uncovers what he believes to be a shallow attempt at an afrofuturist vision, while also highlighting the endless possibilities of what the afrofuturism genre can be. Canavan ultimately finds dissatisfaction in Black Panther's "afrofuturist" portrayal of Wakanda as a technologically rich and culturally rich African society because its story is too simple to continually evolve and impact society in a new way each time it is reproduced.