In today’s society, heroic power and masculinity may typically often fall hand-in-hand in the stories or movies we are told or taught from a young age. In all the stories of the heroes, more often than not, the hero tends to be a male. The role of the hero matches the description as any other hero from any other television show or book series. Picture this: you’re watching Iron Man and notice the similarities between Tony Stark and all the other heroes. There’s Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Thor, and many more. Notice the similarities? The heroic role they play is almost identical to each other; tall white men in masks and tights fighting battles just for other problems to arise almost as quickly as it showed.
In the article “Can’t We All Just Get Along? Black Panther Is Revolutionist History” by Briana Lawrence, it mentions a superhero new to the public and new to the screens, Black Panther. The significance of this story is not just another character devised to trick youngsters into paying eight dollars for a movie ticket, but instead to open the world’s eyes that not all superheroes are white men. In the storyline of this film, it follows the main character, Black Panther who comes across a problem (or several) and finds a way to diminish it without it stirring back up. This already differs from the “normal” roles that have been played because he defies the odds against him while also maintaining a character that rebels against the “social norm”.
This character was created to inspire those who may not fall into the categories as the other superheroes, the kids who have possibly never had a role model to look up to and Black Panther was it for them. The significance of Black Panther being played by a black character, with cast full of mostly colored people was to represent those who have maybe not felt represented before. The significance was to challenge the “normal” roles we have watched on television for decades and decades. It is a movie of hope and diversity to show people all over the world that superheroes or role models of any kind, do not always look the same. This movie was a stepping stone in revolutionary terms for future children who want a role model to look up to and can only start to pave the path for what is near to come.
Multiculturalism and Media 