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Colonialism And Colonialism In Black Panther, By Curtis Keim

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In his book, Mistaking Africa, Curtis Keim argues that the American people have a limited specific knowledge of the world’s second largest continent, Africa. The book claims that the general understanding one develops from a study of American language and media about Africa is one that characterizes the continent as a primitive place in need of western assistance. Keim contends that television shows, movies, newspapers, magazines and even amusement parks provide inaccurate depictions of the continent to the average American eye. However, Black Panther, a movie based on the Marvel comic-books of the same name attempts to step out of this mold and portray a true image of the continent. Despite the presence of the obvious white executives and producers from Disney, the movie is composed of a predominantly black cast, a black director and a black screenwriter.
Black Panther is a work of art developed by people of African descent that strives to show the ‘real Africa’. What is the ‘real Africa’ though? Keim suggests that Americas yearn for the “real Africa to be different, and often the more different the …show more content…

Rickford argues that this framing conceals the ways western forces have exploited wealth of African nations event after the formal end of colonialism. The mere fact that an operative of the CIA, an organization that has undermined African states’ interests for years, helps save the day shows that the west is still glamorized in the movie. Although, the white agent’s role is minor, it still serves as a vehicle that portrays the CIA as a western organization that maintains responsibility of government stabilization in African states. This reinforces the common theme in media that African countries require foreign assistance in the management of their

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