The “Black Panther” film has surpassed the $700 million mark as of Monday in the worldwide box office, so why won’t Marvel Studios and parent Walt Disney Company listen to their fans that are petitioning them to donate 25 percent of the films income instead of the lousy $1 million they allocated recently to Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
With the enormous amount of revenue “Black Panther” made in just a week about a film that advocates helping oppressed minorities, can’t they actually help the oppressed minorities that are supporting the movie?
Disney has already generated over $4 billion from the last three Star Wars films and “Black Panther” is sure to be on its way to hit that billion dollar mark, so is Disney’s contribution really all that special?
People need to open their eyes and demand more than just the production of a fictitious movie that’s turning a profit off of cultural representation because not everyone was able to see the movie without some help.
Snoop Dogg, T.I. and Serena Williams are just some of the celebrities that donated thousands in either buying tickets or renting out movie theaters to help children of low income families see the movie.
We need to petition Marvel Studios to do what T’Challa did for his people and spread the wealth not the chump change.
With just a quarter of the $700 million, it could help with the infrastructure of poverty stricken communities, it could invest in programs which focus on the fields of: science, technology, engineering and mathematics (S.T.E.M.).
Although the film has a dominant black workforce in front and behind the camera and is suppose to inspire the black community with an African American superhero, but why stop there?
It is no coincidence that “Black Panther” debuted in Black History Month or that Gil-Scott Heron’s famous lyric “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” (a song that promotes black awareness) was used in the official trailer.
Sadly these were marketing ploys intended to appeal to their target audience along with the creation of an African-American superhero.
People can’t relate to T’Challa because he is the king of a utopian world that’s never dealt with racism.
Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), on the other hand has been left in Oakland, California, without a father and an outcast of Wakanda, all because he wanted to help his people overcome oppression with the vast wealth and technology his home country had to offer.
A lot of people can sympathize with Killmonger because they can feel the discrimination, the obstacles, the injustices, and all the frustration that comes from being a minority in America.
Although Killmonger and his father had more extremist ideas of helping their people fight back against oppression, their cause was noble, help the poor, help their people.
Disney needs to replicate the premise of “Black Panther” and turn it into a reality because their white ancestors can’t just appropriate all that culture and get away with it.