Coronavirus Pandemic Day 173 - Insanity

Just when I think things can't get worse in 2020, it does.

So far we've had

- COVID-19
- travel bans
- economic chaos
- record unemployment
- murder hornets
- cops gleefully killing black people on camera
- cocaine boars
- protest marches
- a president who is trying to establish a fascist regime
- meth gators
- parents attempting to homeschool/parents refusing to homeschool
- record heat
- record number of hurricanes

Then came the week of August 23-29

- Both Hurricane Laura and Hurricane Marco hit the U.S. coast
- Jacob Blake was shot seven times and paralyzed by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin
- Protests in Kenosha resulted in an alt-right teenage sympathizer killing two people and wounding a third
- Wildfires rage out of control in California
- The number of dead from COVID-19 surged over 180K in the U.S.
- The number of confirmed infections crossed 6M
- BLM supporters and white supremacists clashed in Portland, resulting in one death
- Unmasked white supremacists, many of whom were armed, stormed the Idaho House of Representatives
- The Milwaukee Bucks walked of the court in a wildcat strike over the Jacob Blake shooting
- Other NBA, WNBA, and MLB teams followed
- Sportcaster Kenny Smith walked off the set in solidarity with the NBA players

And last, but hardly least, I got an e-mail late Friday night from my buddy Jo, saying actor Chadwick Boseman died.

That news was a punch in the gut. Mr. Boseman had a heck of career, and I expected to see more from him. He brought a singular gravitas to the role of T'Challa.  When DH and I went to see Black Panther, Mr. Boseman had the entire audience, black and white, standing and cheering at the end.

There are no words, and I'm a middle-aged, middle-class, white woman. I can't imagine how all the little kids who saw themselves in Mr. Boseman on the big screen feel right now.

The chaos seems to be growing exponentially. I've got to find the strength to write Hero In Camera because I want it to reflect an America where everyone has a fair chance, and they don't have to worry about being shot.

Monday Movie Mania - Black Panther

I've been anticipating this movie since Prince T'Challa made his appearance in Captain America: Civil War. And the next person who says this is the first black superhero movie will get slapped. Wesley Snipes showed way back in 1998's Blade that a black/Marvel/superhero (take your pick of labels) movie could make money if it was done right.

And frankly, Black Panther was done so fucking right!

Since we already saw T'Challa's origin story back in Civil War, no screen time was wasted for that bullshit. Co-writer/Director Ryan Coogler and Co-writer Joe Robert Cole jump right into the action, setting Black Panther against his archnemesis Killmonger.


* * *


SPOILERS


* * *

PROS
1) Coogler and Cole integrated the original story with Shakespearean overtones, specifically Hamlet. In this version, T'Challa and N'Jadaka/Killmonger are cousins, so as members of the royal bloodline, they both can consume the heart-shaped herb.

2) Coogler didn't water down the Dora Milaje or turn them into a fucking harem. They were the elite Wakandan special forces they were supposed to be.

3) Have I said how much I love Danai Gurira? She outdoes herself in her performance of General Okoye.

4) The incredible comparisons of revenge/redemption. The fathers of T'Challa, Killmonger, and W'Kabi are murdered, and the plot develops out of how each man deals with their grief and anger.

5) The equally incredible comparisons of loyalty to their kings and to their own beliefs. Nakia, Okoye, and Zuri each face that question during the course of the story, and each are faced with a price for their decisions.

6) Special kudos have to go to Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger. This is the first Marvel antagonist who wasn't a one-dimensional cardboard villain. If you don't have any sympathy for him in the end as he and T'Challa watch the sunset together, you are dead inside.


CONS
1) The only issue is we don't have a release date for Black Panther 2.

Coogler gave this tightly plotted story some unexpected, and much welcome, depth. Overall, I give Black Panther 10 stars out of 10.