I can’t even remember if I saw “Black Panther” in a theater or not. It doesn’t really matter. I thought it was OK; a great villain was wasted in a lame climax. But I can see why the movie resonated with black audiences: Here was a superhero movie with an all-black cast (except for Martin Freeman) set in a technologically advanced nation in Africa. I saw some tweets go by saying that Wakanda is what Africa would look like now if it hadn’t been colonized. But it also struck me that some famous black women were dazzled by Wakanda. After all, it was a kingdom that was passed to the male heir — unless he was challenged by another man, in which case it became a trial by combat. Nothing really feminist about that.
The sequel, “Wakanda Forever,” is just around the corner, and CNN is wondering if this completely fictional nation run on power supplied by a magical meteorite could be a model for future cities.
Wakanda is a marvel.
The fictional country of the Marvel Universe is the most advanced civilization in the world, years beyond the rest of the world in technological learning. https://t.co/Wcs8KIjMoV
— CNN International (@cnni) October 18, 2022
Here’s Chris Cillizza’s analysis:
Now, though, could be a moment when the way we have thought and constructed our cities could well be changing, said Joann Muller, who covers the future of cities and transportation for Axios.
“I think we’re in this really interesting time right now, with sort of a once in a century transformation and it has to do with electric, autonomous connected vehicles,” she said. “And with that moment where all the technology is changing, that should be the time where we rethink what cities should look like as well. I don’t know that that’s happening as much as it should be, but it’s an opportunity. And you think about, there’s a lot of micro mobility devices now. And I don’t know that a scooter’s brand new or a bicycle’s certainly not brand new, but we’re thinking about them in different ways as transportation around cities. And sometimes it’s actually a lot faster to go on a bike than it is in a car.”
In short: Cars are bad, suburbs are bad. Everyone should live in a city where they can get around on an electric scooter.
It's one of the most amazing cities I've ever visited. I highly recommend vacationing there, but make sure to allocate at least three weeks or you won't get the full experience.
— Second City Bureaucrat (@CityBureaucrat) October 18, 2022
I couldn’t disagree more. I looked everywhere for a souvenir shot glass to add to my vacation collection and wasn’t able to find one. There’s an empty spot on the shelf above the iguana tank. Collection ruined. I’m still angry about it.
— SomeWiggleRoom (@SomeWiggleRoom) October 18, 2022
The best part was their border, they didn’t allow anybody in.
— Darren (@darren_cub1fan) October 18, 2022
No diversity.
Completely walled (force-fielded) off from illegal immigrants.Sounds wonderful.
— Friendly Neighborhood Joe (@Velcro108) October 18, 2022
I too favor absolute monarchy where royal disputes are decided by a trial by combat.
— Delance (@delance2) October 18, 2022
Just gotta find ourselves a fictional superpowered extraterrestrial metal to power humanity’s advance and we’re golden!
— Michael Haugen (@HaugenTX) October 18, 2022
You're talking about the diversity of its residents, right? Or its open border policy? Or its democratic election system? pic.twitter.com/z1cDcudYxS
— Aldous Huxley's Ghost™ (@AF632) October 18, 2022
"Maybe if we soyface hard enough over the latest moviefilm it will save us from having to address or even identify any of our extremely pressing real-life problems" https://t.co/E9RLILBppg
— Spencer A. Klavan (@SpencerKlavan) October 18, 2022
Marvel movies aren't childish escapism because they're based on comic books; they're childish escapism because the people making them have a fundamentally unserious and LARPist attitude about grown-up life which flattens every narrative into a pointless theme park ride
— Spencer A. Klavan (@SpencerKlavan) October 18, 2022
Marvel at this ratio
— Apex Gamma (@Apex_Gamma) October 18, 2022
I got my bike stolen in Wakanda
— Hubert Shingle (@HubertShingle) October 18, 2022
“You’ll notice there aren’t cars in Wakanda,” Cillizza writes, although there is a high-speed rail system powered by Vibranium. It kind of reminds us of California’s awesome $113 billion bullet train to nowhere.
***
Related:
TIME: America needs to end its love affair with single-family homes https://t.co/pqYUnQGMov
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 2, 2022
