The Fortnightly

Jul. 20, 2012 at 3:18pm with 845 notes

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comicsalliance:

Just How Hard is a Black Panther Film, Anyway?
By David Brothers
A lot of news broke at San Diego Comic-Con, particularly courtesy of Marvel and Marvel Studios. They’ve been busy, and of course fans wanted to know what else was coming down the line. One of the questions that Marvel Studios reps answered was about a prospective Black Panther film. They discussed the difficulty in getting it right and getting audiences to buy into the concept of Wakanda. A short while later, Marvel announced that their big 2014 blockbuster is going to be Guardians of the Galaxy, a movie featuring a talking raccoon and a tree from outer space. That’s funny, disappointing, and unsurprising all at once. Let me tell you why:
Read more.

“What other reason could there be for a movie about a talking raccoon in outer space being a great idea while a movie about a black superhero being more difficult?”

I can see where Marvel doesn’t know what to do with this. Black Panther isn’t just a black superhero. He’s a political separatist. He’s also one of their best characters.
That said, there is an tough “logic” to movies made by people of color or women in Hollywood. If a film by a black director fails, or has a black lead, character, or themes it’s failure is penned on something about blackness not translating. If a film by a white director, or lead, fails people look at issues like story or marketing. A big problem with the way Hollywood treats non-white male and any female directors, and lead actors (or characters) to a great extent outside of a Will Smith, is even if they get a first chance, they don’t get second chances. And a rarely do people make it big with their first effort. Making it in Hollywood is typically about working until you get lucky or find something that makes it big or connects with people. But if you’re not working you never get that chance.

Just How Hard is a Black Panther Film, Anyway?

By David Brothers

A lot of news broke at San Diego Comic-Con, particularly courtesy of Marvel and Marvel Studios. They’ve been busy, and of course fans wanted to know what else was coming down the line. One of the questions that Marvel Studios reps answered was about a prospective Black Panther film. They discussed the difficulty in getting it right and getting audiences to buy into the concept of Wakanda. A short while later, Marvel announced that their big 2014 blockbuster is going to be Guardians of the Galaxy, a movie featuring a talking raccoon and a tree from outer space. That’s funny, disappointing, and unsurprising all at once. Let me tell you why:

Read more.

“What other reason could there be for a movie about a talking raccoon in outer space being a great idea while a movie about a black superhero being more difficult?”

I can see where Marvel doesn’t know what to do with this. Black Panther isn’t just a black superhero. He’s a political separatist. He’s also one of their best characters.

That said, there is an tough “logic” to movies made by people of color or women in Hollywood. If a film by a black director fails, or has a black lead, character, or themes it’s failure is penned on something about blackness not translating. If a film by a white director, or lead, fails people look at issues like story or marketing. A big problem with the way Hollywood treats non-white male and any female directors, and lead actors (or characters) to a great extent outside of a Will Smith, is even if they get a first chance, they don’t get second chances. And a rarely do people make it big with their first effort. Making it in Hollywood is typically about working until you get lucky or find something that makes it big or connects with people. But if you’re not working you never get that chance.