2 ms·

janelle monae is awesome, but could you elaborate on what you mean by mentioning black panther? i felt it was the same action packed drivel and cgi fest as all

janelle monae is awesome, but could you elaborate on what you mean by mentioning black panther? i felt it was the same action packed drivel and cgi fest as all the other marvel movies. the fashion in the movie is great, but it also has some rather antiquated elements, like the primal way of choosing who is king, that are the opposite of futurism. the social and cultural commentary performed by the marvel movies is about as superficial as you can get.

djpr 8y ago
Not the OP, but I can share what I got from Black Panther: 1. When they're in the market, people are still walking around in sandals and even barefoot. This is counter to either ultra-sleek hygienic futures or the film noir/cyberpunk look where everything is dirty and wet. In this area, it's a bit more like Star Wars. 2. One of the elder advisors is wearing a giant lip ring (sorry, don't know what its called): https://media.comicbook.com/2017/06/black-panther-green-suit-1002072-1280x0.png https://media.comicbook.com/2017/06/black-panther-green-suit... Basically, it means you can be "modern" but on your own terms (that is, have your ethnic identity still represented). 3. I like the idea that an African country being the most technologically advanced nation on earth, not Japan, China, or the US...but an African country! I think #4 is very subversive (for unfortunate reasons). It really made me think what would it take for an African country - be it Nigerian, Botswana, South Africa etc - to compete with the likes of Singapore or California. 4. Lastly, I like the idea of the weapon that look organic rather than looks "hi-tech": https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/3e274163-f36d-4b79-bff7-25ad30f6df8e/scale-to-width-down/800 https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/3e274163-f36d-4b79-bff7-... I am okay with the kingdom part. Part of future studies is also the idea that the past can be revisited. In our academically training, one of the things we talk about is that the future is not exponentially changing in a linear direction (like Singularity folks), it can be circular, stagnant, and go "backwards", etc. For me, the bigger issue is that despite being technologically advanced they're basically a vibranium-based economy, which makes me assume that they would have the same problems as petro-states. Perhaps that explains why they're a monarchy?
- dleslie 8y ago
  > I think #4 is very subversive (for unfortunate reasons). It really made me think what would it take for an African country - be it Nigerian, Botswana, South Africa etc - to compete with the likes of Singapore or California. Part of the conceptual difficulty, I think, is the Western vision of Africa as being one place with one peoples. It's a bit like how Western nations view their own indigenous groups, only worse: with a broad, homogeneous, inaccurate portrayal. The futures of Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa are likely to lack homogeneity.

djpr 8y ago

Not the OP, but I can share what I got from Black Panther: 1. When they're in the market, people are still walking around in sandals and even barefoot. This is counter to either ultra-sleek hygienic futures or the film noir/cyberpunk look where everything is dirty and wet. In this area, it's a bit more like Star Wars. 2. One of the elder advisors is wearing a giant lip ring (sorry, don't know what its called): https://media.comicbook.com/2017/06/black-panther-green-suit-1002072-1280x0.png https://media.comicbook.com/2017/06/black-panther-green-suit... Basically, it means you can be "modern" but on your own terms (that is, have your ethnic identity still represented). 3. I like the idea that an African country being the most technologically advanced nation on earth, not Japan, China, or the US...but an African country! I think #4 is very subversive (for unfortunate reasons). It really made me think what would it take for an African country - be it Nigerian, Botswana, South Africa etc - to compete with the likes of Singapore or California. 4. Lastly, I like the idea of the weapon that look organic rather than looks "hi-tech": https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/3e274163-f36d-4b79-bff7-25ad30f6df8e/scale-to-width-down/800 https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/3e274163-f36d-4b79-bff7-... I am okay with the kingdom part. Part of future studies is also the idea that the past can be revisited. In our academically training, one of the things we talk about is that the future is not exponentially changing in a linear direction (like Singularity folks), it can be circular, stagnant, and go "backwards", etc. For me, the bigger issue is that despite being technologically advanced they're basically a vibranium-based economy, which makes me assume that they would have the same problems as petro-states. Perhaps that explains why they're a monarchy?

dleslie 8y ago
> I think #4 is very subversive (for unfortunate reasons). It really made me think what would it take for an African country - be it Nigerian, Botswana, South Africa etc - to compete with the likes of Singapore or California. Part of the conceptual difficulty, I think, is the Western vision of Africa as being one place with one peoples. It's a bit like how Western nations view their own indigenous groups, only worse: with a broad, homogeneous, inaccurate portrayal. The futures of Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Nigeria, Ethiopia and South Africa are likely to lack homogeneity.