With the social climate being as it is, I feel the need to share a small analysis that I had written in 2018 regarding the Marvel superhero movie Black Panther, it’s villain Killmonger, and why it seemed that numerous Black Americans held sympathy and even relatability towards the character. I have slightly edited it for the sake of better clarification, but have not added anything additional to my original message.
If you have not seen Black Panther, I highly recommend the watch, and also would like to warn you that the post below contains mild plot spoilers.
As you read, I ask that you keep in mind the fundamental truth that it is possible to sympathize with and even agree with some points made by a villain while also simultaneously holding them accountable and objecting to their methods. By no means do I wish to glorify or romanticise Killmonger (nor was the intent of Marvel or Disney when they characterized him), but I would be remiss to deny the very real place in which the character was built from. The foundation in which Killmonger was based on is a very real issue within the United States that social justice and civil rights activists continue to diligently combat.
Please, do not use the character Killmonger and some people’s ability to sympathize with him as justification for anti-Blackness or to vilify important social movements like Black Lives Matter.
The thing you need to understand about people liking the character Erik “Killmonger” Stevens, despite the fact he’s the villain, is this:
His character is relatable to a lot of Blacks in a lot of generations. Sadly, people getting shot is all too common in poorer Black enclaves (also commonly referred to as “hoods” or “ghettos”), and I think it’s not too far fetched to say that many Blacks in America have directly or indirectly known someone who’s been a victim to some type of violence in the hood.
More importantly, all Blacks have been victims to systemic, systematic, and general racism in some way or another; not to mention the events of Ferguson and so many Blacks having been shot down by police. As such, the general situation in America with Blacks is highly tense and oppressive with Blacks still feeling shooed aside. Like Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “a riot is the language of the unheard.” Dr. King did not agree with rioting, but he made sure to state that he would not condemn it because he comprehended why riots occurred in the first place.
In comes Killmonger, a direct product of all that tension, frustration, and exasperation as well as of the inaction of others - their only justification for not reaching out to help being a blatant “well, it wasn’t affecting us, it’s not our fight”.
Killmonger was faced with violence at a young age, and he continued to grow up in violence due to location (Oakland) as well as the color of his skin. At a certain point, people become numb to violence like it’s second nature. You can get so numb that everything except for your desire to survive, even your morals and integrity, get tossed out the window. Preservation becomes your only goal for life, and as such you’re willing to sacrifice absolutely everything for it.
Killmonger’s story is close to home for a lot of Blacks because he symbolizes that hopelessness, bitterness, and defeated feeling that many Blacks are faced with.
His intention was not from a place of evil, he wanted Blacks to be able to rise up like a phoenix from the ashes. However, his methods are what damned him and even more damning was the fact that he had been so numbed from violence that he became just like his own oppressors. Violence is a circle like that.
Despite Killmonger being the villain, it is imperative to recognize that T’Challa, to some degrees, came to a place of agreeing with some of his message. He recognized the validity in Killmonger’s mission, which is what led to his internal conflict and to him questioning the tradition of Wakanda.
It is a vital part of Black Panther that the characters and audience recognize exactly what Killmonger was, and what T’Challa ultimately realized:
We create our own monsters.
Think about that the next time you criticize events like Ferguson or the Black Lives Matter movement - in which it should be noted that those were not violent, but some violent individuals took advantage of and used the movement to claim legitimacy. That, however, is a conversation for another time.
Think about that the next time you try to justify inaction and disinterest with ‘it doesn’t affect me’.
“In the End, we will remember not the words of our Enemies, but the silence of our Friends.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
In rereading my own analysis, I would like to revisit the complexity of villainy presented within Black Panther to point out that, while it is understood by viewers that Wakanda is the heroic and shining example, the film places both Wakanda (particularly the Wakandan nobles in power) and Killmonger in a grey area. Returning to the point within my original analysis, T’Challa recognized the harm of Wakanda’s and his father’s inaction with the problems that African and Black diaspora face. It is this realization that Killmonger has valid arguments and valid anger that leads into T’Challa’s understanding that Wakanda must undergo social and political change.
T’Challa actively expresses his disappointment in his father and in the Wakandan government, acknowledging the pain and suffering that his country contributed to with the decision to remain passive and “neutral”, at best, or toxically self-preserving, at worst.
All in all, I would go so far as to claim that Black Panther is an exceptional example of the complexity of humanity as well as serves an important reminder that sometimes villainy and heroism are not clear-cut black and white.
