"The Whole Story": The Tales of The Privilege and Radical (Part One)

The Tales of Privilege and Radical 

Although this example may sound silly, the idea of focusing on one’s self helped pop culture characters like King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) and Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) to prosper as much as they did in The Black Panther. They, like many other figures, encountered their own critiques from the society in the movie for being too privileged and passive or radical and aggressive.

• The Tale of Privilege: King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) 

In the movie, T’Challa was born the son of King T’Chaka and the Prince of Wakanda. For most of his life, he spent his time preparing to be the next king and served as the nation’s Black Panther. It is important to emphasize the term “preparing” because he studied the notion and acts of his father and past kings, which set up for the role of tradition. T’Challa, when he became king, initially set out to fulfill the traditional value of past Wakandan rulers. This fact complemented by King T’Challa being born into royalty is what made him the subject of being labeled as “privileged” and unfit to lead. 

One thing I must admit is that no one explicitly called him “privileged”, but it was thoroughly hinted at. Two examples of interest come from T’Challa’s interaction with Killmonger and another character by the name of W’Kabi. Here’s a table showing the information of key events in the film. 

  

	W’Kabi	Killmonger
Cause	W’Kabi’s parents were killed by an enemy of Wakanda, Ulysses Klaue   T’Challa went on a mission with two other people to capture Klaue and bring him back for prosecution of his crimes   W’Kabi offered to come on the mission, T’Challa insisted that W’Kabi stay and protect Wakanda   Klaue was captured, but escaped with the aid of Killmonger   T’Challa saved CIA Agent Everett Ross, an outsider to Wakanda	Was the son of the King T’Chaka’s brother, Prince N’Jobu, who served as a government spy in Compton, California  Prince N’Jobu was a proponent of helping disadvantaged black people across the world, which contradicted with tradition (of only helping Wakanda)  King T’Chaka killed N’Jobu when N’Jobu threatened to kill another spy, who revealed that N’Jobu helped Klaue  King T’Chaka left Killmonger as a child in Compton to uphold the tradition
Effect	“For 30 years, your father has been in power and did nothing. With you, I thought you’d be different. But it’s more the same”   Ended up helping Killmonger exercise his “blood rights” as the blood of royalty	Helped Klaue escape from King T’Challa  Killed Klaue and presented the body to W’Kabi to secure a pathway into the throne room to talk with T’Challa  Exercised his “blood rights” and challenged T’Challa  Severely maimed T’Challa and took over as King of Wakanda temporarily, in which he planned to attack the rest of the world

The important takeaway from this table is that both W’Kabi and Killmonger were both, to some extent, victims of past leadership as there was nothing done about the death of their parents in efforts to remain an isolationist country. The term “privileged”, in this sense, referred to King T’Challa’s willingness to follow the precedent set by past kings as he hadn’t endured the specific hardships that they beared since he was the son of a king.  Since there were issues with the past leaders and T’Challa sought to continue the trend, this is what, in the duo’s perspective, made him unworthy of being king. 

However, the focus on the specific hardships of growing up without parents and/or in a tough community in comparison to growing up in royalty (while it is reasonable), is also an example of selective focus. Both, Killmonger and W’Kabi, are guilty of this crime because T’Challa also went through hardships in preparation to serve as king and his service as the Black Panther. The greatest point that refutes this criticism is the fact that, while he studied the ways of past kings, T’Challa deviated from traditional customs in efforts of helping providing services to disadvantaged black people. 

The key point of interest is that, despite the pressure to conform to the customs of past rules and the radical efforts to attack the rest of the world, King T’Challa placed focus on what he felt was right. This lead to him taking back control of Wakanda and using the nation’s resources to support its citizens and other citizens around the world in need. Furthermore, this supports the notion of one focusing on one’s self as opposed to allowing the considerations of the external parties take control of them.