Originally Posted by
Blind Wedjat
Wakanda not doing anything (or not doing much/enough/whatever have you) during the enslavement and colonisation of Africa is not that big of a deal to me. I mean sure it obviously sucks for non Wakandans that their countries and people had to deal with these things. I also think it's a very valid accusation to throw their way. That's why Killmonger became such a notable villain, and why the film is so good to me. It brings up a difficult question that doesn't have an easy answer or solution, and Killmonger serves as a hard lesson for constantly relying on staunch traditions and isolationism (there are many things you can apply this lesson to which makes it more universal than people realise). I think it should remain part of who they are. Might be a hot take or whatever, but I didn't need the Hudlin fix. I understand why he did it, but I personally didn't like it. It felt like trying to give an easy answer to a difficult question and scenario so for me it just didn't have the weight. But of course no disrespect to Hudlin. I love his run of Black Panther.
I personally think that inaction should remain a part of Wakanda's history and legacy. Because again, it's not an easy thing to really answer. Who is to really say Wakanda could have freed the entire continent and the diaspora? Who is to say their neighbours would have wanted their help? How many lives--Wakandan and not--would have been lost in the process? How long would it have taken? At least how I see it is that the inaction makes for better storytelling if writers would just use it the right way.
What I don't like--and I've mentioned this here before--is Wakanda not doing anything to help anyone now, and the whole damn country (including T'Challa sometimes) being painted as xenophobic, isolationist stiffs. I personally think this image of Wakanda has run its course. It no longer sounds right to me. I want to see--really see--how Wakanda has changed the world. Like, I-Want-To-See-The-Receipts.gif see it. I'm so tired of Wakanda feeling like she hardly matters in the grand scheme of things in the MU. This is supposed to be a world superpower that appears out of nowhere, led by a very liberal king and nobody wants to tell a story about that? Seriously? Or is it that the only way this matters is why Wakanda decides to help the Avengers (who are not a good stand-in for "the world") and they get destroyed or invaded because of it?
I mean they really shouldn't be that xenophobic anymore. Their king actually never was involved with one of their own (which could be problematic but I digress). He married a US citizen, a mutant and was of Kenyan blood and no one had a problem with that. So I'm kinda tired of that angle being played out.