Woman King and Wakanda Forever: Propaganda? You decide.

Woman King and Wakanda Forever: Propaganda? You decide.

The Woman King and Wakanda Forever had some very interesting similarities. One depicted Black Women defending a kingdom in the past and one the future.  Below are some similarities they shared that made me wonder if this was some type of new propaganda.

1. In both movies the protagonist saving the kingdoms was a woman.
2. The Black men in both movies did not want to fight to protect the people. King Ghezo was convinced by “The Woman King” that their only option was to fight the Portuguese. He was initially against it. In Wakanda Forever, the new female Black Panther told King M’Baku (who was also against fighting) that he would be considered an enemy if he did not fight against the Atlanteans.
3. It was intimated that the women fighters in both movies were involved in romantic relationships with each other. In the Woman King, Nanisca and her high ranking soldier Amenza seemed to have a romantic relationship and at the end of Black Panther we see Anika kiss Okoye on the head and they hold each other gaze. I have no problem who someone chooses to sleep with. The issue I have with the above is related to the third point below.
4. In both movies there were no tender romantic relationships between Black men and Black women, period. King Ghezo in the Woman King never showed any of his wives tenderness and Shante the main wife featured just wanted the power that came with the King. In Wakanda Forever no notable Black Male/Female characters in any romantic or tender relationships.  It was also absent with the Atlanteans, which represented our Brown brothers and sisters. Even when the Black Panther and King M’Baku worked together she threatened him and that’s when he agreed.

I will close by saying these movies were released less than 60 days apart. Many will say they are not effected by movies or media. I would disagree. We pick things up on many different levels and psychologists tell us that most of our behavior happens on a subconscious level. We must be aware and able to think critically about the messages we ingest, especially those that are subtlety placed. Media is arguably the most important way to shape behavior.

Do you think these things are just a coincidence?

In my opinion it does not matter. What matters is beliefs and behaviors are shaped by movies and this is why we need to think critically about media.