the biggest movie of 2018 so far has been the marvel’s most recent offering, black panther.

an article by pamela mcclintock for the hollywood reporter had this headline

Box-Office Milestone: ‘Black Panther’ Joins Billion-Dollar Club

to be sworn in as king of wakanda, combat is mandatory.

and the article describes the movie like this

a tale of black power and black pride in addition to its superhero themes, follows t’challa as he is sworn in as king of wakanda, a cloaked, technologically advanced nation in africa that is home to the exotic metal vibranium, the source of black panther’s powers.

box-office is the place in a theater that sells tickets.

the b-o in hbo stands for box office. the h is for home. (wikipedia)

a milestone is an achievement, specifically that black panther made over $1 billion in ticket sales. swear in refers to the ceremony where a leader officially takes power. cloaked means hidden, not visible.

when harry potter was cloaked in his cloak of invisibility, nobody could see him.

fun efl practice  richyrocks english on youtube

but black panther‘s success has not only been financial. on conversation.com, henry navarro delgado writes…

the film has generated a widespread sense of optimism….the timing of black panther couldn’t be better. [february is] black history month in canada and the united states and disappointment over the lack of african-american winners at the 2016 oscars is still fresh.

widespread means in many places. timing means coordination, i.e. (in other words) scheduling of the release of black panther during black history month was good planning. disappointment means sadness about not meeting expectations. lack means without, missing. only white actors were nominated for oscars in 2016 (and 2015).

several internet users have observed similarities between the armor worn by black panther’s erik killmonger and dragon ball z’s vegeta  (twitter: @Shorty2Die4)

delgado emphasizes the importance of black panther as a medium to celebrate black style

what has gathered a lot of mediatraction about the movie relates to dress. both the costumes of the black panther’s characters and the styles worn by the actors at the film’s premiere have become a popular focus…..black panther conveys all the complexities of black style. it is a vehicle for asserting cultural significance and enabling identity in a culturally hostile environment. symbolically the movie also transmits the struggle inherent to this process.

gather is attract. traction is acceptance. dress in this conext refers to  clothes, wardrobe. worn is the irregular past participle of wear. remember that u should use wear to talk about clothes in english, NOT use. convey means communicate. vehicle communicates that the movie is used that way. assert means declare. enable means make possible.  the -cally ending should be pronounced as one syllable, CLEE, like in symbolically.  struggle means difficulty.

okoye & the dora milaje convey black beauty & power.

tre johnson on vox.com is  excited about the cultural impact black panther has made too. the headline of his article reads

Black Panther is a gorgeous, groundbreaking celebration of black culture

gorgeous means beautiful. referring to the aesthetics of the movie. groundbreaking is innovative, unprecedented.

l

lupita nyong’o, danai gurira, letitia wright & angela bassett: the gorgeous female stars of black panther

johnson observes that hollywood

has typically presented a narrow slice of the african-american narrative.

the -cally in typically is also pronounced CLEE. a slice is a piece. narrow means skinny, small.

a slice of pepperoni pizza 

and he recognizes that black panther is unique (original) for being a

popcorn movie that uses the most mainstream of film genres — the superhero movie — to project the complexity of black identity, politics, and creativity.

a popcorn movie is more concerned with making money than telling an important story. mainstream means available almost everywhere, everybody sees it, the opposite of underground.

marvel comics godfather stan lee & chadwick boseman, the star of black panther. (charley gallay/getty images)

did u see black panther?  is it your favorite of the marvel movies?  what did u think about its social messages/imagery?  share your reactions under leave a reply