Marvel’s Black Panther, released earlier this year received masses of praise for improving racial representation on the silver screen. The movie was a massive success for Marvel Studios and had been widely applauded for it’s inclusivity. The cast includes Michael B. Jordan, Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o and Letitia Wright. Although most people regarded the film as a game changer, Sean Combs has a different opinion.
Sean “Diddy” Combs is a rapper, actor an entrepreneur most well known for his music career. He has had success in the hip-hop world and created Bad Boy Records. In an interview with Variety, the star shared his opinions on Marvel’s Black Panther. Instead of praising the movie, he called it a “cruel experiment.” He said:
“‘Black Panther’ was a cruel experiment, because we live in 2018, and it’s the first time that the film industry gave us a fair playing field on a worldwide blockbuster, and the hundreds of millions it takes to make it.We only get 5% of the venture capital invested in things that are black owned — black-owned businesses, black-owned ideas, black-owned IP, You can’t do anything without that money, without resources. But when we do get the resources, we over-deliver. When Adidas invests in Kanye and it’s done properly, you have the right results. When Live Nation invests in artists and puts them in arenas the same way U2 would be, you have the right results. ‘Black Panther,’ ‘Black-ish,’ fashion; it’s all about access. If you’re blocked out of the resources, you can’t compete. And that’s my whole thing — to be able to come and compete.”
Black Panther was a huge success at the box office, making over £1.3 billion worldwide. Marvel Studios boss, Kevin Feige discussed the possibility of the film winning an Oscar next year, with Digital Spy. He said:
“I think there are a lot of amazing artists that helped to make that movie,” Kevin said, “and it would be wonderful if they could be recognised… We’ll see. This genre, typically not. […] There’s amazing performances, amazing artistry in that… Yes, they’re visual effects, yes, they are fun explosions, yes, there are spaceships. But these are all hand-crafted. Maybe it’s in front of a computer; it’s often actual sets, actual hand-built costumes.As much passion and artistry and talent goes into every single one we do; it’d be amazing for them to be recognised.”
Black Panther is out on blu-ray and DVD now. A sequel is on the cards but we don’t have anymore details just yet.
What do you think of what Combs had to say? Do you agree? Tell us all of your thoughts in the comments!