What do you think of when you hear BP?  At one time, it would have represented one of the largest oil and fuel companies we have come to know.  Much has occurred since then amid oil spills, what appears as perceived greed for part of the wealth associated with large corporations and such. 

If you have been anywhere near a movie theatre, BP would have become to be known as Black Panther.  I headed to the theatre this weekend, settled in, and forgot the where Black Panther left off from the film Captain America, and if you wait until the credits are done in this film, you will be treated with even more additions to come (GLAD I WAITED!!) BP, thanks to Black Panther, has come to be known as Beauty and Power. 

You see plenty of examples of Beauty and Power in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther, from the sweeping landscape of a country labeled third country, to the strength that comes from the country of Wakanda used for good and not for advantage, to the realization, despite the push back from media and political aims that unity is better than division, Black Panther is a powerful film.  The virtues can extend beyond the theatre if you allow them.

In realizing the beauty of Wakanda presented under the shroud of a county thought to be desolate, I thought of how many more examples of this exists.  Through the lens of the media one would think Mexico was a maze of destruction, drugs, violence and doom.  Quite the opposite is the reality.  These element exists, as in any country, but to more more of a degree than many cities you might find here in the United States.  As I witnessed the beauty of Wakanda on screen, I realized the beauty I was lucky enough to experience in Mexico, and how much beauty remains in other countries we only see through media?  As well as here int he United States.  There is is substitute except for being in those countries and experiencing it from behind the lens.  Sounds complicated, expensive and out of reach. I thought that about Mexico, and the results outweigh the costs I created in my head.   The beauty of a country, unrealized, outside of your own, changes you as a person for the better.

The sense of being separate from someone across the other side of the world is nonsense.  it is time the idea of division, me against you, power over equality, in fact can and will end when individuals from all over the world do rise above media, politics, and social issues that seem they can be resolved by one area, opposed to all coming together to discuss, organize and empower each other, rather than point fingers. 

At this point, the above pretty much describes the exhilaration you feel during Black Panther.  I would say it is long overdue to have a film, push the buttons for positive change in individuals, through popular culture, rather than focusing on media and news that again, seeks to divide and disperse a sense of doom.

The amazing use of technology, effects, as well as transformations perceived when a different reality exists all play a large part in what Black Panther represents. “What happens now determines what happens to the rest of the world.”  An awesome quote from Black Panther that doesn’t really belong solely to the screen.  Another realization I came to was seeing and realizing that some of the villains did not put up as much a fight as I thought they would.  They did at first and then surprisingly were taken down faster than I thought would occur.  In a sense, I also realized what is made to seem as a one way track decisions that are irreversible, is not always the case as we are led to believe.  I like this realization.

There is no doubt from Parkland students in Florida, to constituents all over the U.S., to the Me Too Movement, and beyond changing the face of way politics operate.  To countries outside the U.S. standing up for the ability to bring back greatness to their own country, while organizing with other countries, a film like Black Panther, while entertainment, and a high profile level at that, entertains the notion that positive change is possible,  Beauty and power can in fact work alongside each other, however, they not not have to be stereotypical, biased, always be responsible adults, or set boundaries to do so.  If anything, boundaries for positive change are available and actually open to possibility rather than closing.  it is just time to continue to spread the true message of hope that counters the “fake news” that has a tendency to latch onto countries, individuals, as well as whole countries.  An entertainment film like Black Panther that also sends a message for change in other arena is a most welcome change in the last few months.  There does seem to be hope in numbers, in beauty (not determined by media, and power in numbers.