Rantz: Progressives already ruining ‘Black Panther’

The blockbuster superhero movie isn’t even out yet, but Progressives are already ruining “Black Panther.” How? They’re not judging the movie; they’re judging the message it sends and they’re using the film to push a ridiculous, false narrative about racism in America.

I’m pumped for “Black Panther.” It looks fantastic and I absolutely believe it’s important and beneficial to see films with great diversity, particularly if it serves the story. But even not, it makes sense that a black moviegoer might want to see a black main character, or a gay filmgoer see a gay character, etc. There’s value and comfort in that. But where that value ends is when it’s used to push phony narratives.

Take, for example, one of the dumbest tweets Salon.com has ever put out. The tweet claims the movie “…is the first blockbuster-format release featuring a black hero front and center.”

To be fair to Salon, this tweet is accurate — if you literally ignore every movie that disproves their claim, like both “Men in Black” films, “Hancock,” “Independence Day,” “I Am Legend,” “Bright” and “Suicide Squad.” And those are only the Will Smith blockbuster-format releases with a black hero front and center. There’s also “Blade,” “Book of Eli,” “Spawn,” and the list goes on and on. Heck, the actor who plays the “Black Panther” has had major movie releases where he’s played real life heroes Jackie Robinson and Thurgood Marshall.

So why lie about the film like Salon did? It’s really simple: they want to perpetuate a phony narrative that we live in a racist world and it’s taken us until 2018 to finally have a black hero in a film. After a ton of flack, Salon was forced to correct their tweet.

The folks most excited about the “Black Panther” don’t seem to care about the movie, per se. They care about what it stands for. It’s certainly reasonable to mention what it might mean, but should that be the focus of a movie review and the impetus for the recommendation? That’s not how we’re supposed to judge movies, certainly not movie reviewers. Yet, a quick perusal of the early reviews makes it clear that they love this film for it’s black cast.

How about you just focus on your job: telling me if the movie is good or not. I don’t need old white dude Peter Travers telling me why it’s important to have a film with a large black cast; a cast that feels tokenized by white people who stupidly didn’t realize black actors can lead quality movies. It turns out, I’m smart enough to understand and appreciate the meaning of this film on my own. Travers calls the film “an answered prayer”, “a masterpiece”, “history in the making” and “revolutionary”. He can barely contain himself in this absurdly over-the-top review:

There aren’t many superhero films that blow you away with thunderous effects and also tackle ethnic and gender issues, crush racial stereotypes, celebrate women and condemn Trump-era notions of exclusionism.

Can’t I just escape one night and see a movie without having the anyone politicize it? Even if I agree with the politics of it, stop the virtue signaling reviews where you force feed me why you think it’s just so important as an excuse to tell me you’re a woke white guy.

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