The rise of female protagonists on the movie screen impacts young girls and women of all ages in a special kind of way, especially when these females have a shade or two of melanin. The trend of female leads kicked in with a record high of 29 percent in 2016, a 7 percent increase since the year before, according to the Center for Study of Women in Television and Film.
Relating to characters on the screen is essential to the viewer because it makes a person feel good when they are represented and because it provides the means for people of different color, gender, religion, culture, background, etc., to be seen and understood.
The record box office-breaking film “Black Panther” redefined the role of women on the screen with its strong female cast, and not just because they can kick ass. The Dora Milaje, a group of female warriors, are not only fierce and in your face, but funny and kind, displaying both masculine and feminine characteristics. Women accentuate both, and it’s time for people to see more of that strength, wit and humor. It’s also time to break down the walls of sexism still seen in 2018, especially when it comes down to wages and diversity.
Rarely do we see women on film as graceful and fierce as the Wakanda women. They exemplify women pursuing their passions while independently determining how they will live their lives.
“The dominance of strong female characters over a certain age, the #MeToo movement, the Time’s Up campaign all result from decades of work and years of women resisting and speaking out about the limiting narrative media spread about our worth,” Jennifer Siebel Newsom, a filmmaker and founder and chief executive of the Representation Project, said in an interview with the New York Times.
The hallmark of “Black Panther” is magnified in the African culture, tradition and the idealized state untouched by colonizers that had the freedom to grow on their own. How beautiful is that? I can’t help but think that we need a Latin@ “Black Panther,” too, who portrays our diversified culture, our lucha, our people and our language.
I’ve seen the memes of “Nacho Libre” and believe that we can do better to empower our youth, especially our DACA students, who are out there fighting for their future.
