Echoes of the Multiverse

Like I said in my BP review:

Ares wrote: ↑Mon Mar 19, 2018 1:57 am

I also liked that, while Wakanda was set up as some kind of African paradise, the film does show that it's really only a paradise for the people at the top, and it's still very flawed. They're cultural isolationists that refuse people of all races entry, deny technology to the rest of the world, their kings have engaged in questionable acts in the past, it's a society where the people have no say in their rulers decisions, there's no chance for a woman to ascend the throne, and rulership of the most technologically advanced secret society can be handled via one-on-one combat. The film never has anyone say it, but it shows pretty much why that's such a rock stupid idea. Rather than being a utopia, Wakanda is a flawed land that T'Challa is going to change to be worthy of what it should have always been, which is the mark of a good leader and a hero.

The people who were suddenly clamouring qbout Wakanda being the ideal African paradise either never saw the film, or revealed themselves to be hypocrites.

Ares wrote: ↑Mon Jun 18, 2018 12:35 am The people who were suddenly clamouring qbout Wakanda being the ideal African paradise either never saw the film, or revealed themselves to be hypocrites.

Or they have a really weird idea of paradise.

Batgirl III wrote: ↑Mon Jun 18, 2018 12:40 am Or they have a really weird idea of paradise.

Oppressing foreign nations, doing sketchy political shit, blindly following the political leaders with no real choice, not letting a woman hold highest office, and making politics into a murderous bloodsport from which nobody emerges clean? Sounds like democracy as usual to me.
The above is sarcasm dear Space Buddha don't take me seriously here.

I mean, Wakanda even has a wall to keep out all of those illegal, I mean, undocumented imigrants.

Also, a really bad case of inequality, with the aristocracy living in a futuristic tech paradise, and the peasantry being strongly implied to live as primitive herders.

BriarThrone wrote: ↑Mon Jun 18, 2018 1:24 am Also, a really bad case of inequality, with the aristocracy living in a futuristic tech paradise, and the peasantry being strongly implied to live as primitive herders.

The Border Tribe only pretends to be primitive herders; they've got kente cloth capes that generate force fields, spears that shoot anti-tank laser beams, and cybernetic war-rhinos. I'm going to assume that the thatched roof huts we see them living in probably have WiFi and indoor plumbing.

Batgirl III wrote: ↑Mon Jun 18, 2018 1:31 am

BriarThrone wrote: ↑Mon Jun 18, 2018 1:24 am Also, a really bad case of inequality, with the aristocracy living in a futuristic tech paradise, and the peasantry being strongly implied to live as primitive herders.

The Border Tribe only pretends to be primitive herders; they've got kente cloth capes that generate force fields, spears that shoot anti-tank laser beams, and cybernetic war-rhinos. I'm going to assume that the thatched roof huts we see them living in probably have WiFi and indoor plumbing.

Which makes a lot of sense, considering how Wakanda is hidden. They're pretending to no one.

The capital city is hidden, not the entire nation.

Everyone knows that Wakanda is there, every just thinks its just another third-world country of no special importance. In Captain America: Civil War the plot kicks off when a group of l Wakandan humanitarian workers are killed in Lagos; King T'Chaka and Prince T'Challa show up for the conference in Vienna to ratify the Superhero Registration Act, er, sorry the Sokovia Accords; and so forth... People know Wakanda exists, they just don't know that its got Star Trek-level super-science.

Black Panter (2018) wrote:Ulysses Klaue: What do you actually know about Wakanda?
Everett K. Ross: Um... Shepherds. Textiles. Cool outfits.

The thing is, the circuitry in their homes analyses their surroundings, calculates a 12 dimensional data map of everything within a thousand mile radius and determines what outer shell would blend in best with the environment. All their chameleon circuits are set to "native African hut".

Ken wrote: ↑Mon Jun 18, 2018 1:53 am The thing is, the circuitry in their homes analyses their surroundings, calculates a 12 dimensional data map of everything within a thousand mile radius and determines what outer shell would blend in best with the environment. All their chameleon circuits are set to "native African hut".

... I hate Wakanda so much.

Ares wrote: ↑Sun Jun 17, 2018 5:30 pm

Batgirl III wrote: ↑Sun Jun 17, 2018 5:16 pm A lot of people seem to hate the Unlikably Smug Bratty Little Sister character for being an unlikably smug brat. But, y’know, that’s kind of the point. So I don’t understand that critique...

Just because a character is exactly what the creator set out to make them doesn't mean the audience can't dislike them for those very reasons. It's like how the creator of Triumph said "The whole point of Triumph was to be 'that guy who was always right', and who was suppose to be an unlikable jerk". Well congratulations, you made an unlikable jerk, and nobody likes him. Why are you surprised?

Ha, I read the interview with Mark Waid about the creation of Triumph, and about how he was based on a DC staffer who came off as aloof and smug, but was always proved right in the end whenever he disagreed with what DC editorial or marketing were pushing. And PING! I had the thought Mark Waid should have had BEFORE introducing Triumph-being smarter than freaking DC editorial and marketing, who've botched nearly everything in the last 20 odd years, is WAY different than a Johnny-Come-Lately hero being smarter and more competent than the Big Seven of the JLA, unless the major heroes are constantly dumbed-down whenever Triumph is in the story. So not only did the character start with the disadvantages of being angry, smug, and overconfident, the popular heroes had to look worse in order to make him look good. Add in a bland costume, vague powers, no particular archenemy, and an origin story already done better with Captain Atom, and of course the readers are going to hate the character.

Of course, Marvel then went one worse with the Sentry, INSISTING on shipping the character no matter HOW many times readers reject him, AND making sure every other hero remarks on him being the best, bravest, smartest, etc., etc, etc. And they're bringing him back AGAIN in his own title-because NO ONE demanded it!!!

Shaking head ruefully....

M4C8 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 17, 2018 9:23 pm William Atherton playing both Walter Peck in Ghostbusters and Richard Thornburg in Die Hard 1 and 2 mean't I viewed him as the embodiment of douchbaggery when I was a kid.

In my headcannon,Walter Peck& Richard Thornburg are half-brothers(Different Dad,same overbearing Mother) and ran with Edward R.Ronney from Ferris Bueller when they were douchbag little kids....

Those who hate Shuri, hate life.

Shuri was a bit smug and annoying, but was clearly meant to be so in-universe- every time she said something, other characters would give that "REALLY?" look. Another part of her character was to show the less-serious, less-stoic part of Wakanda- watch how she repeatedly jabs at the stuffed shirt her super-serious brother has become. Everyone else was dutiful, Proud African Warrior-types, full of passion, duty, and more duty... Shuri was more of a snarky goofball type.

Sentry is, of course, the worst thing ever, and a great example of writers being bizarrely in love with a concept that nobody else cares about- "Superman Gone Mad" is not as interesting as some authors seem to think. It really just comes off like Marvel writers being jealous of DC's most epic character and wanting their own version.

Jabroniville wrote: ↑Mon Jun 18, 2018 12:37 pm Those who hate Shuri, hate life.

Shuri was a bit smug and annoying, but was clearly meant to be so in-universe- every time she said something, other characters would give that "REALLY?" look. Another part of her character was to show the less-serious, less-stoic part of Wakanda- watch how she repeatedly jabs at the stuffed shirt her super-serious brother has become. Everyone else was dutiful, Proud African Warrior-types, full of passion, duty, and more duty... Shuri was more of a snarky goofball type.

Sentry is, of course, the worst thing ever, and a great example of writers being bizarrely in love with a concept that nobody else cares about- "Superman Gone Mad" is not as interesting as some authors seem to think. It really just comes off like Marvel writers being jealous of DC's most epic character and wanting their own version.

I believe Sentry has the potential to be a good, even great character it's just that his origin story is soooo bad that I actually wouldn't mind a retcon for once. Seriously, who's genius idea was it to leave the most powerful super serum ever created in a lab that had so little security that a random meth head could break in and drink it.

BriarThrone wrote: ↑Mon Jun 18, 2018 2:06 am

Ken wrote: ↑Mon Jun 18, 2018 1:53 am The thing is, the circuitry in their homes analyses their surroundings, calculates a 12 dimensional data map of everything within a thousand mile radius and determines what outer shell would blend in best with the environment. All their chameleon circuits are set to "native African hut".

... I hate Wakanda so much.

Racist