EARLIER THIS WEEK, a conservative commentator took to Twitter to criticise Michelle Obama’s praise of the new Black Panther movie.
Michelle Obama really enjoyed Black Panther and made a remark about how important representation is for young people of colour. She tweeted:
Congrats to the entire Black Panther team! Because of you, young people will finally see superheroes that look like them on the big screen. I loved this movie and I know it will inspire people of all backgrounds to dig deep and find the courage to be heroes of their own stories.
However, conservative commentator DC McAllister wasn’t so impressed.
On her own Twitter, she asked why Catwoman had not received the same praise. This comment suggests that this woman has never watched Catwoman. Or Black Panther, for that matter, if she thinks the two movies are comparable.
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Similar comments have been made about the Blade trilogy. “What’s the big deal about black people in a superhero movie??? Ever heard of Blade??? Catwoman??”
What people are really saying when they make comments like this is “Hey, there was a movie about a black super hero 14-20 years ago. Isn’t that enough? Won’t people EVER be satisfied?”
Aside from the fact that Blade isn’t suitable for children the way that Black Panther is, and the fact that Catwoman was written and directed by white people and comprised of a predominantly white cast, it’s absolutely just not the same thing. Catwoman is rated as 9% on Rotten Tomatoes, while Black Panther’s got a rating of 97%.
Even one of Catwoman’s writers has come out to explain that the film is garbage.
John Rogers wrote on Twitter:
As one of the credited writers of Catwoman, I believe I have the authority to say: it was a shit movie dumped by the studio at the end of a style cycle, and it had zero cultural relevance either in front of or behind the camera.
He told DC McAllister “This is a bad take. Feel shame.” Then, he added:
Also full disclosure: I’ve never watched the movie all the way through in one sitting. I skipped premiere night.
