Zoya Azhar ’20
Assistant Opinions Editor
The steady build-up of tension, as the release date of any big-screen depiction of a Marvel universe draws closer, is old news at this point. Marvel profits from precisely that public fervor.
This time, Marvel is giving in to some long-held demands from fans for more black representation in movies. So not only are they profiting from the general fervor, but also from the additional buzz “Black Panther” is receiving in intellectual circles for its social justice overtones.
It is no coincidence that the movie is being released during Black History Month and that the soundtrack exclusively features black artists like Kendrick Lamar, SZA, The Weeknd and Khalid. The intellectual chatter and time of release is feeding into the phenomenon of people going in hoards to watch the movie, as if it were a talk by a civil rights activist on a college campus.
Hollywood actress Octavia Spencer of “Hidden Figures” fame bought out a theatre in Mississippi, with the intent of offering a free show to local, underserved communities so that, in her own words, “brown children can see themselves as a superhero.”
The movie is being used as a political statement.
Smith even pooled resources to finance ticket costs for students.
The Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Black Students Alliance, and the Smith African and Caribbean Students’ Association sponsored tickets for 90 students. The Residence Life office approved funds as part of the POCheese event initiative, which many Residence Life Student Staff members are using to take students of color to “Black Panther” screenings. Various other offices also sponsored tickets for students and staff members.
Although Smith’s response is quite gratifying and is exactly what the students asked for, it is hard not to wonder whether the money could have been used more productively.
Perhaps sponsoring a talk or presentation on campus by a notable personality in the Black Lives Matter movement, pledging financial support to a charity or organization that works to help minority communities or even forming a committee under the Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equity to get student input on what initiatives the funds could be put towards would be better uses of those funds.
However, these decisions require foresight, planning and are challenging to pull off. Sponsoring tickets also has its own virtues, but a student is more likely to be able to gain access to a movie ticket on their own than a campus-wide talk held at Smith. I hope a lack of funds is not the reason given to the student body for why diversity initiatives cannot be prioritized over movie tickets.
