Things you may not know about the legendary South African actor John Kani, who play’s T’challa’s Father/King T’chaka in Black Panther.
He lost his left eye to a beating he received from Apartheid Police and wears a glass prosthetic eye.
in the mid 1980′s, he performed in a play called “Miss Julie in Cape Town” Half of the audience walked out of the production when he kissed a white woman on stage – an act that resulted in death threats and an assassination attempt, in which he was stabbed 11 times.
in 1985, he lost his brother who was killed whilst reading a poem at a funeral when Apartheid police started shooting up at the mourners.
all of this happened in a minority ruled white supremacist country formed ON land where his people where the natives and the majority, apartheid “ended” in 1994.
Attack The Block (2011) // Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) // Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) // Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018)
@littleflyingfuckwits funny, I don’t see anyone trying to downplay Nathan Fillion or David Tennant’s role as a scifi icon to this day.
Fillion starred in one SciFi property. Two if you count the Halo game voice work. He’s been everywhere in cameos because one small franchise made him a scifi icon, and you’re bothered John Boyega is being pedestaled for starring in three sci fi properties?
Same with David Tennant. Starred in one major sci fi property, became a big name, has continued a prolific and respected career outside of the genre – he’s no flavor of the month as you imply.
If we’re comparing Boyega to white actors, why not Chris Pratt, one of the few other actors today who has starred in three sci fi properties, including two major franchises. Why not Harrison Ford, who led two major franchises in the ‘80s plus starred in Blade Runner? Why not Sir Ian McKellen?
And Will Smith (who “isn’t even a white dude”) is an odd oversight, considering he’s one of the few actors, period, to have such a sizeable scifi filmography. Naming Nathan Fillion, a one-scifi-hit wonder who wound up on a cheesy TV crime procedural with the occasional sitcom guest spot, and not Will Smith, Boyega’s obvious predecessor in breaking the scifi barrier, just looks bitter, like you’re rooting for John to be an actor who never really catches on as an A-level star.
Willem Arondeus was a Dutch resistance fighter who gave his life trying to protect his Jewish countrymen from the Nazis.
Born in Amsterdam in 1895, Willem was one of six children. From a young age, he was a talented artist and his parents encouraged his creativity, until he came out as homosexual at age 17.
In a time when nearly all gay people were in the closet, Willem’s parents could not accept his choice to live openly. Their rejection led Willem to run away from home.
On his own, Willem took odd jobs and eventually became a successful visual artist and writer. He was commissioned to paint a mural for Rotterdam’s town hall, in a style that combined modern abstract painting with a traditional Dutch motif. Willem was a well-respected author who published a popular biography of Dutch painter and political activist Matthijs Maris.
In 1940, Germany invaded the Netherlands. Willem immediately joined the resistance movement, and urged his fellow artists to fight against the Nazi occupation. WIllem published illegal anti-Nazi pamphlets calling for mass resistance against the Germans.
Willem was especially committed to saving Amsterdam’s Jewish community. Bringing in others to the cause, Willem arranged for Dutch Jews to be hidden in people’s homes. He used his artistic skills to create false identity papers.
In 1943, Willem hatched a brazen plan. Dressed as a German Army captain, and with 15 men behind him, Willem boldly marched into the Public Record Office, where lists identifying people as Jews were kept. Willem drugged the guards and planted a firebomb. The resulting blaze destroyed tens of thousands of documents, and delayed or prevented many Jews from being identified by the Nazis.
Unfortunately, Willem was captured by the Germans and sentenced to death. Willem’s last words before being executed in July, 1943 were, “Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards.”
In 1986 Yad Vashem recognized Arondeus as Righteous Among the Nations.
Because of his sexual orientation, Willem’s story was omitted from Dutch history books. Only in the last 20 years has his courage become widely known.
i have never heard of this!
gay hero 💖💖💖
“Let it be known that homosexuals are not cowards.”
He does not like superhero movies and normally he falls asleep in the cinema. But not this time, he was on the edge of his seat and he said that he didn’t wanna miss a single moment. He absolutely loved the movie, the first thing he did when we got home was to call his african friend, yelling at him to go watch it as soon as possible. The second thing he did was ask me when the sequel will be out.
I asked my dad what he liked about the movie and he said everything. He loved that almost everyone was black and that they spoke Xhosa. He was so happy that they captured what life is actually like in many african cities in those scenes when they were walking around in wakanda. Seeing the people sit in cafes, buying food from food stands, kids running around with school bags, just people living their everyday life all the while being unapologetically african. He said he felt as if he was back home. And he was so happy that there finally was a movie where africans weren’t starving, or warlords, or dealing drugs. He told me that this is the kind of movie he has wanted to see for years, not alluding to the superhero stuff but the fact that they portray africans the same way that most if not all movies portray white people and not criminalize or dehumanize them but uplifting them. He loved every single character and especially M’Baku but his absolute favourite was the Queen mother Ramonda because she was so calm and collected while simultaneously being this strong queen. My dad, coming from a culture that really uplifts and value mothers and holds them above all, felt like the movie really captured that in Ramonda and that’s why he loved her.
He loved the soundtrack and how they mixed in djembe drums and traditional african singing with modern western music and he loved the costumes because a lot of the clothes look like the things people are wearing at all the african parties we go to.
The only complaint my dad had was that the sound was to high, which was his own fault for insisting that he sit at the end of the row right next to one of the speakers.
So yeah, representation do matter. I’ve never in my life seen him so happy about a movie. And he wanted to talk about it after it had ended which never happens normally. We joked around with the idea of him being a wakandan wardog stationed here and we did Shuris and T’Challas little handshake saying that is the only way we will now greet other africans. This movie gave my dad pure joy and happiness and it gave us a bonding opportunity because we finally have something that we both could geek out about.
UPDATE
I didn’t expect this to blow up, but I’ve been reading y’alls comments and I’m moved to tears. I also read them out loud to my dad and he is so happy that so many people feel like him and share our experience. This movie and everyone of you who gave this post notes have gotten him excited about the future of africa and how the world will view his beautiful continent. He also told me he wants to go watch it again with all of his african friends. He sends his love
Entertainment Weekly: This doesn’t exactly fit, but I thought a little bit of the Amish. The Jabari have a separate, traditional culture within a modern one. But then, the Jabari don’t lack technology. Winston Duke: Yeah, they’re not against technology. They’re against Vibranium. Their society is based around Jabari wood.
EW: That’s what we see decorating M’Baku’s throne room. WD: Yeah, this is something we didn’t get to interrogate deeply in the film, but everything for them is based around this Jabari wood that comes from this sacred tree. Everything in Jabari land is made out of this sacred wood that can essentially go toe-to-toe with a Vibranium sword or a Vibranium weapon because it’s this tempered, strong, treated wood.
EW: But it has its own mythology… WD: They believe it was given to them by Hanuman, the ape god. Meanwhile, the people of Wakanda will say, “No, it’s actually the Vibranium that’s seeped into the wood. That makes it stronger.” [Laughs] You have this whole divergence of ideas. They’re quite technologically sophisticated but it’s based around wood. Meanwhile, Wakanda proper is technologically advanced based around Vibranium. That’s kind of where they get separated, but it’s still the same house.
EW: What does M’Baku really want, deep down? WD: Where’s Wakanda going? How are they going to do that? T’Chaka (John Kani) is dead. I didn’t like the direction he was taking the country and now his son is going to take the throne, all these people have been asleep letting these people take control of the country for all these years, and we’ve just been watching from the mountains being like, “This isn’t right. My people have to live, they got to survive.” Instead of him just being this ostentatious dude who’s running around in a gorilla fur costume, he’s this guy who has deep attachments and needs. You can understand, “If I was in that position, I think I would have to make a similar choice.”
EW: M’Baku is a showman. WD: He is. He’s proud and he’s big, and he is a showman. It’s the idea that if I’m going to challenge and take over this country, I’m going to do it with honor and I’m going to do it in front of everyone the right way. I’m not going to use some subversive tactic to take over the country the way other people could.
EW:He does this chant, a kind of grunt that silences people. He’s frightening, and then immediately funny. He knows how to weaponize his demeanor. WD: It’s super fun to play, and we created the entire culture. The Jabari, similar to the Dora Milaje, believe in the oneness. When he speaks, he speaks in a “we,” but he doesn’t talk as a royal “we.” When he says “we,” it’s really we, like me and my people. That means a lot to him. When he speaks of the Jabari, he speaks of them as one.
Ben – no, Kylo – stood before her. He was trying to to put her in a box, make her feel small. Shrink her down till she needed saving. His saving. Kylo wanted to package up his loneliness and loss and make it hers somehow. To bestow it on her like a twisted gift.
Rey clenched her shaking hand into a fist. She was still reeling from the realization that her parents had deserted her. Maybe Kylo was right. Maybe she was alone in the universe.
But she’d learned, in the brief time she’d spent with Maz Kanata, to reach for the light before giving into the darkness. She closed her eyes and let the images rise to the surface.
Finn, pleading with her in Maz’s palace. You looked at me like no one ever had. Rey. Come with me.
Han, offering her a job on the Falcon, giving her a crooked smile when she said no. Too bad. I think Chewie kinda likes you.
BB-8, hovering at the edge of the Jakku desert, hoping to spend the night.
Finn and Chewie and Han coming back for her on Starkiller base. The warmth of Finn’s tight embrace. He’d held her like he never wanted to let her go.
Then Leia’s strong arms around her, sharing the pain after Han died.
May the Force be with you.
Rey’s breathing evened out. The calm that flowed through her veins was the same as the peace she’d experienced after tapping into the Force during her battle with Kylo in the forest. She opened her eyes.
She knew what she needed to do.
“It would be easier for you, wouldn’t it, if that were true, Kylo? If I believed, deep down, that I was nothing? If I let Luke’s neglect pour me into your hands?” She stepped closer, smiling as he cowered. “You should know a thing or two about nothing, Kylo. You slashed a gaping hole in your life when you killed your father. You thought you’d crushed me when you tried to kill Finn.”
Rey drew strength from the memory of Finn’s loyalty and bravery. Finn had fought to the death to protect her. She loved him, and he loved her. He’d brought her the family she needed. And that was more than enough.
“You still think you can take whatever you want, don’t you? Except we both know that’s not true. I stopped you then. I can stop you now.”
Kylo stumbled, then recovered, but his face was pale. “Rey, wait-”
“You’re afraid,” she murmured. “Afraid that I’ll leave you in the dirt where you belong.” She raised her weapon. “Watch me.”
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