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Say what you will about the blockbuster film Black Panther, love it or hate it, I could care less, you cannot deny it’s brilliance. And that brilliance begins with the emergence of Erik Killmonger. A young man driven, not just by his hatred of the oppressors of black people, but by the animosity of those that live with peace in the private kingdom of Wakanda. I believe a lot of writers could learn a great deal from a character like Killmonger. Marvel purposely set out for everyone to feel compassion for the bad guy. That was a new twist in itself. Marvel wanted you to understand, to relate, to fear the bad guy’s demise. They gave Erik, what so many others did not have, a soul. How many of us walked out of that movie theater believing ol’ boy had a point? How many Killmongers do you think is out there right now because of the injustice of black people in America? How many black families feel left behind by other black families that found a way out of the ghetto? You see my point? We can relate to his assessment. We understand his compassion for revenge, for validation. So many novels, fantastic novels, lack the character growth of their villains. You never care about why they are trying to take over the world, you just know they need to be stopped, by any means necessary. And usually, if not almost always, the bad guy’s reasons for the hostile takeover is for self gain. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, is better than reading a story that involves an antagonist with a heart. An antagonist that is so complex and conflicted with himself you begin to question your own beliefs. Erik Killmonger may not be the greatest bad guy of all times… but he damn sure is the most relatable one.

My apologies @Mel HopkinsBeing insulting or condescending is no way to have a discussion or even an argument. Mea Culpa

Yeah it is nice to consider the possibility that all I've learned is tucked away somewhere in my brain, 'cause I'm sure I have no conscious recollection of 95% of the stuff I learned in school :-) The possibility of being able to tap into our collective knowledge is exciting to consider isn't it? The scenario you describe @Mel Hopkins seems far more plausible. But it is fun to dream about a collective consciousness that we could potentially access :-)

Thanks for reporting Pop Culture Vulture for reporting, 'cause these awards shows are not my thing. I can image homie from Get Out! walking in the stage must have been funny. His character would make a good costume for Halloween :-) I hear that Love story with the fish man won best picture, I guess I'll check that film out. Tiffany Haddish has really blown up huh. Her memoir is a New York Times bestseller. I was unfamiliar with her work until I saw the film Girl's Trip. I thought Haddish was good in the film. I thought the blow job deomstration was a bit over the top. Later I realized this was a bit from her stand up act, so I now understand why it was put into the film. They could have also left out that unirnation gag too

I hear you @Cynique, even a broken clock is "NEVER" wrong, for it is correct 2 seconds every 24 hours. Of course only unreasonable people will argue that the clock is valid for that reason. So @Pioneer1 this is why I agree with Cynique. Also keep in mind the terms BC AD are relatively new. There are thousands of years by scientists, in multiple cultures, where these terms were not used (for obvious reasons). Why hang your hat on such a specious and weak point? Is it really just to "win" this argument?

The character KIllmonger was written with some depth. While this is good, it is not at all unusual. A good villiams is always developed in such a way as to help the reader, or the theater goers ,understand the characters motivation. I liked Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, he was a complete monster but we go to know him -- that and the character was brilliantly portrayed by Anthony Hopkins. I also like the character Khan in Star Trek and many others. But there are great Black character, villains or anti-heros that were just as compelling -- pretty much all of the gangster from The Wire would qualify. One thing that puzzles me about the love affair with The Black Panther film is how crazy we we are over this flick. Wakanda is something some white boys at Marvel made up. Now Black people are talking about this movie uplifting the Black race and it "telling our story." This reactions just tells me how collectively desperate we are for positive images of ourselves... it really is rather pathetic when you think about it...

@Cynique, that was twice in one day -- thanks again LOL! @Pioneer1, yes I still agree with the what Cynique wrote. Lets say that someone overheard me use the word Black or white to describe people. They might fall under the false assumption that I believe in Black and white races because I usedd the term in casual conversations. Scientists do this too. There are technical terms that they use to communicate with each other where greater precision is required for clarity. However if they are communicating with lay people they may use colloquial terms that people understand as not to talk over their heads.

@zaji I found a long article about the Akashic records stored away on my computer, - a saved document I didn't even know i had. Maybe we come here knowing everything because we are each microcosms of a Supreme Intelligence, and during the course of our lives, events and incidents nudge our memory causing info to "come to us". Also, hasn't it been claimed that we are only using a small portion of our brain? So who knows what's stored in its unused lobes?

The Akashic Records. I've always loved the idea of this.

@Troy , I thought I was the only one who felt this way. I still haven't seen the movie but I get the sense that black people couldn't relate to the monomyth before this film. I could be biased though -and "tight" because I wrote a whole contemporary world within a world that made no references to the european culture. In fact, the main character ascends from Ethiopia and she speaks about the fact that the country was never colonize. Her antagonist is a powerful obeah priestess that ascends from the gold coast but settled in Jamaica - and their heritage, language and rituals are intact. Some of the reviews I got from black women specifically was it wasn't believable because the characters didn't behave like "real black people". Specifically the "black" people in my book didn't have "colonized" minds. I am glad this film has opened up the minds. Now it won't be so difficult to write and sell books that are set outside of the 'hood, or cling to that slave narrative.

@Troy I found a plausible explanation while I was watching a skeptics video. The explanation offered relates to the news article you shared regarding knowledge. The professor mentioned that the more you know about a subject, the more information you have to draw from. You may not be able to access it right away but once you quiet your mind or do something else the information surfaces. The odd thing is no one really knows where this information is stored. There are some theories that it resides in the brain, but not everyone believes that. Anyway, life-long learning is the key.

Well, the 90th annual Academy Awards ceremonies have come and gone. Hollywood's favorite night out was a glittering affair, bristling with glamorous and empowered females flexing their toned up muscles in a show of solidarity for the "Me, too" Movement, accompanied by male escorts keeping low profiles, and crossed fingers, hoping they wouldn't be the next lecher to be outed. Yawn. There weren't any surprise upsets when it came to the winners. Black folks were reasonably well-represented among the nominees which included Denzel Washington, Mary j.Bligh. Daniel Kaluuya, Octavia Spencer, Common the Rapper and, last but not least, Jordan Peele, who directed "Get Out", becoming the first black person to receive an award in the Best Original Screen Play category. (Oh yeah, Kobe Bryant, the sexual harasser who bought his accuser's silence, also won an award for his animated feature about basketball. ) Tiffany Haddish, the break-out star of the movie "Girl's Trip", Maya Rudolph of SNL, actresses Taraji P. Henson, Lupito Nyong'o, "Black Panther" star, Chadwick Boseman, and comedian, Dave Chappell were among the presenters. One of the few funny moments of the proceedings was when the brainwashed black boy toy from "Get Out", all wide-eyed and dressed in the garb he wore in the movie, skulked out on stage between presentations, slowly looked around, then yelled, "Get Out!" before fleeing the scene. All and all it was an evening of good harmless viewing. This is your pop culture vulture signing off...

Maybe you should consider going "that far" @D.E. Eliot, for given what your our positions are very similar. Your point pretty much sums it up: I call this the elusive white co-sign, unless you get it you will not enjoy mass Black appeal and the revenues that go with it. So Disney made a film with positive Black images, but let's be clear: this had nothing to do with uplifting Black people, it is all about making money. Unfortunately, I'd have to agree with you that if Black people created Black Panther it would not have enjoyed the same level of support from Black people and the film would not have enjoyed the same level of financial success as a result. But this is just an interesting a thought experiment because Black people do not make these kinds of films. This is what makes the whole thing so sad and pathetic. D.E. since you mentioned being published by a Black publishing company I wanted learn more about it, so I ran a Google search on the ISBN 978-0692927618, only Amazon's sites come up -- not even the publisher's site is returned in the search results. I also looked for the book in Ingrams database and could not find it there either. What is the publishers website address? Also, I encourage you to read this article Point #3 as it related to posting links to Amazon.

It would be more encouraging if you'd stop jackin-off long enough to admit that you are wrong about science being the new religion. See ya!

There ought to be an easier way for you to get your jollies; maybe you should be a little more "hands-on".

My statement/opinion was a generalization which is far more right than wrong. i really don't have to defend what i said because science uses BC/AD as a convenience not a tenet. If believing that i am wrong turns you on, then knock yourself out.

Yes. This is what's known as being practical.

I like Loki a lot but I never felt sorry for him because I never thought he was being mistreated. He was selfish and deceitful. Had he not been such a dumb ass he would've been king because THOR didn't want the crown. But he is an amazing bad guy... can't wait to see him in the Infinity War

@D.E. Eliot Not to be contrary, but I felt sorry for Loki, Thor's brother who was adopted. He felt he could never legitimately be worthy of the throne or his adopted father's love. Loki had so much animosity for his brother that it allowed him to be the perfect villain. Except when he realized his love for his brother. I do understand your point. The best antagonist is the photo negative of the protagonist . This way the antagonist is able to trip up the protagonist because she knows her counterpart's weaknesses.. This causes the protagonist to step up her game and defeat the antagonist because in reality the only true battle is the one we are in with ourselves. Awesome observation. I haven't seen the movie, yet but they pretty much follow the same script. *** I forgot to add - that I'm referring to "Loki" in the film not the comics - I don't read the comics.

@Delano Ok

@Delano of course not. It's an explanation of the nature of theories. Gone tomorrow, here today. Get better instrumentation and back again. That's what a theory is - it's not a force of nature, it's a hypothesis that may have facts surrounding it but it is still a theory. LIKE I WROTE... Now shall I define theory for you - so we'll be on the same page?

Well, look whose back ready to inject a lot of disposed of points into the conversation, eager as ever to take on the role of never being wrong. And the definition of espouse was given, along with Mel's relating how she used hair curlers made out of brown paper bags, illustrating how people use items for purposes other than their intended use when something else is not available, as an example of science taking what was available in the case of BC/AD delineation.

Oh I thought I was pretty clear @Pioneer1, science itself does not espouse religion, but individual scientists may in their own personal lives. I try not to throw around absolute terms like "never." I can tell by your capitalization of the word, that you are placing emphasis on this word. Despite this, I still agree with Cynique on this issue