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WOULD YOU BELIEVE?


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My final take on the "Black Panther" euphoria, has predictably congealed into cynicism.  The black panther character first appeared as an antagonist to Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four in 1966. which according to some accounts, was the same year a cabal of young black militants in Oakland, California, inspired by the heroics of this character, envisioned the image of a black panther as a logo for their nascent organization. Subsequently learning that the symbol had already been adopted in 1965 by another political group from Alabama known as the Lowndes County Freedom Organization,  Bobby Seal and Huey Newton perhaps made these activists an offer they couldn't refuse and  - the rest is history.  End of prologue.


In the present, to me, the impact of the block-buster spectacle based on the black panther  comic book character, boils down to 2 words: make-believe.  And so begins our story...
.

Once upon a time, a black minority population residing in a land of broken promises, was  plagued by the post traumatic stress resulting from the slavery which had robbed them of their identity.  They ached for something to fill them with pride and make them believe they had self-worth.  2 Titans known as Marvel Productions and Disney Studios, got wind of this yearning, and with dollar signs in their eyes, believed they could capitalize off the situation by providing the black masses with a movie featuring make-believe characters in a make-believe country, giving a good accounting of themselves and their make-believe culture. 

 

Upon seeing the imaginary movie released by the Titans, droves of black people were captivated by what this make-believe epic made them believe.  Inspired by what jumped off giant screens in theaters all over the country, black patrons left these venues feeling superior to those who had thwarted their belief in themselves.  And what better way to affirm this belief than to ride the "Wakanda Forever" wave into a future where all blacks would be high achievers in a high tech  environment of their own making!

 

Meanwhile, the 2 titans of white corporate America are raking in the astronomical profits this film has generated, thanks in great part to the cash-flow from its enchanted black audience.  Elsewhere,  however, doubts about the redeeming value of this make-believe movie have begun to appear as dissident voices start to blaspheme it.  Social media party poopers are now pricking holes in the fantasy balloon, and would you believe the post traumatic stress of slavery is developing into a multiple personality disorder? 

 

Epilogue: Believe it or not, this is what can be expected when dealing with a make-believe tale that gives rise to a belief that blacks can believe in, -  if they make-believe... 

 

  

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I haven't seen it yet. But when I saw the trailer, my soul sank. Something felt off and didn't ring true. I wasn't as hyped as everyone else. I'm still not, even as the praise rolls in right behind the money. I will watch it soon, but the trailer turned me off a bit. Not that I didn't see the potential value in it, but it was a disturbing trailer.  We'll see what I think once I get around to watching it. I'll be waiting though. I am not paying to watch it in the theater.

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It's make believe that's making people believe.  

 

Does the intangible nature of music make it unimportant.

 

BP  is not important to the previous posters . That doesn't invalidate or even undermine it's importance to others. 

 

Intangibles are the source of much inspiration. 

 

The Wakandan muse is silent for those who have no need for it to speak to them. 

WF 

or 

WTF

 

BP wasn't a member of the Fantastic Four he fought them.

Also Lowndes County is in Alabama. 

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1 hour ago, Delano said:

It's make believe that's making people believe.  

 

Does the intangible nature of music make it unimportant.

 

BP  is not important to the previous posters . That doesn't invalidate or even undermine it's importance to others. 

 

Intangibles are the source of much inspiration. 

 

Yes to all.

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@Delano & sister @Zaji, Black Panther, the movie, indeed, stimulated African American emotions as well as White emotions (inspired) but to what end? Seems White folks have more of something to despise and Black folk are seemingly doing nothing more than celebrating the ‘we can make believe too’ or ‘what if’ we had similar imagination. Which is not the call to action or change of thinking which ‘inspiration’ is meant to do.

 

White folk looking at photos of Blacks hanging from trees are inspiration to lynch more or imagine a world where it’s legal and okay to kill Black folk. With the exception of some, Blacks point to the same photo and complain or uslessly die for fighting back the wrong way.

 

Inspiration of the Black Panther Party sprung into action from empirical experience living in America. What was the ultimate plight of that movement? The NAACP was inspired observing policies aimed to permanently cement marginalization of Blacks to only end up in the State Department’s pockets. The Nation of Islam was inspired by all the above, especially power of Christianity in Government; to see Malcolm X assassinated after his inspirational pilgrimage to the Kaaba in Mecca. No way was American going to let him bring the message of true Islamic thinking to Black folk, not with the BBP, NAACP, Martin Luther King, James Baldwin, and others waking folks for their slumber. Not when it's easier to sway Honorable Elijah Muhammad who had already begun practicing ways of White folk.

 

I apologize for being a bit long-winded here but it’s important brother @Troy be understood. White America’s effort to discourage Blacks has, for the most part, worked. The movie does nothing more than give Blacks some quality family time at the theater, a box of popcorn, and a sense of false pride based on nothing more than a usless message through moving images, while the studios make bank deposits.

 

That’s what I think the brother is saying. I invite him to correct me if I’m wrong. Where pure simplicity is a form of complete excellence I am always suspicious of the one-size fits all rationale. That the inspiration of art, ideas makes beauty of the ‘intangible’ and of intellectual importance. That unless you know the fountain-of-youth is, make sure you have a valid passport and some cash handy.

 

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"Why" do you need a passport? As another option to keep you from doing something stupid when you realize you’re surrounded and they’re not taking any prisoners.

 

Yes, Fox news does endorse Captain America, Wonder Woman, etc., as White heroes upholding the White spirit of America. But hardly mean we should think the movie Black Panther validates the African American struggle. Where do I spend my money? Across the checkpoint in Palestine (mostly Ramallah) to avoid enriching Israel, directly that is.

 
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@Kalexander2 I haven't seen the movie yet, as I wrote above. But I agree with @Delano, @Cynique and you. I think all points are valid depending on what action follows. I don't invalidate thoughts on something that can unfold in unpredictable ways. We are individual humans who react to things differently based on our perspective and life experiences. For some, this movie is an inspiration toward tangible change, and actions will follow that could have a ripple effect in time. For others, it's a pacifier meant to keep them inert. I see both sides. For me, it feels like another trick by Hollywood to keep us perpetually in hope mode, rather than action mode. There are aspects of the trailer that also ring false for me as far as black culture. I have yet to see a Hollywood film that has truly transformed white culture socially in positive, equitable, meaningful and permanent ways. I am not as drawn in by others to watch it immediately. I won't be giving a dollar to Hollywood to see this film. I stopped giving my money to Hollywood a long time ago. I will be watching it in other ways for free when the time comes. No hurry.

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Well said, sister! It’s true, human nature is as unpredictable as the human factor that kicks whenever stimulated. But there’s the possibilities of cause and effect unpredictability that merits more than just questionable expectations that can go either way. Is the wait for Black folks over? That’s yet to be seen, one thing is almost certain; the ‘now’ cause and effect is not at all encouraging.

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@zaji, Finally someone who refuses to enrich Hollyweird.  Even my going to see the film, just so that I could talk about it, actually reinforces the thing I'm lamenting.

 

@Kalexander2, yes you pretty much summed up my impression of the film.  The other part is that I find it sad that we are at a point in our collective consciousness (or lack their of), that we need Stan Lee's Wakanda to bring us inspiration.  Of actual history is inspirational, but we as a people are unaware of it.

 

Again, white folks are running around emulating Thor (save on halloween). Why? Because they don't need to.

 

@Delano I'm aware of Tomi.  I you did not need to eave this site to share the same information: https://aalbc.com/authors/author.php?author_name=Tomi+Adeyemi

 

So Bill Jennings has an old Black Panther comic?  So do I.  Are you trying to suggest that this is evidence of the BBP took it's logo and was influenced by the comic book character?  (@Delano Please answer yes or no and why.)

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Troy said:

 

So Bill Jennings has an old Black Panther comic?  So do I.  Are you trying to suggest that this is evidence of the BBP took it's logo and was influenced by the comic book character?  (@Delano Please answer yes or no and why.)

 

I answered this question before you asked it. In the other thread. So why are you asking me again.

Screenshot_2018-03-17-06-33-46.thumb.png.9057611bebc8c86989ddd8b12c1a7339.png

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On 3/16/2018 at 12:30 PM, Kalexander2 said:

Well said, sister! It’s true, human nature is as unpredictable as the human factor that kicks whenever stimulated. But there’s the possibilities of cause and effect unpredictability that merits more than just questionable expectations that can go either way. Is the wait for Black folks over? That’s yet to be seen, one thing is almost certain; the ‘now’ cause and effect is not at all encouraging.

 

Cause and effect unpredictability is the most daunting and the very issue we are dealing with now. The cause of slavery, oppression and worldwide violence against melanin rich peoples has produced so many outcomes in black collective behavior. But there is one thing, a single outcome, that we all share...we are still under the power and control of white culture. The language we speak, the clothes we wear, our way of thinking and believing. Even our way of unfolding our thoughts in discourse. I've noticed even down to the combative way talking heads behave on news stations, many melanin rich people have adopted. Whether we become a street thug drug seller or the next Oprah Winfrey, it is all within the context of white cultural practices, social norms and economics. Both strive to get their money based on THIS culture's structure. Whether legal or illegal, the control is not ours in the end. Oprah has no children. So where do we think her billion will go? I guarantee it will be white owned or white controlled organization. Like you, not at all encouraging.

 

 

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I for one am very impressed with you profound analysis sister @Zaji. Indeed, we are all subject to the same U.S. State power machine. I wish someone would wake White folks up to that fact so they realize they are the true targets. Black folk has never been that important or powerful to target for anything except a consumerist base. But be careful sister. Are you sure you’re ready to handle the answer about to come to you. WE’RE ALL SCREWED and there is no solution in the end!! The tunnel we’re all going through opens up to a bigger tunnel. Trying to turn back to the light is a mirage. EVERYTHING WILL NOT BE ALRIGHT like our mothers told us.

 

This is a reason I choose to be a 'crisis theorist' instead of a funtionlist because the negative far outweigh the position. Forget the "don't nobody bring me no bad news" proposition of wizard of oz's wicked witch of the north. The good news will prove to be really bad news.

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I maintain that the REAL value of the movie is that it gives Black youth an image or a template of what a well managed high tech Black society COULD look like.....which will inspire them.

Also.....
Although the movie was fiction, there were a lot of facts and ancient African concepts in it that were being RE-introduced to Black America such as:

-Respect for elders and veneration of ancestors.
-The concept of female warriors
-The belief and access to other realms where the ancestors dwell
-Black women wearing their hair NATURALLY....which is a big plus

Something I haven't heard anyone talk about in the media is the fact that we have a virtually all Black movie and NOT ONCE was the "n" word used....lol.

This movie has done far more good than harm in my opinion.

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-Respect for elders and veneration of ancestors.

LIke when KIllmonger murdered the character played by Forest Whitaker?
-The concept of female warriors

Without looking name 3 "African" cultures that used female warriors
-The belief and access to other realms where the ancestors dwell

Man name one culture on earth that odes not have some variation of this concept
-Black women wearing their hair NATURALLY....which is a big plus
What?! nobody had a "natural" hair style in this film. Substituting a straight blond wig for a another wig one is not "natural."

 

I don't think anyone is arguing that this movie has done "harm." 

 

My position is that the amount of good most are arguing that is has, or will do, for Black people is grossly exaggerated.

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@Troy, brother, you’re mixing fiction with non-fiction. The attempt is aimed toward a sort of “Literary Fiction” where special effects and interesting dialogue greatly outweigh the “social value” intended. We are talking about the “Black Panther” movie, right?

 

What good is popcorn and coke if there’s no opposing folk present? The movie was made from the White perspectives of the African American dilemma; mainly convey to the audience Black pride in violence and going against the gain (social values).

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@Troy how many movies can you name that is predominantly a black production and the Good guy is Black and the bad guy is white.

 

Let me clearly state my position. I am not saying Wakanda forever nor did I dress up to see the movie. 

However the movie is historical both economically and culturally. Or shows Blacks as more advanced and autonomous. If that creates hope pride and action. Then it was worth the price of admission 

 

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@Delano, may I also respond?

 

"Sounder"  1972 starring Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, and Kevin Hooks. Now that's a movie of real social value (literary fiction) only without the special effects and clever dialogue. 

 

Or, you can go with the original "Porky and Bess," all Black cast.

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@Delano, the brother, got something for you. Now, please don’t get offended or think I’m trying to preach.

 

I think it’s your ‘voice’ it’s undeveloped and not authentic. As a journalist with many years under his belt, I think you’d benefit from trying harder. Which is (probably) why I erroneously assumed you didn’t have a degree.

 

I always write not less than 1000 words every day; always trying to further develop my own authentic voice.  Though I have a four-page critique from my editor setting across the room, 5-days now, I still write 1000+ words every day. Even right here on this site, but I try to rant (often unsuccessfully).

 

A similar practice may help you with clarity, thought processes, focus while always on the lookout for accuracy, accuracy, accuracy. Oh, and even college graduates, at all levels, suffer from the same dilemma. 

 

Just an observation and thought. And I could be wrong.

                                                                                                    

 

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i still don't see how seeing "Africa on steroids" aka as "Black Panther" is that significant and helpful to black people in America. i don't  even think Africans are as blown away by this picture as the America diaspora is. i find it pathetic that we are so impressed with a movie based on a character created by a white man and is produced and released by 2 white companies who are reaping its enormous profits, none of which are benefiting its biggest fans.  i think we should cut the crap and "call a spade a spade".    Black folks have been played, and the movie's pre-release hype  which programmed their minds,  was a fom of manipulative brain-washing. Enough already! Back to reality.

 

@Kalexander2  What are your journalistic credentials, babe?   Your writing syntax  leaves something to be desired.

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Journalism & Public Communications, BA, currently copy editing. MA Social Sciences: Social Psychology, Sociology, and Cultural Anthropology. Currently assisting excavation project in Palestine.

 

Syntax, I know. The way I arrange my words are deliberate, I think.  Or, arrangement by way of the languages I'm learning speak (Arabic and Hebrew) or perhaps I don't care. 

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Troy

LIke when KIllmonger murdered the character played by Forest Whitaker?


No, but like how both Kill Monger and Tachalla having love and respect for their fathers and actually went to the other realm to seek their advice and wisdom.

When was the last film out of Hollywood that showed Black males having this type of love and positive relationship with their fathers?


 

Without looking name 3 "African" cultures that used female warriors


I can name you several right off the bat but if you don't want me to actually look I'm almost SURE to get the names wrong.

1. Queen N'zinga of Angola who led a group of warriors male and female against European colonialists.

2. Queen Asantewaa of the Ashanti nation who led female warriors.

3. The Dahomey nation had an entire brigade of female warriors.

And there were many other examples of African societies PRE-COLONIAL who had female brigades along to go along with the males.

And here in the Americas there were entire regiments of female soldiers in Haiti who helped defeat Napoleon's military during the Haitian Revolution.


It's not about men dominating over women or women dominating over men.
The African way is about BALANCE...male and females in their proper roles.

 


Man name one culture on earth that odes not have some variation of this concept


The culture you're living in....the United States.

This culture is not only secular, but in many circles it's down right atheist.
Where in America do people routinely and casually talk about traveling to other realms where there ancestors are?

Neither do they talk about it in Russia, Poland, France, Germany, ect.......




What?! nobody had a "natural" hair style in this film. Substituting a straight blond wig for a another wig one is not "natural."


I didn't say have A NATURAL (as in the Afro) I said there hair WAS NATURAL....meaning it wasn't dyed blonde nor was it processed to be straight.

 




Del

However the movie is historical both economically and culturally. Or shows Blacks as more advanced and autonomous. If that creates hope pride and action. Then it was worth the price of admission


Excellent observation!

Infact, I believe it crossed the 1 billion dollar line this weekend and is Marvel's highest grossing film!


Not only do I see sequels....I can easily see a few television series coming from this project.

MOVE OVER "GAME OF THRONES"....LOL.

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I am very impressed Pioneer. I thought Pioneer had you with the ancestral thing but you smashed that with the US no less. I don't lnow about ancestral worship in Europe but hey did have it in Rome.I believe it was Vesta for the Romans and Hestia for the Greeks.

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K2

Syntax, I know. The way I arrange my words are deliberate, I think. Or, arrangement by way of the languages I'm learning speak (Arabic and Hebrew) or perhaps I don't care.


Yes.
It sounds like you're using English words with a foreign syntax or cadence

Your posts read like how Arnold Swartznagger sounds....lol.

I know you said you don't live here anymore but did you grow up in the United States?

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Very good @Pioneer1, I should known better than to quiz people on this site about African history that said...

 

Are you trying to say America is a secular nation -- are you kidding me?!

 

I gave you an example of a man murdering an elder in the movie but you ignored that example which disproves your point and cherry picked on to suit your needs.  I can tell you know nothing about science because as soon as your experiment fails you double down in your flawed hypothesis.  

 

Whether is is straightened blonde or twisted red (lupita's style) neither are "natural." It is just not Natural in the way you prefer it to be.

 

Look man it is just a dumb flick enjoy it for what it is and stop trying to make it more than it is.  Hollywoods has man some great black film and many shitty ones too we can define our culture on these things.   Did you get the inside of your lower lip tattooed yet? You know there are negroes working o doing this right?

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The movie has the following themes: Loyalty Tradition Change Identity Justice Morality Retribution and Love. For Troy it may be a dumb movie but I would rank it with Star Wars and the Matrix Trilogy. How long before or gets its own University course or becomes a dissertation. 

Probably by May June 2019 or a little over a year.

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Troy

Very good @Pioneer1, I should known better than to quiz people on this site about African history that said...

Are you trying to say America is a secular nation -- are you kidding me?!

I gave you an example of a man murdering an elder in the movie but you ignored that example which disproves your point and cherry picked on to suit your needs.


I didn't IGNORE your point....lol....I just steam rolled over it with more COUNTER-POINTS.

There were far more scenes in that movie that displayed the positive relationship between Black youth and their elders than negative. Even the way the movie started off with a little kid asking his "Baba" (African word for Daddy) about the history of his people.

Come on man, don't tell me THAT didn't touch you!


 

I can tell you know nothing about science because as soon as your experiment fails you double down in your flawed hypothesis.

Maybe the experiments fail because the laws of physics in Wakanda are different than in America....lol.




 

Did you get the inside of your lower lip tattooed yet? You know there are negroes working o doing this right?

I think Black people getting the insides of their lower lips tatooed is a lot smarter than getting both their entire arms and legs along with their necks tatooed like so many are foolishly doing today.

I'd rather see Black people use their ingenuity to MAKE UP a culture either on the big screen or in real life than continuing to blindly follow White people in a pathetic attemp to imitate their culture (tatooes, piercings, carnivorous diet, heavy drinking, reckless drug use, ect....) which too often leads to the 3D's: disease, disappointment, and death.

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@Pioneer1 "African word for Daddy" Surely you did not mean write than did you?

 

As far as blindly following white folks, you know white folks invented Black Panther and he world of Wakanda right?

 

@Delano, remember I said I enjoyed the film (wait, have you seen it yet).  Again my point is that you and many other Black folks have canonized he film. I call it dumb to counterbalance the exaltation of the film

 

While I think Star Wars, at least the last 4 or 5 installments were pretty bad.  The Black Panther movie is superior in my book to the entire Star Wars franchise -- put together.  Well maybe not the first one which was a groundbreaking film.

 

I would not put Black Panther in the same category with the first Matrix flick, which was a simply brilliant film.

 

If there is a college course dedicated to this one film it would be a waste of money, for there was nothing ground breaking or original in the film to study, but it would not surprise me if one is created.  45 created a "university."

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Troy
 

"African word for Daddy" Surely you did not mean write than did you?


Yes....but with an explaination.

Ofcourse there are hundreds if not thousands of languages in Africa, however in ALMOST ALL of the sub-Saharan African cultures the children use the words "Baba" for Father and "Mama" for Mother.
So by "African language" I'm speaking about the collective languages of sub-Saharan Africa.

Actually Chinese also call their father "Baba".




As far as blindly following white folks, you know white folks invented Black Panther and he world of Wakanda right?


Stan Lee might have invented them but my boy Ryan Cooglar perfected them.....lol.

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@Troy I am going to carefully delineate the points I was making. The Identity, Social responsibility, Allegiance, Tradition, Change, Appropriation , Reclaiming vs Theft. That museum piece with KM saying you stole from me and you don't me, but I am taking my $h1+ back.

What about some of the realy funny lines that were super deep.

Don't scare me mister colonizer.

I am king. You can not speak. I'll feed you to my kids. We are vegetarian. That line referencing the following, sovereignty, perceived superiority, protocol, assumptions about who is cannibal. And the character is aware of all of these layers.

I would have rather died in the water than live a slave. That would be a better rallying cry than Wakanda Forever. So yeah It is a tight flick.

It will be a college course or a dissertation within two years. Because it has so much depth that it an be discussed from many angles. How many angles can the Matrix be argued. Choice Free will Leadership  Responsibility. The difference is because it is clearly not this world the arguments are abstractions. While BP has abstraction and more concrete concerns.

Finally I believe that those associated with the film will either fund a scholarship or find a way to give back much like the Black Panther  did at the end of the movie. So celebrity will lend itself to a noble cause, and this in precedented.

 

That is the short version.

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Apparently Black Panther is evolving into something akin to an ink blot replica, something which everyone sees what they want to see in it. All of the intellectualizing and deconstructing are superfluous to me.  How blatant can it be that it's a movie which millions of black people find palatable on many levels because it was something they had long been salivating for.  The true taste-test is what concrete positive results will be left in its wake. Granted, it is headed for "legendary" status, but Michael Jordan is a "legend", a billionaire who makes his money off of black people purchasing his exorbitantly-priced gym shoes.    

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Donations to poor Black kids is all marketing.  Do you really believe Disney actually cares about poor Black people -- beyond the ability to separate them from their money?

 

As Cynique said the deduction reduces their tax liability.  What we don't know is how Disney is spending the remaining 99.9% of the profits from he film. Maybe that would give you some perspective.

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Is that a misdirection. The initial statement is that the movie is just entertainment and will not effect the lives of Blacks. Both you and Cynique stated that earlier. That is your primary argument. Which I disagreed with and then showed that it was not true. So you will accept neither that the movie is inspirational or philanthropic. There is also a course at UCLA that is due to Get Out. You will see the same for BP by June 2018. I can't convince you but time may.

 

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