NDM 36

As ‘Black Panther’ shows, inclusion pays at the box office

https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/as-black-panther-shows-inclusion-pays-at-the-box-office/2018/02/19/5d76653a-1583-11e8-930c-45838ad0d77a_story.html?utm_term=.96328c35c80c

- The Washington Post

The article talks about how as of recently the inclusion of different ethnic groups in cinema has worked well “Black Panther” captured the zeitgeist by the potent combination of top-notch filmmaking (the film stands at 97 per cent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), studio backing and an audience hungry to see itself represented on the big screen in a way it seldom has before. Which highlights the fact that diversity does in fact sell.

• The phenomenon of “Black Panther” had the look and feel of a classic, bona fide blockbuster in route to its record-setting $201.8 million debut over the weekend, or an estimated $235 million Friday through Monday
•  Just as Jordan Peele’s Oscar-nominated “Get Out” ($253 million worldwide on a $4.5 million production budget) and Patty Jenkins “Wonder Woman” ($821.1 million) did before it
• “Coco,” which is expected to win the Oscar for best animated feature next month, has gross more than $730 million worldwide. It’s the biggest budget release starring an all-Latino cast.
• Other standout hits have included “Girls Trip” — the biggest comedy of 2017
• The audience for “Black Panther” was 65 per cent non-white, including 37 per cent black, according to comScore.

This highlights the fact that there is an increasing change in how people are represented in the media and that ethnic people are being represented in more positive ways and not just how they were stereotypically represented. 'Girl trip was a successful film but it can still be argued that they were stereotypically represented as 'humorous' (Alvarado). The sane could be argued for 'Black Panther' but the typical conventions of a Marvel film is to incorporate comedy into it.