“Show Them Who You Are!”: Ritual Combat and Masculine Identities in Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther

Abstract

Societies have relied on different cultural mechanisms to cultivate appropriate and timely models of heroic masculinity, which have included oral tradition, art, epic poetry, and theatre. In contemporary times, cinema has become one of the primary venues to disseminate masculine archetypes throughout a society’s collective conscious. In certain cases, heroic masculinity can be manifested when characters embrace their valor, courage, and physical prowess for the greater good while eschewing the potentially toxic elements of their personalities and powers. In Ryan Coogler’s 2018 film Black Panther, the dichotomy of toxic masculinity and heroic masculinity plays out through a series of ritual combats. Black Panther applies traditional and historically relevant motifs to show how its superhero addresses the question of toxic versus heroic masculinity; and, in the end the film condemns toxic masculinity by portraying a hero who embodies strength, wisdom, and inclusiveness.