RT, November 11, 2019

Martin Scorsese – who criticized Marvel’s ubiquitous superhero flicks – “didn’t get” ‘Black Panther’ on account of his whiteness, said star Chadwick Boseman, in a statement that may be part social justice and part promo bid.

Scorsese, the cinematic legend behind ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘Goodfellas’ – caused ructions last month when he declared that he had “tried” to watch Marvel’s endless parade of superhero capers, but concluded that they were “not cinema,” and were more like “theme parks.” He elaborated last week, decrying the lack of “mystery” and “complexity” in the Marvel romps.

‘Black Panther’ lead Chadwick Boseman struck back on Friday, telling BBC 5 Live that Scorsese misunderstood at least one Marvel hit, due to the color of his skin.

If he saw Black Panther, he did not get that. He did not get that there was this feeling of being unsure. There was this feeling of not knowing what was going to happen that black people felt,” he told the station. “Cause we never had a superhero like this before. We thought, you know, white people will kill us off, so it’s a possibility that we could be gone.”

Assuming that Black Panther’s audience were all spellbound by the imminent threat of real-life racial annihilation is a woke take, but one that’s par for the course in modern Hollywood. Actress Cate Blanchett deflected criticism of last year’s all-female remake ‘Ocean’s 8’ by telling reporters that men would view it through a “prism of misunderstanding,” while co-star Mindy Kaling declared that white men simply “don’t understand it.”

While ‘Black Panther’ was directed by an African-American, the character was dreamed up by Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, both of whom are white. Furthermore, Scorsese didn’t even mention whether he had watched ‘Black Panther’, out of the 40 or so Marvel movies released in the last two decades.

Criticism of his movie aside, Boseman accused Scorsese of drumming up controversy to “get eyes on” his upcoming crime drama ‘The Irishman’. “You’ve got to think about when he’s saying it,” he told the BBC. “He’s saying it when he’s possibly campaigning for an award.”

Of course, the issue is not just black and white, but green. Boseman is also busy promoting his own upcoming film, the action thriller ‘21 Bridges’. For both Scorsese and Boseman, the more “eyes on” the drama, the better.