“Powerful.” “ Inspirational.” “Phenomenal.” These were some of many words used by students to describe the blockbuster film Black Panther that was released in theaters on February 16th.

In its opening weekend, the film racked up a total of 241 million dollars, beating the record for the best movie opening in a President’s day weekend, and as of right now the movie stands at an astounding 893.3 million dollars with a Rotten Tomato percentage of 97%.

Meridian Mccall, a sophomore, reflects on the empowerment that Black Panther enforces. “Black Panther shows how smart, strong willed, and independent black people are, which goes against the stereotype of black Americans and Africans today,” she said. “There’s not enough movies that show our true greatness, and Black Panther did a great job of demonstrating something good for the black community.”

Sophomore Viviana Smart saw the film on it’s opening day. “It was so awesome and fun to watch; maybe even better than the other Marvel movies,” she said. “The film promoted black actors as amazing superheroes in Marvel, which is not common in many other Marvel hero films.”

The depiction of African roots, culture, and morals were constant themes occuring on the big screen, which was very different from the way Africa is usually viewed.

BSAP administrator, Mr. Nicks, viewed the film as an inspirational message. “Not only does the film depict African Americans in a different way compared to normal stereotypes, but Africa is also seen from a different standpoint,” he said. “Africa is viewed as being wealthy and resourced with innovations. Everyone is able to play a role in their society, and it should inspire people to want to know more.”

Symbolism also played a very big part in this film.  Ranging from the characters, to their actions, big statements were made. “In this film I saw the reshaping of art through film,”said Nicks. “The disconnect between Africans and African Americans was shown, while the women were proudly portrayed as dignified, respectful, and royal. You were also able to see the mix between innovation and tradition.”

The fact that Black Panther was able to create such a big buzz with the majority of its cast being black, gives fans something to look forward to. In the future ,when it comes to black superheros, people have  role models in the film industry that we never really got a chance to see before.