As such, I pay particular attention to the user-generated list of the top two hundred and fifty movies of all time. The list changes and grows. However, one of the most striking aspects of the list is how quickly it rejects movies that might be seen as “diverse”, particularly when measured against similar movies that lack diversity. It is obviously impossible to do a direct one-for-one comparison with these films, as taste varies. However, if you look at enough films, a pattern begins to emerge.
For example, all five of the Best Director nominees at the Oscars in 2017 made the list at one point or another. Moonlight had the shortest stay, only in for a few hours. Hacksaw Ridge had the longest hold, and remains the highest ranked. Similarly, most of the big superhero movies of 2017 placed on the list. Wonder Woman was in for under a fortnight. In contrast, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 lasted more than a month. Logan is still ranked, almost a year after placing. Thor: Ragnarok lasted two months.
Of course, it is entirely possible that these statistics could just be anomalies. Maybe grassroots audiences don’t like Black Panther as much as critics do. However, a quick glimpse at the early user reviews for Black Panther on the Internet Movie Database suggests exactly what is motivating these scores. For those unfamiliar with racist memes and dogwhistles, “we wuz kangs” is a derogatory dismissal of attempts by African Americans to connect with their heritage, to dismiss any connection to the continent and the contrast between their ancestors who lived there and those most likely taken as slaves.
The Internet Movie Database seems to understand the bad optics of having user reviews of Black Panther populated by racist nonsense more than a week before the film is released, and so have