MILWAUKEE, WI - It may be another multimillion installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but critics say "Black Panther" is more than a movie about superpowers and saving the world.
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“This is really about a movement so I think it’s important," Vickie Leflore said.
So important Vickie Leflore gathered more than 50 students from the UWM Educational Talent Search Program and treated them to a day at the movie theater free of charge.
“You really don’t see this in Hollywood," Leflore said. "[And] for people to come out and support I think that’s a beautiful thing."
Leflore’s pride in response to the movie and its representation of blackness is something that’s felt not only in Milwaukee but across the country too.
“Naturally it is important that our kids see superheroes that look like them," Ebony Haynes of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee said. "I also think it’s important that they have cultural relevance."
Similar to Leflore, Haynes is taking a group of about 40 teens and a few parents to see "Black Panther" too—but she said she wants the movie’s message to resonate with her students long after the final scene.
“Please do whatever you can to not just expose your kids but really have that talk afterward," Haynes said. "What does it mean? How do you feel now after seeing this? And what can you take away from it."
Already, "Black Panther" has earned an estimated $25.2 million in its preview at U.S. theaters Thursday, setting a new record for a February release, and dozens of other local groups have committed to taking students to see the film over the next few weeks.
