Director Says ‘Black Panther’ Is Dangerous For Black Kids

Black Panther was a cultural phenomenon, a box office smash and a critically acclaimed, Oscar-winning film. So it’s no surprise that a white filmmaker has come along to trash it.

Oscar-nominated writer and director Terry Gilliam recently spoke with IndieWire and jumped on the bandwagon of criticizing superhero movies, saying they’re creating a monoculture of blockbusters.

“I don’t like the fact they’re dominating the place so much,” he said. “They’re taking all the money that should be available for a greater variety of films. Technically, they’re brilliant. I can’t fault them because the technical skills involved in making them are incredible.”

RELATED: The Release Date For ‘Black Panther II’ Has Been Announced And The Twitterverse Is Going Crazy

His comments would have gone unnoticed, until he decided to specifically target Ryan Coogler’s magnum opus, calling Black Panther “bulls**t.”

“I hated Black Panther. It makes me crazy,” Gilliam said, seemingly under the impression that his opinion on the film matters. “It gives young Black kids the idea that this is something to believe in. Bulls**t. It’s utter bulls**t. 

“I think the people who made it have never been to Africa,” he continued. “They went and got some stylist for some African pattern fabrics and things. But I just hated that movie, partly because the media were going on about the importance of bulls**t.”

Not that anyone really was waiting on Terry Gilliam’s White opinion of how authentically African a Black film is, but now that he’s spit it out, he may want to know that key members of BP’s cast have, in fact, been to the continent. 

Yahoo Entertainment cites that Ryan Coogler, along with several members of his key creative team, took a trip to Africa to research and create several real shots for the movie. The final film is so full of specific, artful details that it could be a study of the African diaspora itself.

U mad, Terry?