As “Black Panther” continues to make history at the box office, its viewers and fans are turning to social media to express just how impactful the film is for today’s generation. One fan in particular, who is not only talking about the movie’s influence but showing it, is 7-year-old Jordan from Clermont, Florida.
Earlier this week, Jordan’s mom, Brittni Bascombe, posted a video on social media of her son doing a spot on reenactment of the M’Baku challenge scene from “Black Panther.” Within an hour, she says the video got 20,000 views and within a day it received a million.
“We put videos up all the time,” she tells Because of Them We Can. “He has a cooking channel where he cooks and likes to do funny videos and likes to be in front of the camera. So I thought this would be just another video.”
To Bascombe’s surprise, Jordan’s reenactment of the Marvel film was beyond an average video and it even caught the attention of cast members Michael B. Jordan, Winston Duke and Chadwick Boseman. Jordan left a comment saying, “Lil man you nailed it,” and Duke reposted the video with the caption, “This little guy is killing the #mbakuchallenge…couldn’t have done it better myself!”
“He’s like, ‘So Killmonger talked to me on Instagram,'”she says. “He is not even calling them by their real name. He is calling them by their character name.”
Similar to many other kids who are impressed by media images that look like them, Bascombe says “Black Panther” is a film that made her son believe he could be just like the superhero characters he saw on the big screen.
“In most movies, the Black person may be a character that helps or pushes the lead character up,” she says. “But the main character who makes this movie has similarities to him and he sees himself in that character. Like, ‘Wow, he has hair like me so I can put on a costume and be like him.”
She says after seeing the film twice, Jordan is now asking more questions about Africa and the culture as a whole, proving that representation is key to also educating the next generation.
“I just think that it is really important that kids see themselves represented in movies and they have someone to really look up to that is a positive influence,” she says. “They always say representation equals manifestation.”
To keep up with young Jordan, his “Black Panther” reenactments, or his latest cooking recipes, you can follow him on YouTube or Instagram at @jordanscookingcorner.