“Wakanda Forever” and the Feminine Genius

"The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of women is being acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at his moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women imbued with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling". (The Council’s Message to Women, December 8th, 1965)

Wow. Whoever said the church is anti-women needs to see this verse! In the decades since the Second Vatican Council, it’s clear that the role of women has come to the forefront of church discussion and culture, both for good and bad. I’ve been thinking about this lately after watching the recent movie “Wakanda Forever.”

As leading female character after leading female character appeared, I was drawn in by the theme of femininity and motherhood. (And grief, but that requires its own separate analysis for another day!) I went home and found an interview where the director, Ryan Coogler, talked about how the theme of the movie was motherhood, balancing out the theme of fatherhood in the 2018 Black Panther. (Maybe Hollywood hasn’t gone completely woke after all?)

I’ve been spending some time lately going through Pope John Paul II’s work, “Mulieris Dignitatem,” or “On the Dignity and Vocation of Women.” You can find the entire text here, and I would highly recommend sitting with the actual work! It’s so deep and beautiful. There are more than a few themes from his writing on the characteristics of the feminine genius, and as I watched the women in the movie I was thinking about how some of them exemplify these qualities.

Woman- one who has great dignity, simply because she is human. This dignity is equal, but not the same as that of man. John Paul II says “Masculinity and femininity are distinct, yet at the same time they complete and explain each other.” Equal in dignity, yet not the same. The Queen Mother, Ramonda, shows great dignity in her dealings with other nations. She is able to be a strong, effective leader, while using her feminine gifts of nurturing and compassion to serve her people and her family.

Woman- a ‘helper fit for man.’ By her very nature, woman is receptive. The woman, as bride, “receives love in order to give love in return.” We see this in the final scene with Nakia. She seems to have undergone a transformation since becoming a mother herself, and emerges as not only a mother in the physical sense, but as a mother figure to Shuri in counseling and guiding her through her grief and anger.

Woman- the one who embodies hope. Woman was part of God’s plan for redemption in Scripture, first hinted at in Genesis and fulfilled in the Incarnation. I couldn’t help but think of Shuri being a sort of “new Eve,” and found it noteworthy that the Namor is a “feathered serpent god.” Namor’s mother brought him into a world of chaos during the Spanish conquest of Mexico, and Namor clearly has become angry because of the injustices he and his mother suffered, and has vowed violence towards others because of his hurt. Shuri, however, both subdues him and rights the wrongs, but it is through an act of love, and her mother reminding her to show Namor “who she really is.” By setting her own grief and anger aside and saving his life, she is able to save her people and his, bringing hope in direct contrast and reversal of the disorder that Namor was born into.

Woman- the one to whom God entrusts the human being. Because of this, woman is strong, and aware of her vocation or mission in the world: to sacrifice herself in order to nurture life. The scene where Queen Ramonda dives into the water to save Riri comes to mind, or Nakia going to Haiti to hide T’Challa’s son, or coming back to Wakanda to find Shuri and help her people, show this poignantly. There are multiple examples of women sacrificing themselves with the preservation of lives being the goal.

Of course, for Christians, John Paul the II observes that the woman must be rooted and strengthened in her relationship with Christ, through Whom she obtains her freedom to act and serve. Marvel will never capture the wholeness of this vision. Sure, there were flaws and questionable parts to the movie; one of the most questionable being the negative portrayal of the Franciscan missionaries to New Spain in the 1500’s. (Again, another topic for another time!) I lay out these characters as icons, not idols. But because these are truths written in every human heart, and thus, truths that appeal to every human heart, they come darn close to drawing it out and presenting it on a beautiful scale.