Contradictheory: Where's our movie to show us the best Malaysia we can be?

As expected, Black Panther has broken records and excited American audiences. In four weeks, it has made over US$1.1bil (RM4.3bil) at the box office, with plenty of acclaim including this tweet from Michelle Obama: “Because of you, young people will finally see superheroes that look like them on the big screen.”

I didn’t see much of that enthusiasm in Malaysia. Many of those I talked to didn't understand why the film resonated so strongly with American audiences. To us, it’s just an action movie that just happens to have black actors. The truth is, Black Panther is a culturally specific film when it comes to how folks perceive it.