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Overanalyzing Anime
Blog Owner & Lead Writer
If I had to use one word to describe Danai Gurira’s Okoye it would be loyal. She’s literally loyal af, & while it’s definitely something to be admired, it’s also something that I couldn’t help but be frustrated with during certain parts of the movie.
To start, she is much like the former King, T’Chaka, in the sense that she is very beholden to the old traditions of Wakanda; she strongly believes in holding on to these traditions of the past - for example she wants Wakanda to remain isolated from the rest of the world. This, in & of itself, isn’t necessarily wrong - she’s privy to information regarding the outside world, & without having lived in it herself, it’s easy to see how not involving Wakanda in the problems of Colonizers would be the best option. It’s a completely logical way of looking at things.
My issue comes less with this & more with her un-comprosming loyalty, which lies not with T’Challa, but with the throne in & of itself. In one of my favorite scenes of the movie, we see Okoye & Nakia discuss how they should handle the new King. It bothered me because it so heavily mirrored the real world; where, in America, there are those that remain loyal to the Oval Office even when the person holding said office doesn’t seem to have the best intentions for all of the countries citizens. Her choosing to stay bothered me, even though, logically, I understood that she had pledged her life to defending the throne - regardless of who sat upon it. It was a very interesting (& reflective) moment, for sure.
I will say that I really liked the fact that, even though she stayed, she didn’t remain quiet when Erik said things that did not sit well with her. Not only that, she was the first to draw her staff against the would-be King when he did not continue the ceremonial battle upon T’Challa’s return. She only turned on the King when he crossed lines that weren’t meant to be crossed, thus reaming loyal af ’til the end.
What did you think of Okoye? Did you like her character or did you have an issue with her loyalty? Let me know in the comments!
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