When it comes to the best movies of 2018, there’s no denying that Black Panther is towards the top of the list. While it’s true that everyone loved the film, Forever 21 may have overlooked what makes the film so important.
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Earlier this week, the retailer received some backlash for putting a white model in a “Wakanda Forever” sweatshirt, the motto of the film that has already become one of the most repeated lines in Marvel history.
The company did eventually release a statement, apologizing for the choice of model.
“Forever 21 takes feedback on our products and marketing extremely seriously,” a company representative said in a statement. “We celebrate all superheroes with many different models of various ethnicities and apologize if the photo in question was offensive in anyway.”
No matter how you feel about the sweatshirt controversy, there’s no denying that Jimmy Kimmel’s take on the subject is pretty humorous.
Why did @Forever21 apologize to an imaginary country? #Wakanda @TheBlackPanther pic.twitter.com/rg4iv4zPov
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) December 20, 2018
“They didn’t just use a white model, they used the whitest model in the world,” Kimmel joked.
“Who is this offensive to, Wakandans?,” he asked. “If so, I have a newsflash: Wakanda is not a real place.”
Kimmel points out that Wakanda is not only an “imaginary country,” but an “imaginary country that was made up by a white man.”
“Is it possible to appropriate a culture that does not exist?,” asks Kimmel. Of course, there are deeper reasons as to why this could be considered appropriation, but we still can’t help but laugh at Kimmel’s thoughts.
The late night host pointed out the hilarity of Forever 21’s choice to switch from the white model to no model, now displaying the sweater by itself on the site.
“Thanos snapped his fingers and made the white guy disappear,” he joked.
From there, Kimmel just ragged on the sweater, which he doesn’t deem fashionable in any way.
“What Forever 21 should have to apologize for is selling a yellow, orange, and purple sweater,” he joked. “I bet none of the black models wanted to be photographed in that horrible sweater.”
Do you think Kimmel is right? Did people overreact to the Black Panther sweater controversy? Is it an ugly sweater? Tell us in the comments.
Avengers: Infinity War is now available on home video. Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, Avengers: Endgame on April 26, 2019, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.
