The Oscars made a bit of news this year for something other than political rants by pampered celebrities.
For some reason, the CIA put out a dozen or so Tweets related to the nominated film Black Panther. Below is one of them:
In #BlackPanther, a unique metal called #vibranium helped the fictional African nation of #Wakanda become the most technologically advanced country on the planet.#ReelvsRealCIA #Oscars
Do you think vibranium is:
— CIA (@CIA) February 25, 2019
It seems strange that the CIA official Twitter account would be obsessed with a film so much that it would send out a dozen Tweets in a single day. However, that obsession may be justified with a little background information.
According to FOIA requests, the CIA has been involved with partially or fully funding over 900 films and TV shows since about 1990.
Much of this funding was done in return for filmmakers and producers changing their scripts and stories to be more friendly towards the CIA or their goals. In other words, propaganda.
Before the CIA started getting involved with Hollywood, they were often portrayed as “bad guys” in popular movies and TV shows. But that all changed after they started funding TV shows and movies in return for producers changing the scripts. From Tom Clancy movies to TV shows like Alias, the CIA was suddenly cool, and portrayed as a force for good (Jennifer Garner, the star of Alias even produced a recruiting video for the CIA).
So the fact that the CIA was so obsessed with Black Panther suggests perhaps this was yet another film that they played a part in subsidizing. But why?
In the film, mostly set in the fictional world of Wakanda, a CIA officer played by actor Martin Freeman is portrayed as a hero whose efforts save Wakanda.
So the question must be asked, did the CIA offer partial funding for Black Panther in return for script changes that shows a CIA officer saving a predominantly black country?
Of course, to find out the answers would require another round of FOIA requests which could take years. But considering the strange obsession with the film by the CIA’s official Twitter account, it is fair to assume they were involved in some aspect of the film and the narrative. But for now we can only speculate on the exact reason.
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