Everyone is live-tweeting along with the Oscars, and that includes the CIA. The spy agency got Twitter users hackles up when they started tweeting about vibranium, the fictional metal in Black Panther's Wakanda that helps make the nation the most technologically advanced on Earth.
The tweets were part of a series they are doing called Reel vs. Real. It's meant to highlight the links between movie magic and the real world. You would think an organization that makes its name on optics and intelligence would know to steer well clear of the blockbuster, given their more than spotty history with black people in the United States and sovereign African nations, but apparently, that wasn't in the dossier.
The CIA tweeting about Black Panther so they seem relatable. Good thing there isn’t any historical context that makes this weird or anything. https://t.co/Y1LsSGUJ1B
— Whitney McIntosh (@WhitneyM02) February 25, 2019
as Black Panther wins Academy awards the CIA wants you to know “vibranium isn’t real” bc they even hate to see an imaginary African nation prosper https://t.co/qckAVflE1r
— Zaron Burnett III (@Zaron3) February 25, 2019
in trumps america, the CIA live tweets award shows just to be able to make sure everyone remembers that those powerful Black people in the Black Panther movie completely fictional. Can't wait to see what they have to say about Star is Born. or Vice. https://t.co/hW2QnWRbeH
— Arise (@rise804) February 25, 2019
The CIA ran Black Panther’s Oscar campaign https://t.co/pP97OHWpFO
— Bolivarian Govt. the only legitimate govt. of 🇻🇪 (@FAUXCHOA) February 25, 2019
The CIA's blatant piggybacking off Black Panther's success reminds me of the work of Jenkins and Shaw in tracing the agency's longstanding effort to rehabilitate its image through Hollywood partnerships, as in their article "Zero to Hero": https://t.co/uOyvQm6Is6 https://t.co/wbFCZ4IO71
— Oscar Moralde (@oscar_moralde) February 25, 2019
The only real part of #BlackPanther was the CIA character who was a super cool nice guy. He totally wasn’t trying to exploit a mineral rich African nation. https://t.co/r6llpM4o6b
— West (@ChrisWest1220) February 25, 2019
— Dave Itzkoff (@ditzkoff) February 25, 2019
