Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast/Getty
Black Panther is one of my favorite films. Yet, I’ve always been troubled by the idea that Wakanda, the technological and social embodiment of the Age of Enlightenment, decides who its leader will be based on ritual combat. The ability to hurl your opponent off a cliff doesn’t translate into crafting treaties or intricate economic discussions. It’s good theater—bad politics. Just like the debates.
Choosing a president’s qualifications based on a debate is like beauty pageant judges assessing a woman’s intelligence based on her waist-to-hip ratio in a thong bikini. The skills required to bluster on a stage are not the same ones crucial to creating meaningful legislation, negotiating with international allies and enemies, or dealing with domestic challenges. It’s like trying to choose your brain surgeon by watching them bake cookies.
But Americans like competitive sports and so they insist on this sad spectacle. Do they hope for clarification about the candidates’ individual policies, plans, and promises? That may be a part of it but, like hockey fans, they are giddy for the inevitable fights. They want to see the gloves fly off and someone give someone a verbal bloody nose.