So, we go through this whole journey with Fontaine, Yo-Yo, and Slick Charles, and find that the Fontaine we’ve been watching is clone A0001. Then, we meet the original and I’m thinking, “Oh, here’s the big reveal!” Now, I am mad at myself that I didn’t see it before he told us the plan. Let me explain.
Remember when they found that first lab in the beginning of the movie? Remember the lab dude Slick Charles accidentally killed when Yo-Yo was touching things? Did you wonder like me and Slick Charles did why he was a white man with this big Afro? That should have been my first hint! Wasn’t paying attention to him specifically.
Now, Old Fontaine had a tragic story of his brother being shot by police officers (such a typical story nowadays) because they assumed he stole candy from a store. So because of the memories he had of washing dried blood off of his brothers dead body in a morgue, he decided that no one else should have to suffer like me and his mother did. As a side note, I also assume that Olympia Black is his mother’s name. I don’t thin they ever tell us that but what else but a Black momma can make a Black man behave. Back to my point. Old Fontaine’s plan was to just assimilate fully into making Black people into to White people but altering their genetics over time and altering the things they interact with on a daily basis, i.e. their food, the music they listen to, what they watch, etc.
Now, here’s the thing. I get what he is going for. I do. Don’t yell at me or huff. Yes, I heard you. Old Fontaine probably feels how most of us Blacks feel. If this were a White person, this wouldn’t have happened. So in his mind, this is for the preservation of his people in a way because if they assimilate, they won’t be subjected to senseless killing by the hand of anyone. And how do you do that? Well, first, you see they cloned prominent members of this community. The pastor, the lead drug dealer, the pimp, etc. You control these people and what they deliver to the community to aid with the grape drank, the altering of the music, the chicken, the drugs, and the perm. Once we get them where they can assimilate to the White standards of “normal,” then we just change their skin tone. It seems like something Black people have been trying to do to fit in for years.
But….here’s why that’s dumb. I get it. You shouldn’t hate the people who killed your brother, but why would you want to assimilate to a race of people who were at the helm of that killing? Seems kind of backwards to me. And while I say that you wouldn’t want to hate those people, I feel like Fontaine should have. So his plan to assimilate to that race is a bit misplaced for me. I would think he would take his knowledge and find a way to strengthen his community. At least, I would have taken that route. Hell, Killmonger wanted to do that, and while we thought he was extreme, he wasn’t wrong.
But you know, what do y’all think? Was Old Fontaine right in his thinking of assimilation is easier than annihilation?
