So I figure the author of fictional Wakanda has plenty of wiggle room should he/she determine that the world's most technological country with the world's most pure and powerful culture can watch international cable and not be negatively influenced.
If we were talking about another country, I'd probably agree. And it's never been my opinion that Wakanda should be "negatively influenced" by Western culture. They're certainly above that.
But the notion of piping in Western culture at all is just at odds with the nature of Wakanda. Priest described the Wakandans this way:
"Their culture is hundreds of years older than ours and is largely undiluted, an unconquered race that has, until very recently, lived in total isolation. We, and I include African Americans in this, are mongrels to the Wakandans. Uneducated and barbaric. A land of David Lettermen...I think outsiders are *tolerated,* but are seen as morally bankrupt, immature, and somewhat underdeveloped."
They're not going to watch American TV and Hollywood movies because they look down on us. They have their own literature and film and pop culture that they find infinitely superior to anything we produce. It's part of the reason why it irked me to see BET featured in #18; why wasn't the focus on *Wakandan* broadcasters? After all, that's what everyone in Wakanda would be watching. Their response to American culture ought to be like my response to
Leetspeak: ugh.
When this discussion happened once before, it was suggested that Wakandans absorb American culture the same way Americans watch "Jerry Springer;" as a lowbrow form of entertainment, laughing at people they can feel superior to. Which is a possibility...but it does nothing to answer the original question of why the Wakandans would emulate American dialogue or culture. Rather, it does the opposite, since people are less likely to imitate something they find beneath them.