Aisha Harris explores the The Black Lady Therapist trope that she named a few years ago in an essay for Slate, after observing Hollywood's growing trend of casting Black actresses to play psychiatrists/counselors to (mostly) white protagonists. The B.L.T. is the sounding board and sage giver of advice, a 21st century incarnation of the broader and much older Black Best Friend trope.
As moving as it was to see so many little girls and women dressing up as Wonder Woman last year, the fact that Black Panther has a wider variety of Wakandan women to identify with—are you insanely smart and tech savvy like Shuri, or a do-gooder with maternal instincts like Nakia?—is a crucial step toward truly progressive feminism on screen. The movie may be called Black Panther, but it’s clear that the female characters’ individual relationships to T’Challa move far beyond sidekick or love interest. Wakanda would be sorely at a loss without them.