Black Superheroes Movies - Part 2

[Anubis]

Yeah but ultimately it was Kym Whitley's fault.

[Incrediblejeff]

Those Mcduffie pieces are great and sad at the same time.

[Shockdingo]

Yea. :/ It's quite heartbreaking.

[November Rain]

Originally Posted by DarKush

How exactly is a black intra-relationship cliche in a comic book film? How many of those have you seen? As another poster pointed out relationships for black characters in these films are almost non-existent. But if there is any cliche at all its the asexual black characters or the focus on interracial relationships.

Out of the box in this instance would actually mean showing black folks loving black folks.

not necesarrily cliche in this film, rather in media in general.

you have a caucausian central film AND due to some form of peer pressure and representation, you add an ethnic character in AND because this is not enough and you want them to have a relationshp you add ANOTHER ethnic character to be their partner

so out of an entire universe where only two ethnic characters exist, they end up in a relationship.

In this world i don't buy it, and they do it all the time.

again, frozone in the incredibles and another example would the asian couple in glee. There's no other asians anywhere at all in that school.

IF the casts and universes we were exposed to were more mixed, and they mixed with more cultures, i could buy it and its just too contrived and hurts all characters involved.

and it's a sympton of lazy writing

[DarKush]

Well, I look at it a slightly different way. For one, I'm not sure that the inclusion of non-white characters in a predominately white production is always the result of pressure. Sometimes, but I also think there have been attempts by Hollywood, for reasons noble and perhaps cynical, to get multiracial casts.

However, I often feel that the portrayal of blacks in the media, and the hang wringing over black relationships, not to mention long held fears of black sexuality, continue to play out in Hollywood. And far too often you see blacks at odds with one another, with neutered men and harping women. It seems that interracial relationships are handled much better, not to say we get a lot of those, and it reinforces the idea that there is something unappealing, unattractive about blackness.

I would also argue that these films represent a kind of one-way integration, where the black person generally assimilates into the white community/culture, and you don't see vice versa. Which reinforces again the idea that black culture/black people are somehow defective.

So what I would like to see is a focus on black-black relationships to counter the negative imaging, and then a branching out. It also concerns me that I think that the focus on interracial relationships stems not merely from a liberal and/or noble impulses, but a fear, inability, or lack of interest in portraying an intraracial relationship on the parts of white creators. I think if you put a white person in it, that makes them feel better. Another issue I have with any relationship is that that black men are usually asexual whereas black women are sometimes sexually available, and usually-it seems-to a white man. Or if there is a black intraracial relationship, the sex might be off screen. Rarely will you see it in a blockbuster. You might get it in smaller films, films more geared toward black audiences.

Even though I somewhat agree with your point about portraying more racial mixing, in the US there is still significant racial separation regarding afterwork socializing, and despite the media reports about increasing interracial marriages, the majority of marriages and relationships remain intraracial, especially among blacks and whites.

[Anubis]

I think you read too much into crap.

[chamber-music]

me too

[Hypestyle]

Whenever this current cycle of Spider-Man films is done with Andrew Garfield as Peter/Spidey (likely in the next 7 - 8 years), then Sony/Marvel should seriously look into developing the Ultimate Spider-Man Miles Morales character into the next cycle of films. The ideal young actor is only 7-8 years old now (and I think it would be silly to cast someone 18-ish playing 13), so time will tell..

[DarKush]

Originally Posted by chamber-music

me too

To each his own I suppose. But I believe that entertainment, like most other things, reflects the beliefs of its creators and the times and society in which they live. I think its an interesting way to look at the prevailing ideas and anxieties that US society has concerning race.

I also think there is a continuum of sorts that links racial imaging that goes back centuries, but often appears fresh or new because it is repackaged. The black brute or black buck popularized after the Civil War has become the ghetto thug and Sapphire has become the sassy, neck-twisting, harping portrayal of black women you see in far too much media. Jezebel's descendants might be the promiscous black women (prostitutes, or those so sexually available to white men on our screens). Rap music has been very key in repackaging these images. Lil'Kim, Foxy Brown, and Nicki Minaj are both Sapphire and Jezebel. 50 Cent, DMX, The Game, Young Buck, Lil'Wayne could all fall under the black buck stereotype.

After I've watched so many movies, TV shows, read so many books, etc. I started to sense a pattern in how blacks have been portrayed in a great deal of the media I've consumed.

It also helped that I took a class in African American cinema and was acquainted with the works of Donald Bogle, a bit dated now, but still a good start into looking how how race has been portrayed in films and on TV up until the early/mid-90s at least.

Here are some good descriptions of the black stereotypes I think still proliferate our media.

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/brute/

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/sapphire/

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/jezebel/

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/coon/

[Paradox1]

Originally Posted by DarKush

To each his own I suppose. But I believe that entertainment, like most other things, reflects the beliefs of its creators and the times and society in which they live. I think its an interesting way to look at the prevailing ideas and anxieties that US society has concerning race.

I also think there is a continuum of sorts that links racial imaging that goes back centuries, but often appears fresh or new because it is repackaged. The black brute or black buck popularized after the Civil War has become the ghetto thug and Sapphire has become the sassy, neck-twisting, harping portrayal of black women you see in far too much media. Jezebel's descendants might be the promiscous black women (prostitutes, or those so sexually available to white men on our screens). Rap music has been very key in repackaging these images. Lil'Kim, Foxy Brown, and Nicki Minaj are both Sapphire and Jezebel. 50 Cent, DMX, The Game, Young Buck, Lil'Wayne could all fall under the black buck stereotype.

After I've watched so many movies, TV shows, read so many books, etc. I started to sense a pattern in how blacks have been portrayed in a great deal of the media I've consumed.

It also helped that I took a class in African American cinema and was acquainted with the works of Donald Bogle, a bit dated now, but still a good start into looking how how race has been portrayed in films and on TV up until the early/mid-90s at least.

Here are some good descriptions of the black stereotypes I think still proliferate our media.

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/brute/

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/sapphire/

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/jezebel/

http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/coon/

Believe none of what you see and only half of what you hear. Now some of the media and entertainment description are true, some of it pure fantasy. The people who create the entertainment we listen to, watch,read and play all put a bit of themselves in it. However anyone who creates something first and foremost wants it to be entertaining. That often means sprinkling in just enough truth in a fantasy.A fantasy that often reflects there inner most desires about sex, love and so on and so fourth. So when a white man writes a black man as a sexual while making a black woman a whore should we really be surprised.

[RockSP]

Can't post the link due to language. Just youtube or google "Don Cheadle captain planet"

[Anubis]

That s**t was hilarious.

[Paradox1]

yes it was Don Cheadle is the ****ing man

[Kar]

Stupid phone cut off on me with some seconds left but that was funny. Cheadle with a mullet, the flamboyant Heart kid (I forget his name), "good wood" and human trees....yeah make this happen

[Shockdingo]

...I need to see this now. *runs off to see it*

[p4poetic]

So has anyone seen Colombiana with Zoe Saldana? I saw it over the weekend and loved it. I highly recommend it, and not just because it has a black lead. It was actually really good. Zoe is a better actress than I previously gave her credit for.

[roach]

its my wife....yeah I saw it yesterday and it was pretty good

[chamber-music]

Even thought this is a black superhero movie thread I thought I would mention that the latest Wuthering Heights movie has a black Heathcliff for the first time.

[roach]

a teacher at a film school was trying to teach her students about casting and it ended teaching them about sexism and racism

http://letthetruthlaugh.tumblr.com/post/9324766242

[terry78]

^**** is true as the day is long, though. You look at somebody non-white you don't view them as the main protagonist, unless it's a comedy or something.

[SoulManX]

Originally Posted by roach

a teacher at a film school was trying to teach her students about casting and it ended teaching them about sexism and racism

http://letthetruthlaugh.tumblr.com/post/9324766242

Great white Hollywood doesn't believe that a non white can saved the day unless he is funny doing....the young indie movie makers need to change this.

[SoulManX]

Originally Posted by roach

a teacher at a film school was trying to teach her students about casting and it ended teaching them about sexism and racism

http://letthetruthlaugh.tumblr.com/post/9324766242

That was a great link!

[RockSP]

Originally Posted by terry78

^**** is true as the day is long, though. You look at somebody non-white you don't view them as the main protagonist, unless it's a comedy or something.

Hmm..well, I certainly don't feel that way. Hollywood obviously does, and lots of moviegoers regardless of race. I always find it sad/strange when blacks feel that way about black protagonists. I've even seen it on these boards in terms of comic books. Black posters (well they say they are black, no way for me to know) saying things like "I don't want black characters shoved down my throat" or "I don't want to read about powerful black characters"

A dude I know from my local comic shop (supposedly) jokingly called me a racist because most of the characters in the comic I'm working on are black. Now keep in mind he's puerto rican and a big dc fan. You know, dc comics that paragon of superhero racial diversity. I had to point out that my unpublished little universe probably has more puerto rican characters than marvel and dc combined lol.

[T'Jai]

Found this link during research... Thought we may find it interesting in developing black properties with actual history http://web.mac.com/tim_jackson/iWeb/...%20Strips.html

[E-Man]

Man that link you posted, Roach, is a little depressing. The sad part is not just that these people think like this, but that some of them are going to go on and direct movies with the same ridiculous mentality that they have.