To me it’s important that an actor of the caliber of Michael B. Jordan is interested in the role. That he’s black is secondary.
Michael B. Jordan as the Man Of Steel?
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This thread actually had me thinking about how a black Batman would work out, and if anything, quite well. As a black man, Bruce Wayne's turn to vigilantism could be in response to his feelings about how black people are treated by the police and/or a response to his belief that the police didn't put as much effort into the investigation of his parents' murder as they would have had a white couple been killed.
Sorry, I really didn't mean that. All I meant was that if something has been done one way for 70 years, that's a good reason to take a chance, and try something different.
You still have the issue of being from old money rich. You know who I think a race swap would work with. Wolverine. His anger partly coming from decades of racism maybe even once being a slave. Then the goverment experimenting on him to give him his claws would evoke comparisons to the Tuskegee experiments. Jason
Exactly what part of "last son of a dying planet finds himself adapting to life on Earth, where he has a multitude of superhuman powers" has "also, is white" part of its character description?
This is as ridiculous as people who complained about Perry White being black in Man of Steel / Beavis, or Jodie Whittaker taking over the role of the Doctor. "This is the way it's always been done, ergo it should remain that way" is an appeal to traditionalism and safety, both of which are logically fallacious. (Even though the Supreme Court and Chief Justice Roberts told us in the Shelby County decision that racism is over.)
Edit: You can make an argument that a non-white Clark Kent / Superman would be more relevant now than ever, considering racial tensions in the United States are the highest they've been in decades.
Just do it the way of miles Morales.. You don't take away Peter parker, you invent another character that is hispanic, black, asian etc.
Plenty of other dimentional superman that are black. Use them.
You create something new...
Plenty of other dimentional superman that are black. Use them.
You create something new...
The Miles Morales route is valid but so is the Nick Fury one.
Warning for flaming. Comments to pm
Not that there's anything wrong with this idea, but can't we just have a Superman who happens to be black without him having to be a 'Black Superman'? Hire Michael B. Jordan (or whoever) and just don't bother mentioning his skin color. Treat it like the non-issue it should be.
Agree, Black Panther is one of those fictional characters whose race is integral to who the character is.
But i disagree with what you say about Bond. This is pretty much the position that started this discussion, only it was applied to Superman.
There is nothing in universe that demands Bond always be played by a white actor. You know this, you mentioned the concept in the first paragraph of your post above.
But here you're applying real world social mores on to a fictional world. In this fictional world, Bond is a black super agent in the British secret service in the 1950's. It might require a slightly greater suspension of disbelief for some.
It's fiction. The only thing that matters is how well written, acted, and produced, the movie, TV show, or play, is.
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Seeing as the original Superman creators said that they were always influenced by the idea of American immigration, and in particular their own Jewish immigrant ancestry...
When done for a purpose.. Them changing Jimmy Olsen to a black character was wrong.. Because his character in the show could have been name Clint McCockthrust and been the same character .. That and they changed a redhead which to me a redhead is a more minority than any other... (Yes I know technically white.. But still..)
It's just for a movie not for all media.
Won't some one think of the poor oppressed redheads?
I'm left handed, where's my representation????
Yeah, this reaction certainly comes as no surprise.
Your posts stating you want an actor's race to always stay the same in all incarnations of a character, and then hiding behind a declaration that you are a "traditionalist", is the reason you appear to me to be hung up on race. And your being against a white actor playing Col Tigh is STILL about placing significant importance on race.
Don't shoot the messenger. Look within my friend.
I haven't called you a racist...yet.
I wouldn't call having a black actor play the lead role "because it's time" is tokenism. That term is usually in reference to having a few minor characters played by minorities just so it can be said that the whole cast isn't all white.
Also, I wouldn't scold production companies who decide it is time for a black actor because for wanting to show they are "socially conscious'. I see nothing wrong with wanting to be socially conscious as long as the minority or woman cast in the role is right for the part. In fact, at that point, I wouldn't much care what their actual motivations were. Well, lets face it, it's always money.
Also, when you mention a "creative reason" for having a back Superman, sounds like you're saying that if a black actor plays the role, there has to be something in story to explain or justify a black actor in the lead role. Just do a Superman movie.
As I have been saying for the last several posts, the story does not have to feature race just because Superman is played by a black actor.
Yes, I believe I may have run across a Shaft movie at some point in my life.
What the Christ?
The problem there is marketability. Most people that know of Superman, only know Clark Kent. They never heard about the fact that in some comics, there's a multiverse, where there was a black Kryptonian, who also became Superman, but with a different name. Just like how the bigger movie audiance doesn't know about Miles Moralis.
And, I have to agree with Racehl Weiss when she was asked wether or not she would play a female James Bond. She answered (and I'm paraphrasing a bit here) that she wanted more original roles for women, instead of taking an existing male part and making a female version of it.
I'd much rather see the same thing happening here as well. Not because I have any issues with a black Superman, or a hispanic Batman, or a Jewish Captain America. There are plenty of black superheroes out there to make movies about. Or female superheroes. I haven't watched the show yet, but I heard Black Lighting is great, and doing well ratings wise.
This entire situation doesn't feel like representation to me. It feels like studios being aware of the political landscape and trying to earn money from it. And that's a pity. I mean, I get it. Hollywood is about money, plain and simple. Still, it feels wrong to take an important social/political injustice and earn money from it.
That's why I loved Black Panther. As a movie, it wasn't the best MCU out there I felt. But when I read about all the research that was done about customs, wardrobe and such from many African countries to make the movie feel right..... THAT'S how you do representation. Not by taking something that exists as one thing, changing it and earn money from hype.
I’m mostly in agreement with you there. I 100% agree that there’s no reason why Bond has to be white. There’s no reason why John Boyega or another black actor can’t play 007.
Really what I’m saying is that I can see the merit in the argument that a black man playing Bond in the 1950s - 1970s, a British society where black people were very much at a disadvantage to white people, would have a very different experience than a white man and would not receive the same response on walking into an exclusive club or restaurant the way Connery or Moore would. He’d probably have been directed towards the servants’ entrance. But seeing as this is also an in-universe involving flying cars, villains’ lairs under volcanos, giant assassins with metal teeth etc, perhaps social realism shouldn’t be an issue.
Besides, as they no longer set 007 films in that era and I don’t think that Eon ever will make a retro one, it’s all academic anyway.
Along that line, Will Smith in The Wild Wild West comes to mind when he walks into most anywhere in that film but especially that southern plantation party. That was ridiculous for the time the film was set in, pointedly after the Civil War.
