Dear Terry Gilliam, Your Racism is Showing

Terry Gilliam is working overtime to "promote" his latest movie, but rather than actually discussing his film the actor is rather using interviews to showcase his racist and sexist views of the world.

Gilliam, a director, first showcased his racism during an interview with IndieWire where he went on a tangent about his hate for Ryan Coogler's film Black Panther stating, "I hated Black Panther. It makes me crazy. It gives young black kids the idea that this is something to believe in. Bullshit. It’s utter bullshit." Black Panther, of course, depicted the fictional and technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda, so to be clear it's not the idea of a black superhero Gilliam has an issue with but instead a country of prosperity and intelligence. Why should this be an issue for Black children? White audiences have had the fictional worlds of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Twilight (to name a few) none of which the director took issue with. He tries to cover his racism by centering his ire on the superhero genre in all but the damage was already done. "I make films where I’m trying to make people think... and look at the world in a different way, hopefully, and consider possibilities. Those films don’t do that."

Nearly two weeks later the director is doubling down on his bigotry this time continuing his attack on the #metoo movement, and voicing his support for the disgraced Harvey Weinstein during an interview with the Independent. "Yeah, I said #MeToo is a witch hunt... I really feel there were a lot of people, decent people, or mildly irritating people, who were getting hammered. That’s wrong. I don’t like mob mentality. These were ambitious adults.” This time, unlike previous interviews he attempts to circle his comments towards his film and the character of a female prostitute. "Here’s a girl who takes responsibility for her state... whatever happened in this character’s life, she’s not accusing anybody. We’re living in a time where there’s always somebody responsible for your failures, and I don’t like this. I want people to take responsibility and not just constantly point a finger at somebody else, saying, ‘You’ve ruined my life.’” Gilliam believes that White men are victims in particular and that he is tired for white men being blamed for all the problems in the world.

Gilliam will be the first to admit he enjoys being problematic, but sexist and racist are issues of a different caliber. I do however thank him for revealing his true self to the world. Perhaps his troubling views are a factor in his string of failed movies over the years and in the age of the cancel culture we're now living in its likely his latest film will suffer for his comments.

Year of the Black Superhero

2018 is shaping up to be another monumental year for readers of comics and fans of its televised and cinematic counterparts. This is especially true in the instance of Black characters. After 10 years ( 17 marvel films, 5 DC films) African American comic characters and superheroes are finally being brought to the forefront and leading their own films and series. Thanks to the critical success of the Netflix series Luke Cage, the Marvel execs may have finally realized that they can draw in Black viewers without the act of race bending characters in an effort to reflect "diversity" (i.e. raise ticket sales) and as a result 2018 will be the biggest year for African American superheroes to date.

Marvel is pushing fufther into its 'diversity' frontier preparing for the company's first feature starring an African American male as the lead with 2018's Black Panther. Completely stealing the show in Captain America: Civil war, Chadwick Bossman' s Black Panther is one of the most recognized and beloved Avergers surpassing Stark's technology, Banner's intellect, Thor's honor, and Roger's leadership. Premiering in February, the movie will follow his return to Wakanda, as he deals with the aftermath of the death of his father and his own ascension to the throne.

While it's no surprise that Luke Cage will return to Netflix with a second season next year, it isn't the only streaming service getting in on comic adaptations with Hulu also throwing its hat into the ring this November. The adaptation of the Marvel comic The Runaways will feature African American team leader Alex Wilder, a genius who learns that his parents are actually super villains.

And on the small screen things are growing even bigger for the CW as the network prepares for the premier of its new series Black lightning, based on the DC character, which will feature television's first primetime black superhero family. (http://unorthodoxwisdom.blogspot.com/2017/10/blacklightning-and-first-black.html?m=1)

Although there continues to be a lack of Black female super characters on television and film, this list will also grow with the inclusion of Black Lightning's daughters Thunder and Lightning, while The Legends of Tomorrow continues to brilliantly highlight the DC character Vixen, and Luke Cage will transition Misty Knight towards her heroic calling.

With each of these shows 2018 will be the year with the most black superheroes in movies and television, and if this is any indication of what's to come in the future then we are in for a spectacular ride. (Honorable mention to Arrow's John Diggle and Mr. Terrific, Guardian from Supergirl and the Flash's Wally West).

Black Lightning and the First Black Superhero Family

DC comics latest live-action series, Black-lightning, is set to debut next year and will finally deliver audiences an African American super hero family.

The hero debuted in his own issue in 1977, running 12 issues, before being canceled. Despite this, his popularity persisted leading to a number of team mashups, affiliations, and reincarnation series in the years to follow. Now the hero is headlining his own television series. Real name Jefferson Pierce, Black Lightning's power of spontaneously producing electricity from his body allows him to manipulate it to grant him flight and create force fields. 

Of course, what makes Jefferson so special isn't his powers but his family. Eventually, Jefferson decides to give up crime fighting to raise his two super-powered daughters Anissa and Jennifer who would grow up to become the heroes Thunder and  Lightning. Lightning takes after her father in having the ability to control lightning, but she also has the power to transform into lightning itself. Thunders' power allows her to alter her density at will, and she can send shockwaves through the ground by stomping. It should be noted that in the comics the girls don't become active heroes until after graduating college, so expect the television series to deal with their ages differently.

While it doesn't seem like a milestone even in this age of comic-inspired movies and television seeing a family of superheroes is a rarity. The former includes the Incredibles and Sky High, both featuring Caucasian families, and products of Disney. The only other preexisting African American superfamily is from the Disney channel original movie Up, Up, and Away (2000). A previous attempt at a tv series following a family with powers aired on ABC for 1 season in 2010, but that family too was not of color.

While hopes were, and still are, high for a series crossover between Black Lightning and the major Arrow-verse series chances remain slim as unlike the others Black Lightning is being filmed in Atlanta, therefore now it remains separate from the established shared universe. However, Supergirl also went through its premier season without being a part of a the Arrowverse, so there's still hoping if the pilot and season do well.

Black Lightning premiers 2018 on the CW.