I have to admit, I am a huge fan of superheroes. 'Batman', 'Wonder Woman', 'Shazam!', 'The Six Million Dollar Man' and 'The Bionic Woman' are just a few of the shows I couldn't get enough of back in the day.
Interestingly enough, as a kid, it didn't dawn on me that all these superheroes were white. With the exception of animated superheroes such as 'The Brown Hornet' and 'Mighty Man(and Yuck)', there really wasn't any black real-life superhero figures on television. But on the flip side, black actors had no problem getting the role of a villian(ess).
Be that is it may, let's fast forward to 2007.
'Heroes', 'Bionic Woman' and 'Smallville' and the list goes on of superhero shows taking over primetime as of late. And although we do have a few black superheroes that have graced the big screen (Halle Berry as 'X-Men's' Storm and 'Catwoman'), we don't have any black actors getting the roles of the major superheroes that exist in American culture on the home tube.
I once dabbled with the idea of writing a television script for a Wonder Woman series. And while there are countless white actresses out there that can play the part, what if she were to be black? Who best could play her? And no...not Beyonce!
So where does this leave us? Where are our black superheroes? Why couldn't a black woman be casted to play Jamie Somers in NBC's current remake, Bionic Woman? Or better yet, will a black actor ever be offered the role of Batman or Superman? My guess is no. I can't imagine white folks wanting their kids idolizing black folks for anything other than sports and/or music. I guess it is just too much of a stretch for them to think someone of color can be faster than a speeding bullet or be more powerful than a locomotive. Although, we know better.
For more on black superheroes click here.
2 comments:
I'd really rather not see a black person play any of those roles...we need roles of our own, of our own ownership...characters that appeal to us and the many facets of what it means to be black, and powerful. I've been creating my own stuff for years looking for the right niche, and I'd love to see our stuff out there by me or any other brotha' or sista' who could pull it off. With characters that appeal to all, but represent us in a positive light, and in leading roles, not as sidekicks or comic relief. That crap gets real old real quick. But putting black characters in the roles of say a Spider-man or a Superman just wouldn't work period. Because that's not the original intent of the character for one, it's like Black Santa's and stuff like that, the media, just won't take it, and it'd be a huge uproar if it was even tried. When we do things like that it just seems like we're trying to be something we're not, even characters created like them are just looked upon as copy-cats. We need characters with substance that are different from the mainstream, but that fit in and represent us in the right light.
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