You know that moment when you switch on the TV or radio and hear the end of a conversation and you are trying to work out what is going on? In this case, two DJs were laughing frantically – and I’m talking big, hearty, belly laughs, peppered with quips like, ‘You must be joking, that’s ridiculous. A Black Superman? Whatever next – a black Jesus?’ Queue further laughter. I was seething.
The story of Michael B Jordan being considered for the role has been around for a couple of years, going back to 2018. But now apparently Warner Bros are apparently pushing hard with J J Abrahams for a black superman but they are hitting a road block with producers who do not think it will ‘fly’ (sorry) within today’s America. Why is it white actors can take non-white roles – like blue-eyed Elizabeth Taylor playing Egyptian Queen Cleopatra – nobody bats an eyelid? And Cleopatra was a real person. Superman is fiction – a hero who is whoever we want him to be.
However the chorus of disapproval from certain quarters that came from the idea of Idris Elba possibly be lined up to play Bond, another fictional character, was at some times deafening and caused us here at Pride to reflect.
The argument is always the same: ‘The characters were written as white, so they can not be changed as this would be in someway destroying the intent of the writer!’ So back in 1952 when Ian Fleming decided to write about a British spy, of course he was going to be white. But today, such a British spy could be Black, White, Indian – you name it. Surely the whole point of remaking these films over and over again is to evolve them so they fit the world we live in today, and not just reflect the zeitgeist at the time of writing?
The reality is that the most interesting fictional characters were written in a time when black people were persona non grata, so of course these characters were not ever written as black. We could never be seen as lead heroic protagonists pretty much at any time pre 1970’s so does that mean that we can never play a hero or heroine unless new characters are written for us.
The fact that we were abused, excluded or at the very least marginalized in the past already pretty much means that any films or programs documenting that period erases out our existence or we are left to play the local serf. But is the argument now that we are excluded from being even fictional characters emanating from that period, even when these characters are supposedly brought up to date, and hold on, even when these characters come from other planets and can fly.
Is it really the argument that people can relate and believe in a character who can fly faster than the speed of light and fire laser beams from his eyes but not that he has black skin solely because the first character they saw in his suit had a different skin colour.
Today the most successful theatre production of the decade has been Hamilton, a play where the most hallowed white figures in American history, the founding fathers, are played by a majority black (and people of colour) cast. Yet at no moment as I lip-synced my way through the production (yes, I memorised the sound track by then – it had taken 9 months to get tickets) did I not see these black actors in front of me as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and co. It does not only work, it is electric; it changes the paradigm of reality and the world becomes a different place for two hours. Is that not what entertainment is about?
So yes: Michael B Jordan is a great actor and could easily slip into the one-piece, S-branded suit. Will he? I doubt it. Hollywood is a cautious, red-neck fearing bunch and no matter the success of Black Panther, there is ironically something all American about Clark Kent and I am not convinced that such a polarised country is ready for a Black Superman.
And on a final note to those DJs: Jesus of Nazareth was a documented, real person born in the Middle Eastern Judea. Born in that region, do you really think he was white, blonde and blue eyed as most movies depict him? Yeah right – and a Black Superman might fly!
