Thoughts Regarding The Depiction Of Black Heroism As Portrayed In Captain America:Civil War
Written by: Ziggiy
“Hiiipower: the three i’s represent heart, honor and respect. That’s how we carry ourselves in the world, period. Hiiipower, it basically is the simplest form of representing just being above all the madness, all the bullshyt. No matter what the world is going through, you’re always going to keep your dignity and carry yourself with this manner that it don’t phase you. Whatever you think negative is in your life. Overcoming that and still having that self-respect.
everybody raise three fingers in the air, the sky is falling the wind is calling, stand for something or die in the morning”
Kendrick Lamar
The concept of black heroism in mainstream American cinema has had a long, complex, and rather disappointing history. Often times, the “token” character of color within the genre of superhero films exists to serve one of two purposes, that to serve as comic relief or the “good friend” (servant) of the main protagonist on his/her path towards victory. 1998’s Blade, starring Wesley Snipes helped to establish a cunning, determined, and undeniably masculine and capable black hero within a world where only he possesses the capabilities to defeat vampiric entities hell bent on conquering the world. That film went onto gross more than $131.2 million worldwide, at the time considered a huge financial success, and spawning two more sequels. Ten years later, Will Smith’s Hancock; about a troubled amnesiac superhero struggling to rediscover his own sense of valor, grossed more than $620 million worldwide. These two examples could serve as proof that there is indeed an audience for black protagonists as leading material within the superhero/fantasy genre, and yet when Marvel Studios began laying the groundwork to birth their most popular comic properties into a full fledged cinematic universe, it would apparently take 7 years, 11 films, and over 9.3 BILLION DOLLARS in grosses before Kevin Feige (Studio Chief Of Marvel Films) and Disney decided it was time for Black protagonists to graduate from side-kick to lead. So when it was announced that Black Panther, the first Black superhero to debut in mainstream comics back in 1966, was to be featured prominently not only in Marvel’s 12th cinematic outing, Captain America: Civil War; but also star in his OWN forthcoming solo film, it was met with an outcry of jubilance….and also trepidation. This was not the first time a major Hollywood studio (Disney) had introduced a bonafide black “lead” character into the mythos of an enormously popular franchise, only to portray that character as an emasculated coward whose entire existence served to highlight the strengths of his white counterparts. And with that in mind, the less said about Star Wars: The Force Awakens Finn, the better.
To read more:
Arcs Of Excellence – Captain America Civil War Depiction of Black Heroism – FTESWL
Arcs Of Excellence – Captain America Civil War Depiction of Black Heroism
@Ziggiy
how are they comparable?
when Star Wars was a once in every 10 years event. But I expect MCU stans to blame BvS for CW not hitting 200M
