You know what the best superpower in the world is? White privilege.

There’s a lot going on in the world today. And, honestly, it’s just too terrifying and dismal for me to write about it. There’s the ongoing war in Afghanistan, the repeal of DADT, Sarah Palin (why is she always in the news?), Wikileaks and the capture of Julian Assange, Net Neutrality, the Republican majority, Bush tax cuts (that Obama caved on)…the list of depressing news goes on and on. The cherry on top of this ice cream sundae of tears: the increasingly growing feeling that America really, really hates black people.

Now yes, of course, you’re right – this feeling isn’t new; it’s been around for a long time. I think it’s just that my Victimization Vibe (kinda like Spider Sense but it doesn’t have origins in a radioactive spider bite so much as hundreds of years of oppression) has been going off more and more lately. So I’ve been asking myself, why? In times of economic uncertainty and social uneasiness people on the margins of society feel the brunt of the majorities fear and anxieties. Black people have had a time-share in Marginville since we were kidnapped arrived.  And even more unfortunate is the fact that we also currently find ourselves living in times where people can’t agree on basic facts any more. Truth and fact are in a serious shortage. People no longer agree that the sky is blue and grass is green, or despite the overwhelming amount of evidence, we caused global warming.

My point is – if we (intelligent people) can’t convince the large numbers of (I don’t want to call them stupid, but…) other people that global warming is real then educating them about the institutional effects of racism or discrimination may be a bit futile (though I believe in never giving up on that front.)

But to be honest I’m tired. Really tired. I’m tired and bored of the world not getting better and I’m tired of racism. All I want is an escape. Believe it or not, I spend the majority of time when I’m not thinking about social issues or politics, thinking about movies and comic books.  They have been my escape up to now and luckily I live in a time when the marriage of the two has been filled with passion. I’ve watched all of the trailers of the movies due to come out this coming summer; I’ve read all the comic book and movie blogs in an attempt to embrace a world that’s free of the limited myopic reality I live in. I wanted to immerse myself in an “anything’s possible world” where men and women fly…but alas, even in a world where people fly blacks still get a shit deal.

In April I wrote the following about ‘Hancock’ starring Will Smith:

“2008 brought in the movie Hancock with the lead played by Will Smith. It was about a superhero like Superman (Yay!) but he’s a homeless drunk who is hated by the public (Boo!) Also when he’s around this blond White woman he goes crazy and loses his powers (DAMN YOU O.J.!!!!) Why America? I’m not asking for much am I? Just a black Superhero, male and female, who are good at what they do. No jokes, gags or bad stereotypes, just simple crime fighting.”

I’d like to revisit ‘Hancock’ and look at how we escape, what we’re “escaping” to and where my future escapes may lie.

In depressing times we go in droves to celebrate mythic tales of heroism, romantic comedic romps, and epic historical features. This coming summer is filled with super heroic escapism.  So naturally my ability to over-analyze takes over and I take a seemingly innocent circumstance and see it through an entirely different prism.

I see the trailer for Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern and I think, “Yes I will see it. I used to read Green Lantern comics when I was I kid I loved them!” But part of me cannot help but view Green Lantern through the same prism I viewed Hancock. Part of me cannot help the deconstruction of it.

Before we break it down, you should know this isn’t really a review in the sense that I’m discussing the filmmaking merits of the film. I’m attempting to point out the symbolisms within it and it’s relationship to America’s history of racism.

A Public Nuisance

We “meet” Hancock asleep on a public bench holding a bottle of hard liquor. A small child walks over and wakes him to stop some common criminals wreaking havoc on the city. He’s a bum. After he sluggishly wakes up and reluctantly accepts the task of bringing in the criminals he captures them. After destroying millions in public property. And he has to be pushed to get to work. Everybody hates him. Or they are terrified of him but can’t really do anything about it.

The Real Hero

Ray, played by Jason Bateman, is in advertising or something like that, he doesn’t get much respect at work but he’s a good person and filled with good ideas and intentions…if only someone would notice.  Somehow Ray gets caught in a typical LA traffic jam and is stuck in his car on the train tracks. And, of course, a train is coming right at him. Hancock arrives in the nick of time to stop the train, but does it with an attitude. Ray, grateful that his life was saved, invites Hancock back home to meet his family. Mary, played by Charlize Theron, is inexplicably bothered by something (other than Hancock’s gruff exterior.) They seem to know each other and Ray is oblivious to the connection, which is weird cause as an audience member, I felt uncomfortable.  You should know the original title of the film Hancock was “Tonight He Comes” and yes the title is supposed to go there.  So after that weird tension Hancock becomes…

Another statistic

Ray tries to convince his new buddy Hancock that in order to make the good people of the city trust him again he must voluntarily imprison himself. That way, he’ll find that his true calling is to be a superhero! Think about that, this is the hero. He goes to jail. Even our superheroes do time? Damn!

The Dreaded Prison Rape Scene.

So in prison we find that the inmates hate Hancock because he put most of them in there, but he’s isn’t in any danger because he’s as strong as Superman. But this very obvious plot point goes over the heads of two unlucky prisoners who think they can turn the tables on Hancock. Instead what happens is Hancock inserts one inmate’s head into…the other.  Yup. Bring the kids to this one folks.  This Superhero makes Lego with other men.  After that scene, which part of is in the trailer, Hancock spends the rest of his time finding himself.

Clothes make the man?

After (enough) time passes, Ray returns, with a gift. It’s a superhero outfit for Hancock. The outfit is black and made of leather and comes with a pair of sunglasses. I’m sorry but a guy flying around in all black leather doesn’t scream to me “I’m here to help” but of course I knew they were going to go that route when Hancock spends a significant amount of time describing the bright colors that comic book characters wear as “gay.” Where was the edit on this one? Who in their right mind thought this was cool? Not only is it incredibly offensive, but it also exemplifies the writer’s lack of respect of the genre itself.  Also Superman, Spiderman, and Batman they all decide to become heroes themselves. They don’t need management. Sure they all get help somewhere along in the journey but the actual choice to become something more is theirs and theirs alone. AND, as I MUST have already written, aren’t there any black superheroes with an iconic emblem on the chest? Luke Cage? Falcon? Black Panther? There’s Steel but that’s not his symbol he borrowed it. Couldn’t Hancock have a big H or the stupid bird symbol that’s always around him with no explanation on his chest? Wouldn’t that be instant merchandising like every other Superhero film? Call me crazy.

3 seconds of Actual Superhero Action. And it sucks.

30 to 40 minutes waiting for some kind of actual Superhero action and when it comes its just “meh.” Why? A hero is only as good as his villain. When a film deals with the hero just getting over himself, well, it’s just sad. The character who passes for a villain is a guy named Red who holds a bunch of hostages with a lot of guns. Hancock shows up and cuts his hand off and he goes to jail. And that’s about it.

Where da White Women at? With a twist.

Naturally, Ray wants to celebrate his new advertising project (aka Hancock) so Hancock joins Ray and his wife for dinner and Hancock loses some of that gruff exterior and lets his guard down. We find out that Hancock is much older than he looks and has amnesia. Meanwhile Ray’s wife Mary gets weird again when she hears Hancock retelling how he woke up in a hospital with a head injury and a movie ticket in his pocket. The ticket was for the 1931 film Frankenstein. He says he has wandered the country for decades trying to remember who he really is. He doesn’t know why but he was drawn to LA, but his lack of memory is the source of all his anger. He just wants what we all do, a purpose. Sigh.

After dinner, Ray gets drunk and Hancock and Mary take him home to put him to bed. There’s an awkward silence and then strange things start to happen when they get close. They can’t help but to be drawn towards each other, they lock eyes and move in to kiss before Mary knocks Hancock clear through the house with one punch. She’s super too, get it? Even more super than Hancock. She’s been mad at him this whole time because he didn’t recognize her as his soul mate. They were literally made for each other. The catch? Whenever they’re close to each other they both lose their powers thus making them human and vulnerable. Hmm, an interracial couple in the 1930’s? No wonder they were vulnerable.

Man is this movie messed up.

So let me get this straight. This Mary woman leaves her real husband (who’s a superhero) for dead, marries another guy and takes care of his kid knowing full well she’ll outlive the both of them and facing the choice of abandoning them before they figure it all out or killing them. All the while forgoing her true talent, and purpose to be a housewife?

We’re not even the heroes of our own films.

So Ray finds out that he new best friend used to be his wife’s husband, and that they still have the hots for each other but, you know, can’t do anything about it. Both Hancock and Mary begin dying because they’re too close to each other. Hancock is vulnerable to Red’s attacks, Mary is in the hospital dying leaving us with only one true hero – Ray. Ray stops Red and saves Hancock’s life. Hancock saves Mary’s life by getting away from her and flying to New York. Mary lives. Ray saves the day and keeps his wife. And Hancock keeps clear protecting both the sanctity of marriage and the mixes of the races. It kills. The End.

I know, you probably think I’m being too harsh, that I should chill out because it’s just a film. I don’t buy the “it’s just a movie” line. They cost and make millions of dollars for a reason. It’s serious business and that business has a very real impact on how we think. If you think differently I don’t know what to tell you other than figure out how much a studio spends of demographic research and customer study. The film business is in the business of pulling heartstrings.  Superhero films are as popular as morality plays were before them. They distill and simplify life in terms of black and white, good and evil and then they combine them with our cultural myths.

So knowing that Superheroes are stereotypes of people at their best and Supervillains are stereotypes of people at their worst, what does the film Hancock say about how our country feels about black people? Or specifically black men? At first glance I’d say we’re alcoholic ne’er-do-wells who sleep on park benches, do more harm than good, need the guidance of a helpful white male friend to discover ourselves and have an affliction towards white women who make us weak.

Now, let’s compare this to Green Lantern who by day is a fearless heroic test pilot named Hal Jordan that men admire and women adore. He’s maverick with a roguish charm and carefree attitude towards life. And, oh, then he becomes a superhero with godlike abilities because an intelligent alien chooses him and deems him the most worthy of all 6 billion people on the planet.

Now look, I get it, superheroes are all about wish fulfillment, so the existence of a cool character like Green Lantern makes sense. That was somebody’s wish fulfillment, just like James Bond, or Batman. One is a suave international spy and the other a billionaire; master martial arts detective…wish fulfillment. So I have to ask, who dreamt up Hancock?  Whose wish fulfillment was that? Seriously. The film plays out like a bad joke from the stand up comedy show Comic View that used to play on BET. I don’t know if it still does because I stopped watching BET in 1988.  Hancock came out almost 3 years ago but it’s still a sore spot for me as you can see.

I think the thing that bothers me the most is the fact that Will Smith was the lead.  Why? He was (or still is) one of Hollywood’s top earning leading men, he couldn’t beat Robert Downey Jr in the cool superhero raffle? Chris Evans? Seth Rogen? SETH ROGEN!? Seth Rogen’s The Green Hornet! He has an Asian sidekick! How the hell did that happen? Why is Blade in jail and not Ghost Rider!?  Spiderman is British because race trumps nationality! AHHHHHH!!!!!!

Here’s an interview Will Smith did where he talked about how he was fearful of accepting the part of Superman after the box office failure of the film Wild Wild West. He said this in an interview. “You mess up white peoples’ heroes in Hollywood, you’ll never work in this town again!”

Think about that for a moment. I won’t defend the idea that Wild West was a good film, it wasn’t. But I don’t, for a second, blame Smith’s casting or his race on the poor quality of the film. Having a black man play the lead in a show from the sixties that most of the viewing audience 1) didn’t know about or 2) didn’t care about ruin the film and it’s a shame that he and I’m sure many, many others do. After all, Catwoman, starring Halle Berry, didn’t do black people any favors either.

So, sure, he couldn’t play Superman. Maybe that would be too radical for people to except. I totally get it. How about we make an entirely new super character for him to play, Will Smith has international appeal, he’s likable, smart, and charismatic. Everything about him says winner. So how the hell did he get stuck with Hancock? I wonder if he couldn’t do Superman or any other existing superhero character, was he offered another superhero that wasn’t Hancock? And if he was, then I guess my problem lies with Will Smith, not the studio or the Hollywood machine. HOWEVER, I’m tempted to believe he didn’t get any other offers because of 1) my prior knowledge of the machine and 2) everything in Mr. Smith’s career to to this point.  He never plays the negative stereotype. Positive? Absolutely. But never negative. Maybe he was looking for a change up, if so I would have rather he did it with a gritty drama then a summer superhero film…more people see those and thusly more are affected by said stereotype.

Early this year the Internet was ablaze with another positive forward moving actor named Donald Glover and his bid to audition for the new Spiderman film. Nothing much came of it, but a lot, and I mean a lot, of people encouraged it. And it made the black nerd in me quite happy. I thought, “you know, maybe the world is getting better.” And maybe it is. But ultimately nothing changed. And everything slated to come out in theaters is as diverse as a Norwegian Beauty pageant.

Now I’ve already had too many damn arguments with people who feel very differently about this. Messing with people’s heroes, like Will Smith said, is a very sticky issue. I guess I just get so upset because there aren’t too many things I love more than movies and superheroes. I like to use them to escape the world that hates me and my kind, but It’s kind of hard to leave my troubles at the theater when I realize the world I’m escaping into is busy escaping from me as well.

If the suspension of disbelief goes out the window for the American public when the hero removes his mask revealing a wide nose and cornrows, which hurts. I realize more and more that I (representing the whole black experience in cinema) should know my place. America is cool with me if I’m Blindside, which is all about the large helpless slave metaphor. America loves horror films but nothing scares them quite the way the like The Ike Turner arch-type. Hitting and a raping and if I’ve got time, maybe a little singing.  Ah and don’t forget the Morgan Freeman wise magical sage character whose only purpose is to turn over omniscient god powers to Jim Carrey or Steve Carrell. At least as a black man I get 3 choices… if I’m a black woman I only get one choice, Precious. Nobody wants to be Precious. Nobody.

So if I can’t be the billionaire, suave, international super man I have to find heroes somewhere else. And this is why sports and music are so cherished in the black community. For brief moments we do fly on the field, court, or diamond. For brief moments we are indestructible at the mic. And even there our fantasies can come crashing down around us with the weight of realities expectations.  In the film Batman Begins Bruce speaks to his confidant Alfred about he reasons for becoming Batman. He explains his reason for the mask.

“People need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy, and I can’t do that as Bruce Wayne. As a man, I’m flesh and blood. I can be ignored, I can be destroyed. But as a symbol … as a symbol, I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting.”

I agree whole heartedly but I have to ask a follow up question, one Bruce asked his other confidant Morgan Freeman Lucious Fox about the bat mobile prototype.

“Does it come in black?”