Let's Talk About "Black Superman"

I've always had a lot of thoughts about the intersection of race, comics, and their depiction on screen. And even though it's always been on my mind, it's something that I'm always hesitant to write about publicly, as it's something that I think people will always have strong opinions about and my own opinion is vague and nuanced. So, I'm going to try and write a few things down listed as what I consider to be "pro black Superman" or "con black Superman". 

Con - This is a Gimmick

Right off the bat, I have to ask, do we need a black Superman? 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: being accurate to the comic books is not important to the movies. I'm very happy to change around characters, settings or stories from their original source material. If I'm being honest, I think it's much more interesting to me as a comic book fan when the movies surprise me with something that's different than what I'm used to. 

What I always get confused over is why take an existing property and change it to become more similar to something that already exists? There are other black superheroes in the DC universe. Hell, we already have Cyborg in the DCEU/Synderverse. 

Moreover, why not just create a new superhero with a new name and new backstory? Is there a reason that we had to come this far away from the source material instead of just creating new source material?

Again, to be absolutely clear: There's no problem with taking a traditionally white character and making them black. But I am curious about why.

When we start asking the question of "Why was it done this way?" the answer is almost always "to make money". 

The DCEU has been a critical and financial flop. They can't really do any worse than they've already done, to be honest. In this situation, it really doesn't hurt to try something crazy with a new actor and new universe, while at the same time, trying something a little daring to draw in new audiences, whether they be SJW beta cucks like me or hyper "Make Superman Great Again" chads.

And unfortunately, we're all playing into their little ploy right now just by talking about this. They wanted to make a big splash with something to get people talking about their movie to get people to spend more money, and they succeeded.

Pro - Diversity is Good and We Want More

But then, it's a little bit more than the studio just deciding to do something outrageous isn't it? If their goal was to shock people, they could have well just as made ISIS Superman or Nazi Superman or whatever.

We, collectively, are ready for more diversity. We are bored stupid of straight white male heroes. People who do not fall under that extremely narrow category of human being are ready for characters and positive representation of people who look like they do, and I'm on board for it. Hell, even as a straight, white male, I'm ready to see something new.

So, yes, they are doing this to make money, but there's a positive benefit to their manipulation.

Con - Doesn't Go Far Enough

This is a minor point, but I don't think creating a black superhero is particularly "brave" or "groundbreaking".

My point about diversity being a good thing still stands, and I'm happy to see more under-represented people on screen. However, are we still at the point where just being black on screen is a big deal? Aren't we past the point of allowing black people to just exist in movies?

I can imagine a different scenario with a trans superhero put on screen. I can imagine a differently-abled superhero put on screen. Shit man, we don't even have a major homosexual superhero in movies yet, do we? 

Pro - This Could Be the First African American Superhero

I've been using the word "black" here to talk about skin color, but I want to focus in on being African American now. T'Challa was black, but he was not American. Superman, the traditional one, grew up in a small town in Iowa, designed to represent "the heartland".

This new black Superman could be the first real African American superhero, designed to represent people who grew up in the US, dealing with racism, systemic and personal. Can you imagine that story? A person so powerful they could destroy the sun having to listen to Midwesterners ask him over and over again what position he plays in basketball? "Can you rap? I bet you're a good dancer." every fucking day of his life.

Not only that, but imagine the story of systemic racism that could be told here. Superman, someone who has been catching criminals and throwing them in jail for years, realizes that the black criminals he catches seem to get punished more harshly than the white ones. The purse-snatcher gets years in person while the white-collar embezzler is free the next day. "I'm sorry Superman. I only robbed this bank because I got caught with weed three times and now I can't vote or get a job."

Pro - Fuck the Politics. Is the Movie Good?

At the end of the day, this is what people care about. You can put as much diversity into a movie as possible or generate immense amounts of buzz, but all I care about as a comics fan, a movie fan, and SJW beta-cuck is whether or not the movie is good. 

Reportedly, Ta-Nehisi Coates is going to be writing the script. I don't know anything else about the director, the stars or the plot, but if Coates is writing, I'll buy ten tickets opening day. (Or ten streams downloaded directly into my brain. Or whatever the hell is happening in the future.)

Pro - Seriously, Ta-Nehisi Coates is Awesome Guys

It's the most perfect choice imaginable. Not only are we talking about a writer who frequently and deftly discusses race politics in America, but he's also a season veteran of writing comics, including Captain America and Black Panther.

Conclusion

Yes, the movie studio is playing games with us by switching the race of an already established white character. However, considering the creative team behind the movie so far, I'm all in, baby.