I just finished watching Netflix's Luke Cage, and I must agree that the newest Marvel series definitely lived up to everyone's expectations. This binge worthy series is full of action, suspense, and a wide range of emotions. I absolutely recommend anyone who has Netflix to check out this show, but of course with something so great, there is also an opening for certain people to backlash this show with the advantage use of the internet. According to sources mostly on twitter complained the show Luke Cage lacked diversity. Lacking in diversity meaning that there was little to no white Americans represented in the 13 episode show, and only portraying characters such as cops or other federal agents.
As a white woman myself, I found no offense to the lack of the white people in the series, but it did seem unusual only because I've grown up in a media that has contributed years and still even today of not including enough minorities in their films, or inaccurately misrepresenting minorities by just applying their stereotypes. So why are people so concerned with lack of white people when our entire lives has been occupied by white people, ESPECIALLY IN THE MEDIA!
Look at shows like Friends, Sex in the City, or Seinfeld, that are all filmed in New York City, but raise the exact same questions, except, it's YEARS of African Americans being misrepresented or not represented at all on mainstream entertainment. That includes actors, actresses, directors, writers, comedians, newsmen, newswomen, etc. If these certain individuals find as they put the show's lack of white people "uncomfortable", imagine how African Americans have felt having no one to represent who they are, their beliefs or cultural values. On top of that, it would be unrealistic of the show to include white communities into the city of Harlem just to create diversity in the show when the city itself is home to the majority of the black and Latino community. But Luke Cage, the superhero, and the show changes that. Luke Cage is Marvel's first black superhero, and a celebration of black culture.And let's think about the Marvel Movies themselves. Superman, Batman and Robin, Iron Man, Thor!! It took Marvel about 20 movies before introducing a black superhero into the movies, and now he is getting his own movie.
So what is so special about Luke Cage? Why is the show having Cage bring political attention to his story? Well, the creators visioned his character to be an African American hero who does it job not just for the benefit of other black people, but for everyone. The main writer for the show Cheo Hordari Coker was quoted saying
"I saw an opportunity with this to tell a black story... that was sophisticated and forward-looking and at the same time had a sense of history."
Coker wanted to show to fulfill his love for comics and relate to the original superhero Power Man, while also digging into subjects such as brutality, the gentrification of Harlem, and even the privatizations of prisons. The show also explores themes that are uncommon in mainstream entertainment of addressing the incarceration of young black men, and the impact black families have faced due to the impact of the American criminal-justice policies. Coker also states that,
"It's much easier to talk about racism when you're able to use mutants as a metaphor."
Some might disagree with this, or think it's wrong to involve superheros in realistic world problems. But that is why the show is gaining so much popularity, it represents the longevity of misrepresentation Africans Americans have been portrayed, but Luke Cage, the superhero, and the show itself changes that. It represents something new, something better that can help shape our reality, a reality away from stereotyping minorities that are negatively affecting them, and only keeps them in this position.
