Deemed the “woke” superhero, Marvel’s Luke Cage returned June 22 on Netflix for a second season of racial issues, gun-running, drugs, corrupt politicians, and social justice. This year, however, there’s the added bonus of more Trump references. Just what every show doesn’t need nowadays!
In this season, the title hero Luke Cage (Mike Colter) contends with everyday crime in Harlem until a new and mysterious threat arrives in the villain Bushmaster (Mustafa Shakir.) As Luke goes deeper into stopping him, he becomes more vicious in his methods to the point of hospitalizing a suspect with his super-strength. When his girlfriend Claire (Rosario Dawson) rightfully expresses concerns, it quickly turns into a spiel on how society views black men in hoodies, a favorite topic for the show.
Claire: You’re scaring people, Luke. You’re scaring me.
Luke: I’m a black man in a hoodie. People have always been afraid of me. Look, you never had anybody clutch a purse on an elevator, okay? Or follow you around the store. Or cross the street when they see you coming, now have you?
Claire: I didn’t need to leave my house to feel racism. Soy Afrocubana. I’ve got family members so filled with shame and self-hatred, they will deny each other to the grave. That’s how deep it can run. But you rise above it. You rise above the labels.
Luke: Baby, a black man only has two choices in this world. You can either lean into the fear and be the nigga people already think you are, or you can play the big docile, house cat with a smile.
Claire: That’s like saying the only choice for a woman is ho or housewife. It’s not that simple. You don’t need to feed your anger to prove a point.
Luke: I’m a man. Okay? Full-fledged. My anger is real.
At least he didn’t claim the whole country wants to kill him, as another Marvel character did last week in trying to explain how bad racism is in America, I suppose. Still, it’s yet another perpetuation of the victimhood mindset, believing America to be promoting a world hostile to minorities. And yet the show has nearly every character use some variation of the “n-word” at some point. Exactly how is this show any less offensive?
Furthermore, in what world shouldn't I be wary of a 6' 3" bulletproof man of any color? Feminists keep promoting the false “1 in 5 women will be raped” statistic, and now I shouldn’t be worried about imposing men? I’m going to need more than a Netflix series to keep up with the hierarchy of victims.
Although the show takes place in a fictional universe, Trump and the 2016 election apparently still loom large. When a crooked gangster manages to evade arrest, he responds, "Gotta love the loopholes. Making America Great Again, if you ask me." Mariah (Alfie Woodard), the crooked councilwoman, decries the use of “alternative facts” when coming across news she doesn’t like. By the season finale, when Luke decides to take matters into his own hands to “make Harlem great again,” a former fan blasts him as “Luke Trump.” That last one’s not even clever.
In the face of the show’s moral outrage about race, the ironic part in all of this is just how mainstream the concept of a black superhero has become now. Black Panther, a movie about a black superhero, is the second-highest grossing movie of 2018 behind Avengers: Infinity War (which, incidentally, also features the black hero). CW’s Black Lightning is on its way to a second season among several superhero dramas. Even Freeform is jumping on the bandwagon with Marvel’s Cloak and Dagger which also features a black teen with superpowers.
Audiences not only tolerate African-American superheroes but apparently can’t get enough of them. Instead of celebrating that, these shows keep trying to shove identity politics and Trump slams down our throats. Even when they’re winning, they act like sore losers. We all deserve better heroes than that.
