Earlier this year, Warner Brothers announced that they were currently developing a new Superman movie for the DC Cinematic Universe. JJ Abrams is set to produce it, and writer Ta-Nehisi Coates is also on board. This new film would replace Henry Cavill, who has been the latest actor to portray the character since his 2013 debut in Man of Steel. It’s ‘rumored’ that the new film will take a turn from the original comic storyline, and change some things to make the story feel more ‘modern.’ One of the biggest changes that WB announced was that the famous Clark Kent would now be black.
Many fans were excited to hear this news, all except black people.
Soon after the news was released, many black fans took to Twitter to express their annoyance by WB’s announcement. All the different expressions echoed a very similar underlying idea: “why make Superman black, when you can portray actual black character’s stories?”
Fans specifically brought up the DC character Static. One of the lesser known heroes, originally a product of DC’s independently owned sub-companies Milestone Comics, is the character of Virgil Hawkins. Virgil Hawkins is black and written as such, and slowly gained a cult following which resulted in his own animated television show back in 2000. In 2011 he was given an official series by DC Comics as well. Many fans today who are millennials grew up with this character, and expressed disappointment in DC for not taking advantage of a well written character to introduce to a new generation.
I have been following this development for a while, and to me it is just another example of Hollywood’s hand at lazy diversity. It is not surprising, seeing as they have a convenient way of missing the mark. Growing up, I rarely saw girls that looked like me represented in any of the things I watched, and if I did see a character that looked like me they were almost all of the time depicted in a way that fed into many of the negative stereotypes I had to deal with from ignorant people. I don’t think any kid should have to constantly think about if they’re good enough for their stories to be told. But sadly, that is the reality for a lot of black kids my age, as we grew up watching ourselves barely be a part of the narrative at all.
Thankfully, God blessed me with two parents who continuously affirmed my dignity in a world that very much does not. They taught me how to cherish the stories from my heritage, the color of my skin, the texture of my hair, and most importantly, made sure I did not see my worth in these fleeting depictions, but in Christ. All that is so important, and I am glad that they took the time to teach me those disciplines. But once you are taught about your worth, it opens your eyes to those continuously telling you you have none - and how that must change.
If you talk to almost any minority kid, specifically in college, you will find that we tend to have a very heightened passion for representation, because we grew up without it. The media very much affects how our generation especially sees ourselves. For minorities, we navigated our young lives being told that in order to be the hero, to be beautiful, to be seen, to be loved, to have an interesting story that everyone liked...you had to be white. That is such a dangerous lie, and we must make sure those who come after us don’t internalize it as we did.
One of my favorite people, Hannah Acker, shared her thoughts with me recently: “no certain race or culture should be seen as superior. We’re not trying to push for representation as a way to make someone look or feel more special than other people. I’m not trying to push my representation to feel like I’m more special than someone because I have a more unique background. That’s not what it means. I think representation is important for people to have a sense of belonging.”
I recently had the opportunity to get lunch with Hannah, and we got to talk about her experiences growing up. Hannah is half Filipino and half White, but grew up immersed in both Filipino and American culture. She loves Olivia Rodrigo and gets excited seeing someone with a Filipino background get good recognition.
“I’ve always kept it in the back of my mind and thought of it as a normal to think ‘oh no, there wouldn’t be any half Filipino representation, because that isn’t common.’ That’s what I thought in my mind - but now I’m seeing more people [Vanessa Hudgens, Shay Mitchell, Darren Criss] who are embracing their cultural heritage, and I feel excited to feel represented in that way. It’s such a good connection to have. And, yes, I can sense some people find it annoying to be like ‘oh, she’s Filipino!’ or ‘oh! Did you know she’s Filipino too?’ but it excites me. It makes me feel that it’s not just my family members that are Filipino but it extends out into the media and beyond that too.”
Hannah expressed her love for the ABC sitcom Fresh Off The Boat, and it’s well done portrayal of Asian American families. She pointed out the need for more accurate portrayals of Asian Americans not just limited to “ninjas, and karate.”
Today, I feel like the media operates a bit differently than it did when I was a kid. There’s definitely more representation available for those like my siblings to grow up with and relate to. It makes me excited, but like many, I’m still cautious. With people now being open to good representation we run the risk of “diversity for diversity’s sake.” Media runners taking white characters and making them minorities to cater to that community and check diversity off the list is not representation. Authentic representation requires genuine care to tell good stories.
It is way easier to just “make” Superman black than it is to research and write a new black character that carries just as much weight. A good tool is to have people take charge behind the scenes too. Black directors, writers, producers, and those making decisions to be as much involved in telling black stories as much as they have people who are not.
This is important, and if you don’t see it as such then it’s simple: you’ve never had a problem being represented.
Representation matters, because God says it matters. 1 Corinthians 12:12-14 says, "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many."
God deliberately creates diversity within His church, as His people how much more responsible are we to facilitate that, not only with each other, but with those around us too. To quote Hannah again, “Representation is about celebrating the uniqueness that God gives in all of us. When we take all those special aspects, and recognize them well, then that’s when we truly can be one under God.”