There’s plenty of laughter, stylish action, and emotional storytelling to be found. So Black Lightning tackles some heavy themes, but it is not a heavy show. experimenting on Freeland’s population to create “metahumans” with the real-world Tuskegee Experiments, drawing attention to important historical injustices. It even explicitly compares the shady governmental A.S.A. But Black Lightning shows how gangs and drugs can become entwined with “legitimate” business, and empathizes with the struggles of working-class communities caught up in them. It can be tempting to view crime and violence as reductively binary, especially in Superhero stories. concerns, Black Lightning has extra relevance and interest for viewers who wish for a powerful guy who can zap the bad guys and magically make everything right.And the city of Freeland is complicated in Black Lightning. Why, demands a black pundit on TV, is Black Lightning called a "vigilante" when in other communities people with superpowers (a wink to the other CW heroes in the Arrowverse?) are called "heroes"? Why can't police officers in Freeland tell the difference between Jefferson and the gang members who complicate his life? Set in a universe with racial politics that mirror current U.S. Will the TV version of Black Lightning follow the storylines of the DC comic, transforming Jennifer and Anissa into superheroes Lightning and Thunder? Only time will tell, but it seems likely.īut as good as it is when Black Lightning focuses on the Pierce family, it's even better when it adds relevant modern cultural commentary to the superheroics. Cress Williams has gravitas to spare in his role as a community leader with a secret past, and his family relationships seem real and well-rounded: Jennifer and Anissa really seem like sisters, and like real, complicated women - women who are chips off the old block and have secrets of their own. Show moreīy giving us a hero grappling with career and fatherhood as well as the criminals tearing up his town, the CW has gifted viewers with the most mature, complex superhero show to date. Adult characters drink cocktails, but no one acts tipsy. Expect same- and opposite-sex flirting, dating, and kissing, and language including "damn," "ass," "hell," and "bitch." A teenage main character is shown smoking and drinking at a club later, she says she's a "little stoned" drugs also play a part in gang activity. Women and people of color have strong central roles, and young women are able to set boundaries around sex, romance, and drugs. The show's violence is frequently intertwined with issues of race and/or class, with Black Lightning emerging when police officers engage in racial profiling (e.g., saying things like "get your black ass on the ground"). There's also a sexual threat in some of the violence, like when gang members say that a woman should sell her body to pay a friend's debts. Villains are more violent for example, a major baddie shoots a man in the chest. Though Black Lightning sometimes turns to logic and reason to defuse violent situations and uses his bolts of electricity to subdue rather than kill, innocent bystanders sometimes get caught in the fray. Black Lightning (aka Jefferson Pierce, played by Cress Williams) pointedly doesn't use guns during his many battles, but the bad guys do and are frequently shot (showing blood) and killed. Parents need to know that Black Lightning is a superhero drama with dark, mature themes and levels of violence, sexual content, and drugs that are intense for network TV.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |