Luke Cage: The Bulletproof Black Man
Some heroes were created in an attempt to empower communities. Carl Lucas, more formally know as Luke Cage, is a superhero raised in Harlem, and his blackness is just as much a superpower as his super strength. Readers learn a lot about Luke Cage’s Harlem roots and how he used to be and ex-con that fought pimps and muggers. Though the ex-con label is an unnecessary stereotype, Luke Cage was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit, which could serve as an underlying commentary about the criminal justice system and racial profiling. Unlike the rebooted heroes that were created to replace their white counterparts, Luke Cage has received mostly positive support from the black community. In a time where African American men are being murdered by police, Luke Cage has a superpower that sends a message: he is a bullet proof black man. Adorned in a costume of a black hoodie, Luke Cage is a great hero who is often wrongfully a target of police. The comic book series has recently been made into a Netflix original show. I think Luke Cage is an excellent television adaptation of the comic. However, when I searched #LukeCage on Twitter, I realized there was a lot of negative opinions on the show in regards to the cast. People were Tweeting complaints about the fact that the cast of Luke Cage is predominantly black. It is equally sad and laughable that people would comment on the fact that the cast was predominantly black because the show is set in Harlem, where the population is predominantly black. Second of all, this to me was an example of white anxiety because people are complaining that there isn’t enough diversity in a show, yet most television and movies are whitewashed. It would be easy to write off the tweets complaining about Luke Cage as a representation of individual ugliness and racism, but the amount of criticism about race shows that this is unfortunately a cultural phenomenon. White anxiety is not always conscious, so it can be hard to confront.