Fear of a Black Planet

My (Morning) Rant

This is the golden age of superhero movies. Only, it seems Hollywood is treating it like the vanilla age. Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, Hellboy and Batman this year.

All white.

Thor, Ant-Man, Spiderman, Captain American aren't far behind.

All white too.

What is Hollywood afraid of? I'll tell you what they're afraid of. Or, better yet, I'll let Chuck D tell you what they're afraid of:

I'm not going to insinuate that Hollywood is running out an all-white starting five this summer. No, that would neglect Will Smith's "Hancock," which should be the third-best movie this summer, and Eddie Murphy's "Meet Dave." On second thought, maybe we should neglect that last one.

What I'm saying is, shouldn't Hollywood at least reflect our culture? Shouldn't there be more than just a token black character here and there?* Shouldn't we have moved beyond the cliche of the black dude is the first to get killed?

Shouldn't we be far enough along in our culture that we can have black superheroes? Or at least more than one a year?

Come this time next year, we'll have an African-American president. Why not have a black Superman?

Only, please don't cast Will Smith. Please. The reason we only have one black superhero movie every five years is because, well, Will seems to be the only black superhero.

No offense to the Fresh Prince, but he can't really be the only black actor worthy of holding down the fort on a big-budget movie.

Right?

Sadly. I don't think so. And, like most everything dealing with Hollywood, it all comes back to money.

Sure Samuel L. Jackson seems the obvious choice because he is in everything, but can he hold up a movie all by himself? He's really never done it. Well, unless you count "Snakes on a Plane." Which I won't. The suits always stick him with a white guy (Bruce Willis, Kevin Spacy, the rest of the cast of the Star Wars prequels). I would buy his beer, though.

Wesley Snipes was the last great hope for black superhero actors. But, alas, he has legal troubles. Denzel's probably too old and too good of an actor. Don Cheadle is headed down that same road. Forrest Whitaker and Terrance Howard haven't really proved box-office potential — yet. Though give it time. Based on the success of "Iron Man," you're bound to have a War Machine spin off for Howard.

Taye Diggs seems destined to have a Danny Glover-like career — playing the intelligent sidekick to a loose cannon white idiot. You know there's a Matthew McConaughey vehicle in his future. Lethal Weapon 5 anyone? Though Chris Rock might have the bead on that one.

I long for the days of Eriq La Salle. But that's probably just a pipe dream.

See, there aren't enough bankable black actors that could cross-over and appeal to white America or even whiter studio execs. To make matters worse, most of the major "name" black actors don't really fit the mold of the superhero anyway.

Except Jamie Foxx. But if you made him into a superhero, you're going to have to deal with the obvious Nick Cannon and Chris Tucker wannabe movies that follow.

Can't have that.

So who do you turn to? Who are bankable, charismatic, cross-over megastars who have a built in merchandizing/energy drink market?

Rappers.

Which seems ironically full circle, given that Will Smith started his career spitting rhymes with DJ Jazzy Jeff.

Rappers have already far eclipsed other musicians when it comes to parlaying their success into financial windfall. Take Jay-Z for example. Or Usher. Or P. Diddy. Or 50 Cent.

Hell, even Flava Flav is making some serious coin these days. And all he really does is give strippers 15 minutes of fame.

No one is better at self-promotion. No one has as many fans in the oft-targeted 18-24 year old demographic. No one brings as many advertisers to the table.

And, even more important, many of them seem to have legit acting chops. (Unlike, Shaq, who seems to lack acting chops and rapping chops.)

Rappers are the only megastars left.

So, why not tap 50 Cent to be the next Luke Cage? Or a pumped-up Andre 3000 as Bishop when they do more X-Men flicks (better yet, spin off)? Why not Mos Def as the Green Lantern?

This is my plea: Next year, please give us something that more resembles the culture we live in. A movie or two that doesn't have the shlubby white dude saving the day. Or a black dude playing the comic relief or fodder for the villain.

Please give us more than two movies centered on black heroes.

What are they afraid of?

The fans? Screw that. We don't need to stick to the script completely — why not have a black Captain America? Screw the fanboys that want purity. I just want something cool. Something to remind me of Fred Williamson and Richard Roundtree.

Something that doesn't rely on a safe, white-audience approved star.

Something that doesn't have to have the fresh prince in it.

"Why is this fear of Black from White influence who you choose?" —Public Enemy, "Fear of a Black Planet."

Modest Idea for a Movie that Would be Awesome!

Maybe, just maybe, a good superhero role is awaiting KC's own Tech N9ne. (Quick plug: The Jason Whitlock cover story about him in this week's Ink is a must-read.) And maybe I just have the part for him.

The title: Torn-acalypse.

Plot in one paragraph: Imagine "Twister" meets "Dawn of the Dead" meets "Wolverine." A tornado swirls over a chemical weapons plant, knocking over a silo of some secret government goo onto a cemetery outside of Johnson County. From the ground, arise the dead. And they've been infused with this secret government goo. And now they thirst for blood — and where better to find blood than suburban Kansas City? Cue trapped suburbanites trying to fight off a swarm of chemically enhanced dead people.

Only, here's the twist: As part of the "secret government goo" project, they created a few super-soldiers (ain't original, but it's about 8,000 times better than "Disaster Movie"). Tech N9ne plays one of these super soldiers. In fact, and this might be the most genius thing I've thought of, all of the super soldiers are rappers. Ludacris, T.I., Common. Mos Def could be the scientist. Chuck D could be the president. (Chuck D, by the way, should be the president.)

We can even work Snoop Dog in there somewhere. Hell, I might even find a part for Wayne Brady just for fun.

This would be awesome.

How many millions do you think that movie would be make? $65 million the opening weekend? $200 million?

It might not be "No Country for Old Men," but it sure as hell beats everything else coming out of Hollywood these days.

* This is it this year: Terrance Howard playing the sidekick and Samuel L. Jackson playing a cameo in "Iron Man." Not a brother to be found in the "Hulk." Morgan Freeman as the comic relief in "Dark Knight" and the wise-sage in "Wanted." Oh, and rapper Common has about three lines in that movie. That's not good.