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The overlooked point about Luke Cage is that, even though he’s black, it’s the least important part of his character. Marvel suffers from having characters like Black Panther, (Black) Goliath, Cloak of Cloak and Dagger (black guy is darkness, white girl is brightness), but Luke doesn’t let his race identify his personal or superhero personas. Sure, he’s about as black as you can get, and the writers sometimes fumble that, but his being black doesn’t actually matter, compared to the other black superheros in Marvel.
This is more symptomatic of society at large. Non-whites (particularly blacks) are generally viewed by our race first, and since creators create as much to their audiences expectations as they do from their own imagination, race immediately becomes the defining trait of non-whites. Luke Cage might not have the word "black" associated with his title, but as far as I can tell he fits every single stereotype of the black race that’s been prevalent since his creation. It’s only been recently (the past decade or so) that the character has begun to shunt some of these expectations aside.
Yeah, I would say in the beginning he was very strongly defined by his race, both in the sense that he had a lot of stereotypes as part of his origin, his way of speaking, etc., and in that Marvel routinely advertised him as a black superhero specifically, first and foremost.
As I wrote about here, I think his writing has improved and moved beyond that a lot in the last decade. but it’s a complicated issue, and there still haven’t been nearly enough African American writers who have actually had a chance to write Cage.
That issue isn’t particular to Marvel: look at DC’s Black Lightning. (There’s a pretty good bit where a newer black character asks BL about why he had to be BLACK Lightning, to which he says, "I was the only one of us around at the time; I wanted to make sure everyone knew who they were dealing with." But that comment came in 2006; Black Lightning was created in 1977.)
But it’s also important to contextualize that within the larger culture: Luke Cage (and many of the heroes with "black" in their names) are specifically Blaxploitation superheroes. They were inspired by films with names like Black Caesar, The Black Godfather, Black Samson, Black Samurai, Blackula, and so on. They did that to say specifically to a black audience, "Hey, we’re here for you," and there’s nothing wrong with that. We may have moved past it, and consider it kind of crude now, but it was empowering then. We don’t have to carry on the tradition, but we should also be careful not to vilify it.
Too early to say in the cinematic universe. In the comics, he’s very powerful but still largely a street-based hero. He’s all about brawling, can’t really do magic and shit.
Haven’t paid a lot of attention to Cage over the years, but always liked him. He’s a ‘regular’ guy often in crappy circumstances, like Daredevil and crew.
Only a few episodes into JJ, but really liking his character so far.
My only complaint really is the added indigence to the racial part of Cage’s past. I think people get that we’re dealing with a character invented in another time, even before movies like Blazing Saddles were coming out. We’re all grown ups – I think we can deal with the facts without thinking Polygon is racist by NOT freaking out about it.
Which is why I’m bringing it up without making a big deal out of it. It seems like the people who are upset/uncomfortable that I brought it up at all are freaking out much more than I ever did lol
Blacksploitation happened. No getting around that. I’m just glad that there are characters that are original rather than black people having to take over another white superhero’s role just to gain some sort of notoriety or to be seen. I’d rather have a character who is just who they are. That is what makes Luke Cage intriguing to me.
Comments
The overlooked point about Luke Cage is that, even though he’s black, it’s the least important part of his character. Marvel suffers from having characters like Black Panther, (Black) Goliath, Cloak of Cloak and Dagger (black guy is darkness, white girl is brightness), but Luke doesn’t let his race identify his personal or superhero personas. Sure, he’s about as black as you can get, and the writers sometimes fumble that, but his being black doesn’t actually matter, compared to the other black superheros in Marvel.
By ranhalt on 11.20.15 2:36pm
This is more symptomatic of society at large. Non-whites (particularly blacks) are generally viewed by our race first, and since creators create as much to their audiences expectations as they do from their own imagination, race immediately becomes the defining trait of non-whites. Luke Cage might not have the word "black" associated with his title, but as far as I can tell he fits every single stereotype of the black race that’s been prevalent since his creation. It’s only been recently (the past decade or so) that the character has begun to shunt some of these expectations aside.
By atrimus on 11.20.15 3:03pm
Yeah, I would say in the beginning he was very strongly defined by his race, both in the sense that he had a lot of stereotypes as part of his origin, his way of speaking, etc., and in that Marvel routinely advertised him as a black superhero specifically, first and foremost.
As I wrote about here, I think his writing has improved and moved beyond that a lot in the last decade. but it’s a complicated issue, and there still haven’t been nearly enough African American writers who have actually had a chance to write Cage.
By Phil Kollar on 11.20.15 6:05pm
That issue isn’t particular to Marvel: look at DC’s Black Lightning. (There’s a pretty good bit where a newer black character asks BL about why he had to be BLACK Lightning, to which he says, "I was the only one of us around at the time; I wanted to make sure everyone knew who they were dealing with." But that comment came in 2006; Black Lightning was created in 1977.)
But it’s also important to contextualize that within the larger culture: Luke Cage (and many of the heroes with "black" in their names) are specifically Blaxploitation superheroes. They were inspired by films with names like Black Caesar, The Black Godfather, Black Samson, Black Samurai, Blackula, and so on. They did that to say specifically to a black audience, "Hey, we’re here for you," and there’s nothing wrong with that. We may have moved past it, and consider it kind of crude now, but it was empowering then. We don’t have to carry on the tradition, but we should also be careful not to vilify it.
By Full_of_Spiders on 11.22.15 1:59am
I still can’t not see Agent Locke.
By spaghettification on 11.20.15 2:46pm
So how powerful is Luke Cage compared to rest of the Marvel universe for the show(s), or is it too early to say?
By SpaceAdventureCMan on 11.20.15 3:25pm
Too early to say in the cinematic universe. In the comics, he’s very powerful but still largely a street-based hero. He’s all about brawling, can’t really do magic and shit.
By Phil Kollar on 11.20.15 6:05pm
How could you have gone an entire Luke Cage 101 without mentioning his catchphrase? And it’s the holiday season too!
Or just …
By 2hsieh on 11.20.15 3:37pm
Haven’t paid a lot of attention to Cage over the years, but always liked him. He’s a ‘regular’ guy often in crappy circumstances, like Daredevil and crew.
Only a few episodes into JJ, but really liking his character so far.
By JamesBergCanada on 11.21.15 4:07pm
My only complaint really is the added indigence to the racial part of Cage’s past. I think people get that we’re dealing with a character invented in another time, even before movies like Blazing Saddles were coming out. We’re all grown ups – I think we can deal with the facts without thinking Polygon is racist by NOT freaking out about it.
By jdubzw on 11.21.15 11:16pm
Which is why I’m bringing it up without making a big deal out of it. It seems like the people who are upset/uncomfortable that I brought it up at all are freaking out much more than I ever did lol
By Phil Kollar on 11.23.15 7:16pm
"He’s a great dude who’s been begging for an introduction to more mainstream superhero audiences, and that begins today with Jessica Jones."
Wrong. He was and is part of the team in the Ultimate-Spiderman cartoon series. That was where I got to know him, Iron Fist, Nova and White Tiger.
By shani ace on 11.25.15 6:05pm
Blacksploitation happened. No getting around that. I’m just glad that there are characters that are original rather than black people having to take over another white superhero’s role just to gain some sort of notoriety or to be seen. I’d rather have a character who is just who they are. That is what makes Luke Cage intriguing to me.
By abdiyohan on 12.01.15 12:54pm