Where da white men at?

I am paraphrasing one of my favorite lines from Blazing Saddles but I think it fits after that totally bullshit article in the New York Times about white men struggling to find themselves on television this fall.  It was a total click bait article and I needed two showers after reading it.

Once out of the shower, it did have me thinking about television and the lack of POC on network television.  Its always been a struggle to find quality tv with people of color on The Big 3 and even on the upstarts like Fox and CW.  The shows usually range from cooning to higher forms of cooning.  As the call for more diversity has come, tv has evolved into to using a loophole to get around the diversity issue by making many shows ensemble pieces.  The show has multiple characters and every they throw in a Black or Brown or Asian face and call it diversity.  That character often fills whatever stereotype of that particular ethnic group and is usually in a subservient role to the lead white character.  Or  TV, will lead shows with a white female lead and call that diversity.  Either way, more often than not, the people of color  are playing supporting roles.  They are not leads and when you watch the show long enough, you figure this out quickly.  The POC is never a fullu formed character- just the version of Blackness they deem appropriate for their show.  These shows and their main plots always revolve around white males or females and their loves lives and/or their trials and tribulations. This is not up for debate. But because someone will jump in my mentions after I post this, I feel the need to list the limited amount of shows that are led by people of color. Sadly, some people will still argue that its an even playing field, because the new thing under Trump is that now, somehow, white people( especially white males) are oppressed in their ability to be the raging, hormonal, irrational, racist assholes that they are.

The New York Times article listed the new shows for fall of 2016 to show that white males are not being represented on television- leaving out the fact that they are already overly represented as a whole on tv shows as lead actors- even in ensembles.  Taking out reality shows cartoons,  and sports, lets look at the tv shows that actually are led by POC and the percentage of shows that are not on each network

ABC

Because of Shonda Rhimes, ABC is doing the best out of the Big 3.  Shows like Scandal and How to get away with Murder lead the way and that is not counting Grey's Anatomy because it does not have a POC lead( sorry Meredith).  ABC also gets props for Blackish, Fresh off The Boat, Dr. Ken and Quantico.  Overall, they have seven shows out of their 19 shows this fall that are led by a POC for a whopping 36%.

NBC

NBC is awful in this.  The channel that once gave us an hour of Black excellence with Cosby and a Different World could give a shit about people of color on television anymore unless they are on a reality show( we see you Nick Cannon shuckin and jivin). Marlon Wayans will front a mid season replacement and the fate of the Carmichael show is still up in the air. I am gonna stretch hard give them Grimm as a co-lead.  So they go 2/11. 18%

CBS

Only the NCIS with noted thespian LL Cool J gives CBS 1 show with a POC lead( co -lead).  The Training Day TV show- which will be an abject failure- will be on CBS.  That's it.   Their other shows are all fronted my white males or females- including their 3 new shows by tv retreads Kevin James, Matt LeBlanc, and Joel Mchale .  Modern CBS tv has never been a friend to diversity in programming.  It trends towards older, white viewers and that trend continues this fall. 2/22 shows for 9%.

Fox

Fox started off as an "urban" network, only to abandon those ideas much like the CW and UPN would do later in life.  They will often take chances on shows with POC, only to cancel them after a view episodes.  Fox recently has taken to having POC characters removed from popular shows like Sleepy Hollow to only replace them with another white character.  This Fall, Fox has Pitch, Empire, Rosewood, Lethal Weapon( co lead)), and the relaunch of 24 on the roster. 5/25 shows for a overwhelming 20%.

CW

Again, the CW used to love Black people, but has long since abandoned us for white, teenage angst or superheroes.  Currently, the only show led by a person of color is Jane the Virgin.  1/10 shows for 10%.


So by my calculations and this is far from scientific, 18% of shows on network tv are fronted by or co led by POC.  That means, 82% of shows are fronted or co -led by white people.  82%!! Let that sink in for a minute.  Network tv has long abandoned people of color for viewership unless its reality tv.  Cable TV does a little bit better of a job, but its kinda like being a little pregnant.  Quality tv shows starring POC are still rare and even more rare when they are supported by the network that spawned them.

So please stop with the poor white man narrative.  You are represented plenty on tv and in movies and you don't even have to work that hard to find yourself.

The Producer

Where is Black Love and Romance in comics

So our friends over at we got this covered published this article on the top 8 romances in comic book movies and I had to pause not to throw up for a minute. 
http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/8-best-couples-superhero-movies/
Granted, these are "love" stories from the movies and some ripped straight from the pages of the comics that inspired them, but it made me pause because the list was whiter than Maine in December.  All 8 couples from the movies were all white and not even a hint of love for people of color.

But this made me think even deeper and in the modern comic book universe in movies and on television, there is no real love interest for Black characters WITH another Black character. Storm and T'Challla had a storybook romance and wedding over 10 years ago now, but beyond that, finding a Black power couple in the world of comics and comic book movies is hard as fuck to find.  Lets break this shit down for you!

X Movies
Now we really only have Storm to go on here, right?  That's a problem in and of itself, but Storm has been in 5 X-Men movies( 4 for Halle Berry and 1 for Alexandra Shipp) and Storm cannot find any love? They teased a romance with Nightcrawler in X2( but he ain't Black) and she found swirl love with Wolverine in a cut scene from Days of Future Past but beyond that- nothing. Yet we are burdened with the Cyclops- Jean Grey- Wolverine love triangle, along with Iceman-Rogue- and Kitty Pryde throughout these movies. In comics, Storm has been unlucky in love, too.  Forge loved her, but took her powers and the marriage with T'Challa didn't exactly pan out but X movies have yet to focus on or create a credible Black, male character in comics beyond Bishop and Bishop appeared for all of 13 seconds in Days of Future Past.  And never, ever bring up to me Darwin from First Class. EVER!

DC Movies and Television
Modern DC movies have only 1 Black "hero" to appear in them and that is Deadshot, played by Will Smith.  In Suicide Squad, you see him with his daughter, who appears to be African-American, but we don't see head or tail of the mom.  Amanda Waller also makes an appearance but there is no apparent man in her life and technically she is not a superhero.

DC gets alot of props for its diversity on its television shows, but Black on Black romance and love is lacking.  There is plenty of swirling going around but love between Black characters is about  non existent.
Flash has Barry swirling with Iris and even the little tease Iris had with Tone Bell this year- you knew that shit was not gonna happen since they been teasing Barry and Iris season episode 1.

On Supergirl, James Olson was swirling with both and with Supergirl( Kara) and Lucy Lane.  Even John Diggle on Arrow is swirling with Sarah.

Marvel Movies and Television
If we examine the heroes in Marvel movies, we see four Black heroes in Nick Fury,  War Machine, Falcon, and most recently Black Panther. Fury is married to his job, I guess.  War Machine has no romantic interest and neither does Falcon.  Black Panther, as introduced in Civil War, was focused very much on his mission and seemed to not have anytime for romance.  Yet, we get a full on love story with Captain America and Agent Carter AND Peggy Carter over the course of these movies.  We get to see Tony Stark and Pepper Potts love story play out.  Hawkeye has a secret family tucked away with a wife and kids.  Thor has Jane Foster and Lady Sif he wanted.  Hell even Black Widow and the Hulk have a romance in Age of Ultron.  But the Black folks? Nah, Falcon and War Machine are too busy following orders from their white besties and getting paralyzed to have a romantic relationships. Hell, they can't even get their swirl on!

And on Netflix, between Jessica Jones and Daredevil, The Night Nurse, played by Rosario Dawson, is sort of swirling with Daredevil, and Luke Cage is swirling with Jessica Jones.  It seems in the upcoming  Luke Cage series, Luke may possibly get with Misty Knight, but they have rarely been a thing in the comics.  She has mostly swirled with Iron Fist.



So why is Black love and romance so taboo in comic related properties? Even currently, before he was killed, War Machine was with Carol Danvers( Swirl) Luke Cage is with Jessica Jones( swirl), Black Panther is married to being the King of Wakanda, and Storm is single as single can be up in that X-Mansion.  The only real Black romantic couple are Sam Wilson and Misty Knight and for how long will this last as most people ship for Iron Fist and Misty Knight.

This all comes down to lack of love interest/ options in both comics and movies for Black characters and the inability for white writers to see and write Black characters in love.  The fact that there are so few Black characters is only part of the problem.  The lack of representation in the writing room, leads white writers of books/movies/shows to put characters in relationships they feel comfortable with and wont offend their majority white audiences. Their inability to know/see/write Black characters in love and relationships leads to massive swirling on screen and in comics.  And there is nothing wrong with the swirl. My wife is Puerto Rican and my kids look more like Miles Morales than T'Challa, but the void of Black characters in romantic relationships is troubling at best and disturbing at worst.

I truly believe Hollywood fears Black people in love and in unity more than they fear Black rage and anger.  This lack of Black love on screen and the decolorization of Black women in particular is troubling and disheartening.  I pray that Black Panther has a Black love interest in his movie and she is not the one light skinned sista in Wakanda.  And for damn sure T'Challa best not be swirlin' or we gonna burn these theaters down!

The Producer

Comics Plessy V Ferguson

Can separate be Equal?

Not to go all Supreme Court rulings on this blog, but the landmark case of Plessy V Ferguson set up a rule of law that stated that it was okay to discriminate as long as the facilities were equal.  Now we all know that is impossible to pull off and one group is always going to get the short end of the stick.

But can comic book characters be separate and equal?

Diversity, most importantly the lack of diversity, has always been an issue in the field of entertainment.  TV shows and movies tend to continually cater to Whites and often times Black or other characters of color are pushed to the side kick role or that of the sassy Black friend, the super intelligent Asian, or the token gay/lesbian character on the show.  Its a racial trope trotted out for the past 40 plus years and its as tired as the think pieces written about it.

But if you dig into comics- especial here recently, there is a new phenomenon of traditionally white characters, who are now Black, or a person of color , or female and it got me to thinking' "Are these characters the equal to their white counter-parts or are they just place holders until the White character comes back to take their place?

This is not a totally new phenomenon.  Jon Stewart and James Rhodes have played Green Lantern and Iron Man respectively, even tho Rhodey was given The War Machine armor which essentially made him the Black Iron Man.  Stewart, who has been appointed as the guardian of sector 2814, but often times is looked at as the Black Green Lantern because there are no other Black Green Lanterns.

More recently, Sam Wilson, AKA Falcon, has been serving as Captain America.  He is essentially still Falcon, but his stars and stripes costume and use of a shield has given him the title of Captain America.  But does anyone really view Falcon AS Captain America or is he Black Captain America?  Plus, with the reintroduction of Steve Rogers back into the Marvel Universe( current Hydra story not withstanding), does anyone think that Falcon will continue to be Captain America?

Even the Hulk is now the Totally Awesome Hulk, played by an Asian Character Amadeus Cho. And even tho he is still green, he is still looked at as the Asian Hulk and the clock is ticking as to when Bruce Banner will once again become the Hulk.

And as much as I love the character, Miles Morales AKA the Sensational Spider-Man is in the same boat.  If Marvel was committed to having Miles BE THE Spider-Man, then Peter Parker needs to go away.  Whether you kill him or depower him, he cannot be around.  This idea that Miles is the domestic Spider Man and Peter Parker is the International Spider-Man takes away from Miles and makes him the Black/Latino Spider-Man and that is unfortunate.

Hell even the current Ultimates book has been referred to as the Black Avengers because of course, the Avengers are still around. And Marvel doubled down by making A-Force( the female Avengers team).

Look some representation ( typically) is better than no representation and there needs to be a space for these characters.  My issue is why doesn't Marvel and DC support and help created new characters of color and push those characters to make them the equal to their white counterparts?  The comic universe is large enough to support and love these characters IF they are marketed and given stories that develop the character over time.

I am a fan of all the characters I talked about here.  I am also a huge fan of Kamala Khan as Captain Marvel, and America Chavez, as well. But the playing field is not even.  If the company is not going to allow the person of color to assume the role full time- not for a couple of years, then they are just place holders to tell a story.  To me, that's sad.  Many of these white characters have had these roles for 50 plus years.  Any and every possible story has been told with them. If you are not going to create new characters, then  why not let a new character hold the spot for the next 50 years? Explore their history and background.  Allow them to grow and develop without the white character looking over their shoulder ready to pounce and take back their spot as the "Real _____"   I love these characters, but they are most definitely separate but not equal and that is a huge disappointment for me.

The Producer

Civil War 2: Bad Optics Boogaloo

So Marvel dropped Civil War 2 recently and I am going to spoil a major portion of the plot line and story so  if you want to remain spoiler free,  you should stop reading here.....

The plot of the book is that a new Inhuman has Minority Report powers.  He basically can see when a crime is going to occur and our heroes can be dispatched to heed off said threat before it happens.  I mean literally, Marvel is straight ripping off Minority Report!  Like Tom Cruise should be mad as shit when one of his Scientology Minions reads it to him.  Anyway, the first time, it works perfectly. Our heroes respond to threat, organize their plan ahead of time, and the celestial being that was gonna threaten Earth is dispatched to much rejoicing.

Later, tho when Tony Stark finds out about this new Inhuman and his power, the moral conundrum of "Would you kill baby Hitler?" arises and creates a minor difference of opinion between Iron Man and Captain Marvel. But what to do next is left open with Tony thinking we cannot punish people- even villains for things they may or may not do.  Captain Marvel feels that heroes should do whatever they can to save lives and the Earth.

The next time our Inhuman has a "vision", it revolves around Thanos and the Ultimates set out to meet the threat... this time however, there is a casualty on the battle field and a death..... James Rhodes or Rhodey, AKA War Machine is killed by the mad titan, Thanos.

Obviously, Tony is upset that his best friend has been killed and this hurt turns to anger when he finds out Captain Marvel used the Inhuman to ward off a threat from Thanos that may or may not have happened in the future.  That is your set up for the new series.... After all that tho, I been wondering, why did they kill ANOTHER Black guy in Civil War?

You can go back and check our original Civil War comics podcasts here:

Original Civil War Podcast


We talked about how the death of Bill Foster, AKA Black Goliath, was not really necessary and it seemed that the Marvel powers in charge felt the need to kill someone so they chose a character that nobody really cared about in Black Goliath.  It felt forced and the reaction of the heroes at the time was so cliche.  For real, like anyone of them cared about Black Goliath.

In looking to make a bigger impact( I guess), this time they kill Rhodey. I mean, ok... I guess. Yes, Rhodey is Tony's homeboy. And, yes, he is a hero in his own right, but does Marvel not see the bad optics here? I mean you take two  limited series- ten years apart, and the catalyst for the event is the death of a Black guy.  How does someone not have deja vu in the writing room?  Nobody thought this might be a bad idea or would look bad based of previous series history? There are many people that coulda been killed besides Rhodey. On top of that, nobody stays dead in comics. NOBODY! So you could kill anyone and retcon it later to fix it. So why Rhodey and Black Goliath gotta die?  Its because they are Black and disposable characters. Period.  Rhodey, even tho he has a history as Tony's buddy/sidekick, was deemed expendable as a plot device when any number of characters could have fit that role to move the story along.

This speaks to the much larger issue of the lack of POC in comics and other forms of media/entertainment and their relevance.  Its become a trope where the Black characters in predominantly white situations in movies and tv, are often the first person voted off the island, kicked out of the house, or flat out killed off.  Black people watch these shows with one eye open because we know at any moment, this person of color is about to get killed.  I always tell people to date POC characters in media, but don't marry them because you are going to be widowed.  Marvel and DC both do not see this.  They think its just a point to tell a good story without realizing how fucked up it looks to people on the outside.

Who knows how this plays out in the long run of the series.  Maybe Rhodey really isn't dead. Maybe he's a clone. Or a Skrull. Or maybe the power of white, princess love, Captain Marvel will bring him back to life and we all sing Kumbaya with Thanos at the end.  Who really knows?!  But I know this, when Civil war 3 hits in 2026, every living Black Marvel hero better be looking over they shoulder because Death could be standing right behind them.

#blackcomiclivesmatter

The Producer

Be careful Sony/Marvel

The Producer is back after a 10 day vacation and getting back into the swing of things with this news broke by The Hollywood Reporter that Donald Glover has been cast in the new Spider-Man movie: Homecoming- hitting theaters in the summer of 2017.

Donald Glover to cast in Spider-Man Homecoming

Now this type of casting would not make much of a ripple except for the history that Donald Glover has with Spider man and Miles Morales.  Back in 2010, Donald Glover openly campaigned for the role of Peter Parker as Sony was looking to reboot the Spider-Man franchise after the disastrous Spider Man 3 starring Tobey Maguire.  Glover did audition tape, had an on line petition, and even Stan Lee himself was open for Glover to audition for the role. I thought this was a great idea at the time.  Donald Glover is a great actor, funny, and he has a love for the character.  All that being said, not one fiber in my body in 2010 thought it would happen.  Sony was already reeling from Spider-Man 3 and to take a gamble on a character as beloved as Spider-Man... Hollywood don't do business like that.

And naturally, White fan boys were losing their minds at the possibility of one of their favorite all time characters being Black.  All the typical, "Peter Parker is white", "Why are they doing this?", "Its Obama's fault" rhetoric came out.  And this is long before the Sony Email leak/hack where Sony was very clear that Peter Parker HAD to be White( and straight)

So the thought of Donald Glover as Peter Parker died when Sony did the typical thing and cast a British dude, Andrew Garfield, as Peter Parker for the two Amazing Spider-Man movies( how'd that workout for you?)

In the interim tho,  Miles Morales was introduced in the Ultimate Universe in Marvel Comics.  The character, who is of Black and Hispanic descent, takes over for Peter Parker as Spider-Man in the Ultimate Universe and people fell in love with the character. It definitely gave people of color a Spider-Man that was different and people flocked to him- making him one of the most popular characters in the Marvel Universe.

Since the character became so popular, there was hope by Blerds that Sony would give Miles Morales a run as Spider-Man in the relaunch of Spider-Man( again) after the disaster that was the Amazing Spider-Man.  Of course, Sony and Marvel with their new partnership, was not going to take a chance and make a Miles Morales movie so they cast a British dude, Tom Holland, as Peter Parker( sound familiar).

That leads to the news today... on top of the previous cast leaks of Zendaya and Laura Harrier in unknown roles.  Plus, even though its whitewashed, they cast for the role of Ganke Lee- Mile's best friend.

So where you going with this, Sony/Marvel?  Donald Glover at this point is way too old to play the role of Miles Morales- who is a teenager. Once this leaked today, all the stories about him wanting to be Spider-Man are going to pop back up. That is on top of him doing the voice work of Miles Morales on the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon.  Are you casting these characters of color for significant roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?  Could Zendaya and Laura Harrier possibly both play love interest of Peter Parker as Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy?

Are you casting Donald Glover as Jefferson Morales, dad of Miles Morales, and introducing Miles Morales in this movie?  That would be great, but you do realize there needs to be a huge payoff for that! People, including myself, are not gonna be satisfied with seeing Miles Morales name get called in class. We are going to want to see him in a movie AS SPIDERMAN!  Do not try to get cute with this and play this game.  Fans of the character want to see Miles giving a chance to be Spider-Man in his own movie- not playing Peter Parker's sidekick.

I hope ya'll know what you are doing because you are playing a high stakes game of chicken here. By casting people of color for this film, the expectation is they will have significant roles in the movie- playing characters that casual and comic book fans will be familiar with.  Be careful... Ya'll just earned back some trust based on Hollands performance in Civil War.  Don't throw it all way trying to be clever.

The Producer

Believeland and the Modern Day Curse on Ohio Sports

If you have not done so, please watch the 30 for 30 on ESPN called Believeland about the sports curse that affects the city of Cleveland. I cheer against almost all things Cleveland and even that documentary made me feel bad for their fans.

But taking a larger view, the sports curse does not end of the shores of the Cuyahoga River.  It extends far and wide into the state of Ohio affecting pro teams and even college powerhouses.  Now granted, Ohio State has won 2 national championships in the last 15 years and that is an accomplishment that all Buckeyes can feel proud of.  But if you dig past Ohio State, you will see some misery not often seen in other states( besides Georgia which is also cursed).

Baseball Teams

The curse on the Indians is well earned and deserved.  In the 90's, they had one of the best baseball teams, but were unable to close the deal twice- once against the Braves( for their only championship) and once against the Marlins who won their first championship Those Indians teams had great hitting- mostly supported by pharmaceuticals.

After those World Series losses, the team hung on for a bit, they gutted much of that World Series team for parts and had some moderate success, but their best chance of winning the World Series died out over those 2 back to back losses to the Braves and Marlins.

The Reds

Growing up in southern Ohio, there has always been a love affair for the Reds.  We all know the Big Red Machine and listened to Marty Brenneman and Joe Nuxhall on the radio.  Baseball was king in that part of Ohio. Was. Since winning that championship in 1990, the Reds have been an also ran in the National League.  They have made the playoffs, but never been a real threat to win the World Series.  And the Curse of Ohio strikes hard when Ken Griffey, Jr proved that you CAN'T come home again.  When Junior was traded and signed by the Reds in 2000, it was to be the restart of the Big Red Machine for the new millennium. But it mostly turned to watching him be injured and see his star fade from bright to almost nothing in an instant.

The Reds have been in recovery mode since the Griffey deal and currently are one of the worst teams in baseball.  This is not even speaking about one of the greatest players of all time who, because he gambled on baseball, is not in the Hall of Fame or allowed around the game.  The Reds have the curse!

Basketball

The Cavaliers.... They exhibit the curse probably better than any team on this list besides the Browns.  They began as an awful team with the likes of World B Free as the star and that ought to tell you something if your best player is named after a greeting card.  When they finally do get good, they have a great team. Mark Price, Brad Daughtry, Larry Nance, and Craig Ehlo formed a formidable team in the Eastern Conference and challenged the Celtics and Pistons for supremacy in the Eastern Conference.... but then, the curse and The Shot by Jordan over Ehlo in 1989 sends the Cavs spinning. They do recover and make an Easter Conference finals a few years later- losing of course to Jordan and the Bulls.

The Cavs become irrelevant until they win the draft lottery and select Lebron James.  Lebron, who is from northeast Ohio and very familiar with the curse- which is why none of his favorite teams are from Ohio.  He cheers for the Yankees in baseball and the Cowboys in football.  Lebron turns the franchise around immediately and is such a transcendent players and personality that the word "Witness" becomes a catchphrase.  But even a once and lifetime star like Lebron cannot escape.  There is the sweep by the Spurs in the NBA Finals and then some embarrassing losses in the playoffs and Lebron does what most people from that are of Ohio do- He moved and took his talents to South Beach and broke the hearts of thousands of Cavs fans in 21 seconds.

And of course, he goes to Miami, wins 2 championships and even tho he came Home, the people of Cleveland still had to see him hoisting titles for a different team and that shit hurt.  Once he came home, the curse strikes the Cavs in the finals where two of their best players are out and Lebron cannot will the team to the championship over Golden State- even after being up 2-1.  This year, the Cavs again are the best team in the East( not sure that means anything) and will be the underdog against either the Thunder or The Warriors.  Another loss would mean Lebron is 0-3 in NBA Finals with the Cavs.  The only thing that would be worse if he decided to move on from the Cavs again after this season- The Decision 2: Electric Boogaloo.  The Cavs are Cursed!

Football Teams

The Browns

Man, I am just going to include photo's  for the Browns.  Their heartbreak is well established.  The Drive, The Fumble, losing the team( and watching that team win a Super Bowl), Manziel and all those different quarterbacks.  No team in sports has had worse luck and management than the Browns. And maybe it turns around...maybe Hue Jackson is a miracle worker but what have you seen to believe that its going to be any different?  They have had new coaches and GM's and its all been the same over and over and over. I almost feel bad for Browns fans. Almost.

The Bengals

I could do the same things with the Bengals.... I really could.  The Curse is strong in Cincinnati as well.  Granted they been to 2 Super Bowls and lost them both- the second being the more painful because our backup tailback goes on a crack bender before the game, Krumrie breaking his leg on the 2nd defensive play of the game,  the dropped interception by Louis Billups that woulda sealed the game, and of course the drive and TD from Montana to Taylor to win it for the 49ers.  That woulda been enough but the Curse kicked into overdrive in the 90's.  The death of Paul Brown handed the reigns of the franchise over to Mike Brown and the 90's Bengals were the current day Browns.  In the Lost Decade, the Bengals went 52-108.  They drafted awful, they had awful coaches and management, and they played awful.  Good players couldn't wait to leave and free agents only signed to get one last pay day from the Bengals.  This only turned around with Marvin Lewis arriving in 2003 but the curse still lingers.  yes they have won divisions and made playoffs, but Carson Palmer tears his knee on 2nd play of the game, Andy Dalton breaks his thumb before the playoffs, and of course the debacle at the end of the playoff game this year.  Added to the fact that Marvin Lewis is 0-7 in the playoffs- Trust me, the Bengals are cursed.

So which Ohio sports team in the closest to a championship?  It has to be the Cavs.  A win for Lebron and the Cavs would be a shot of needed hope and adrenalin to a city and fan base that needs it desperately.  Another loss in the finals- especially one with any heartbreak to it, would just be another kick in the ass for a state that has suffered more than enough.

The Producer

Face Turn: Nikita Koloff

If you have not done so, please check out the brothascomics Old School rasslin podcast. You can find the link here

Brothascomics Old School Wrestling Podcast

Last week we looked at the heel turn of Pez Whatley- a low mid-card wrestler from the NWA days of rasslin. It was a fun look back at a character who received very little attention, but his heel turn was done so well, it burned in our memories forever.

This week, we look look at the Face turn of Nikita Koloff.  In the mid-80's in the NWA, the Russians comprised of Ivan Koloff, Nikita Koloff, and Krusher Krushev.  In the NWA, they beat up all the babyfaces and Nikita was the strong guy and muscle of the group with Uncle Ivan being the brains and the mouth behind the operation.  They feuded will all faces in the NWA at the time- most especially against the Road Warriors and the Rock and Roll Express.

Nikita being the youngest, scariest looking, and the one with the most potential is gonna get a push as a singles wrestler.  The NWA was promoting their first Great American Bash and was looking for a main event match.  It was decided that the Russians would attack promoter and commentator David Crocket on-air and this would actually lead to a brief face turn for Ric Flair as he faced Nikita at the Great American Bash in the summer 1985.

You have to understand that Flair was a major heel at the time and probably the only thing that could get people to cheer for him was to fight against the hated Russians.  Flair cuts this awesome promo on Nikita ahead of their match and pays for it... .Only to be saved by his biggest enemy. Crowd is so hot for this!

This feud had brief heat and culmianted in their match at the Great American Bash... of course won by Flair.  Do you think they was gonna let a "Russian" win a match at the Great American Bash?

The Russians and Nikita come out of this still with heat and their next target is US heavyweight Champion, Magnum TA. Now, there will probably be a Magnum TA article written on here soon, but suffice to say, Magnum TA was over and from this match against this jobber,  you can see that he had the look, was great on the mic, and his finisher was awesome.

The Magnum TA and Nikita feud was one of the hottest feuds in wrestling history. It culminated in a best of seven series for the US Title. It led to this mad contract signing( never insult anyones mom) and some great matches at the end of 1986.

Nikita walks away with the US Title and the feud with Magnum TA.  Magnum winds up in a feud with Dusty VS The Four Horsemen.  But Magnum TA suffers a career ending injury in a car accident that left him partially paralyzed.  Now back in the 80's, it was easy to think this was a work, but the article actually appeared in legitimate newspapers. Now Dusty Rhodes( who was booking NWA at the time), was left without the company's top babyface singles wrestler with this feud with the Horseman heating up.

This leads to the face turn for Nikita.  And as you can see from this video, the crowd goes ape shit when Nikita joins Dusty and thus forming the SuperPowers and one of the best face turns of all time.

They spun his face turn as a sign of respect for Magnum TA after his accident and even alluded to the Cold War starting to thaw.  Whatever. I was 15 and a huge mark for Nikita when he turned face.  His "Russian" when he spoke in interviews still cracks me up 30 years later.  Nikita was in NWA/WCW until the early 90's. He never made the leap to WWF and was out of the wrestling business by 1993.  To me, The Russian Nightmare has a permanent spot in wrestling history.

The Producer

Ben Afflek now EP on Justice League

Affleck to Play Bigger Role in Justice League

News broke yesterday that, Ben Affleck has been named an Executive Producer on the Justice League movie.  This comes weeks after news that Affleck is also going to write, produce, and direct his own solo Batman movies in the future as well.

This is no real surprise.  Affleck's reputation as a filmmaker is stellar and can only be a boost to the DC cinematic universe.  Because of his celebrity status, people often forget that Affleck is a huge comic book nerd.  His affinity for Batman is well known, as well as the Justice League.

I see this going one of two ways. First, this is  a pre-emptive strike by DC to possibly lessen the influence of Zack Snyder moving forward. Whereas I may debate the merits and credentials of Zack Snyder as a director, he does have a flair and talent for making movies look awesome on screen.  To me where he falters, is his ability to craft and create a consistent story- and this is where having another director such as Ben Affleck can help.  Additionally, Affleck can help alleviate some of the pressure that comes from being the head of the entire of DC Cinematic Universe.  Zack Snyder, rightly or wrongly, has come under increased scrutiny recently about his vision for these beloved characters.  Having an experienced additional set of eyes- who legitimately cares about the characters can only help the final product.


The second way is to look at this is that DC is going to move past Zack Snyder after Justice League 1 and allow Affleck to run DC Cinematic moving forward.  This would put Affleck in the "Kevin Fiege" role (the person who oversees Marvel Cinematic).  Affleck has experience in this role as he has written, produced, and directed 3 feature films.  He can wear all these additional hats and  he may be in a better position to handle the intense scrutiny that comes from this position better than Zack Snyder.  Affleck has familiarity and affinity with the source characters and materials- something that people often question regarding Zack Snyder.

This is a good thing I think for DC- either way it plays out.

Stop trying to make Superman more human

When I was a kid and my dad would show me those serials Superman shows from the 50's on his old school film projector, I was always fascinated by the power of Superman.  You know, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive.... I always loved it when the bad guy would empty all the bullets out of his gun at and then throw the actual gun at Superman as if that was gonna hurt him.

Later, when the Superman movies came out in the 70's and 80's( we are only going to acknowledge the first 2), it was awesome to see his full powers on display with flight, x-ray vision, freeze breath, etc. And as much as I hate it, he even turned back time to save Lois at the end of Superman 1.

Yet after the last two movies failed, DC seemed to be over powerful Kal El.  It seemed to me they felt he was too powerful and people could not relate to him and when he does reappear on the small screen, the focus has shifted from Kal El to Clark in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Not that the show was terrible, but even tho we get Superman in the show, the focus was primarily on Clark( and Lois) and all the relationship and work foibles that occur between him being Superman.  DC doubles down on that a few years later when it debuts Smallville which totally focuses on Clark and Superman is an afterthought of the series which is alluded to more than seen.  Smallville focuses on his life as a teenager and all the teenage angst that is associated with being a teenager.  Now Smallville was a great show, I am not denying that, but it continued DC's focus on Clark over Kal El.

When we finally do get Superman back on the big screen with Superman Returns its an overly emotional Kal El whose powers are on full display, but he is burdened with all these real world problems- his girl got a baby and is engaged to some other dude and the parentage of said kid is in doubt.... They got Kal on some Maury Povich type shit!


Now even tho DC has been giving Superman a forum to shine as one of their biggest heroes, their handling of Superman recently borders on shameful.  Superman has generally always been a symbol of hope for the DC universe. He represents what we all can achieve and someone to believe in yet -DC has attempted to turn him into Batman with superpowers.  In Man of Steel,  they tinkered with his backstory, killed off Pa Kent, and had him kill off Zod... all of this was done to create this tortured, emotional version of Superman- who seems to have very little hope.  It's why he appears joyless in Batman V Superman  because he doesn't have anything to be happy about.  DC has created a cinema world where Superman is feared instead of loved by the populace.  Superman has become Charlie Brown in DCU with various people playing Lucy and pulling the ball away from him.  Its no wonder this Superman doesn't crack and go full Justice Lords and fulfill the destiny Luther predicted in JLU and begin his own brand of Justice in a world that already hates and fears him.

DC has become obsessed with attempting to give us more Clark than Superman.  Obsessed. Its why shows like Lois and Clark and Smallville get made, while Superman is regulated to cartoons.  They honestly feel people are more interested in Clark than Kal El and that's simply not true. Kids are not dressing up as Clark Kent at Halloween. The man inside the suit is not as interesting as the man wearing the suit.

This humanizing of Superman has its roots in those original Donner/Shuler Superman movies from the 70's and 80's.  The whole sub-plot of Superman 2 was Kal losing his powers so he could be with Lois. I think, since most people hold this movie as the best of all the Superman movies, they come back to this trope of what would happen if Clark was not or could not be Superman.  And honestly, I don't know or care.  The DCU needs Superman to be Superman- not some emotionally stunted person who cannot handle his true emotions- DC has Batman for that!

DC should be highlighting his powers and abilities, not downplaying them.  Kal El knows how powerful he is and keeps them in check himself, not because of some overly self important writer or director who feels Superman should be more like us.  Superman is NOT LIKE US! He is SUPERMAN! He is an alien, from another world/planet with SUPER human abilities.

I am not one of those, "Zack Snyder should drop out because..." people. He has his vision of Superman and we have seen it on full display for the past two movies.  That is fine, I guess.  But he and DC should not be surprised by all the negative clap back they are receiving from fans and from creators who are not enamored with this version of Kal El.  What I would like to see,  after his "death", Kal El comes back and is appreciated as the hero and savior he was sent to be on Earth. Sadly, I think we are going to get an angry, seeking revenge Kal El before we see his redemption. Maybe this is part of Snyder's long run plan for the character...Maybe. But until then, I am going to enjoy Superman in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited- those shows are the most accurate version of Superman anyway!

The Producer

The Curious Career of: Larenz Tate

With a new tv show set to debut on NBC tonight called Game of Silence (which I really had no idea about), we wanted to look back at the career of Larenz Tate.  Even 20 years later, he is still mostly remembered for his role as O-Dog in the critically acclaimed, Menace 2 Society. From there, his movie career takes some interesting turns and eventually bottoms out before become a supporting character on tv over the past few years.  But why did he not become a "Movie Star"?  He clearly has the acting chops and he is a handsome man, but he rarely got a chance to break out of the mold of black, supporting star.

Early TV
Now you have known Larenz Tate the actor for a very long time.  You just didn't realize it.  He is a child actor who has been on several tv shows that you have seen.  From the 90's being on Red Foxx's The Royal Family, The Fresh Prince, and even Family Matters.  Larenz Tate has been around for a minute.

 He hits it big in his big screen debut of the Hughes Brothers film, Menace 2 Society.  Now the 90's were filled with these gang related, urban tales and this movie is actually one of the good ones.  In it, he plays O-Dog, best friend of lead actor Caine.  Now if you have never seen this movie, I highly recommend it! Larenz Tate is mesmerizing in this role and even tho you should hate him, he is such a captivating character, you kinda find yourself cheering for him. And you will never react the same again when someone ask you if you want to buy some cheeseburgers.

This is followed up by a show on Fox called South Central- a dramedy that dealt with urban life in Los Angeles that was critically acclaimed, but not a ratings success. The show is cancelled after 10 episodes, but if you ever saw Moesha a few years later, they are essentially the same show.  Anyway, Tate is great in South Central and the door is opened for him to have future success in movies.

And its funny- the same thing that happened to Morris Chestnut after starring in Boyz in the Hood, happens to Larenz Tate.  The backlash of those 90's gangster/message movies, led to a small rise in more positive tales of the black experience. Tate gets a starring role in the film, The Inkwell, which also starred Morris Chestnut, as a coming of age tale for a black family on vacation in the 60's. Its well done, but not alot of eyeballs were put on it.

Inkwell is followed up by another Hughes Brothers movie, Dead Presidents.  Tate is the star of this movie; although many people will say its stolen from him by Chris Tucker.  In this movie, Tate plays an Army vet returning home from Vietnam with all the problems many veterans face when they return home.  He tries to make one big heist to take care of him and his family. It has tragic results, but probably one of the realest movie endings of all time.

The middling success of these movies have Tate on the ropes a bit, but he is going to score big in 1997 with Love Jones.  This movie, which also stars Nia Long is not a box office success, but a critical success and shows Black Love on film which is often overlooked in modern cinema. Tate plays Darius as a cool and sexy leading man and if he were white, you could've seen this role leading to many other leading man roles.   And even tho Love Jones is not a big money maker, it does open the doors for other films showing Black people in love, such as the much more successful Love and Basketball.

So check the box office on his leading man roles

Inkwell $8.8 million

Dead Presidents $24 million

Love Jones $12 million

Nothing really blows you away, but he was doing quality work.  He makes the mistake tho in an attempt to up his profile.  He signs on for a movie with an actor whose star is definitely on the descent. The Postman- Kevin Costner's apocalyptic mailman movie.  Tate plays Ford Lincoln Mercury... yep, that's right!  He is essentially the token black guy who survived the apocalypse in the future.  The movie is awful and Costner's career is reeling after Water World and this bomb drags Larenz Tate down with him.  

Then, in what I would assume was an Oscar bait attempt, Tate gets his last leading role in a major motion picture with Why Do Fools Fall in Love.  This movie is the Frankie Lymon biopic which had bigger goals than the actors who attempted to pull it off. Tate was way too old for the role of Frankie Lymon who was 13 when he hit major fame.  Then, the movie falls into a First Wives Club farce  about his estranged wives.  The movie is awful.  Full of some of the worst overacting you will ever see. It was more fit to be on Lifetime.  This movie also fails to register and in 1997, Larenz Tate disappears- for 3 years!

When Tate does resurface, there is a straight to video release of a movie, Love Came Down and then for the next 6 years, he does minor supporting roles in movies.  Some are big budget, others not so much.  He is in the Oscar winner Crash in one of the craziest opening scenes in a movie ever.  He also has a supporting role in Ray, in which Jamie Foxx wins an Oscar. There is also a movie with pseudo negro Vin Diesel and Biker Boyz- in which Derek Luke has replaced him as the young, angry black guy in movies.

After that, its a wrap for Larenz Tate as a movie star.  Since 2006, he has starred in guest roles on many tv shows that are critically acclaimed- mostly Rescue Me and House of Lies- but he has yet to be given the opportunity to make it back to feature movie star.

So what happened?  Probably more than anything this shows the razor thin line that Black actors and other people of color walk when choosing projects.  White actors are afforded the chance to make and fail different projects in tv, film and music and consistently be offered a 2nd or 3rd chance to get it right.  Black actors do not get that chance and if the project is a big enough failure, it damages their name/brand/career to various levels.  Larenz Tate is working and there is nothing wrong with that. But with his acting ability, charm, and good looks, he probably should've been a bigger star than what he became.

The Producer

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Please shut the fuck up!

So the trailer dropped for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story the other day.  Normally that would've been something I would've done  a trailer review for and all that but I didn't.  Honestly, as much as I loved The Force Awakens, I am wary of Disney churning out Star Wars movie annually. I do believe too much is too much sometimes and diluting Star Wars with excessive movies could turn it into Star Trek and I would hate to see that happen.

None the less, my issue was not the trailer.  It was the fan boy( white) reaction to the trailer.  Once again, just like the TFA, white, male fans are upset that the star and lead protagonist of this movie was not a white male.  Like much of the hate directed towards Ray and Finn, its based on the fact that they believe the new creators of these movies are diversifying Star Wars too much and its based on some racial bias against white males and pushing a feminist agenda.

Word? This is how you gonna play this?  Now I could dive into how ridiculous the argument is and how pushing one character does not diminish anything from previous characters or movies, but I'm not gonna do that. Or I could dive into this idea of believability of a movie with space ships and Wookies in it, but Im not gonna do that either. I am going to tell those fans to shut the fuck up visually!  Possibly they can only learn through pictures because reading is clearly not fundamental.

In the picture box below are the sci fi films from 2015- just last year and a box of the sci fi films for 2016. I took out superhero movies- which are also almost exclusively white males, but lets just see what the films of the last year and half look like in sci fi.

This is not a comprehensive list for 2015, but the movies are overwhelmingly white male fronted and if you have seen most of these movies, the lack of people of color in them is startling.  Oh but maybe it was just last year right?  Yeah because #OscarSoWhite?  look at the slate for 2016 thus far

So there is a wide variety of movies over the past 16 months and there are no people of color.  Like none!  Yes, there are a few franchises that have white female leads, but the overwhelming majority are white, male led movies. And this is just the last year and half. Do you really want to go back in time to see how many movies and franchises are led by white males?  Is your ego and masculinity so fragile that you are threatened by less than 2% of the movies being made being led by a female?  Get the fuck out of here with that bullshit!  If anyone should be upset, its people of color who are constantly overlooked or marginalized in sci fi.  And its even worse for females of color in this genre. I am still waiting for a Black female to have s significant role in Star Wars.  I mean its only been 30 plus years and 8 movies already.

So cry me some white male tears on this one.  The audacity to be upset that 2 movies of your beloved series is not fronted by a white dude.  Man, you got 6 movies of that from Star Wars already. Let some other people shine.  None of this takes away from Luke or Han or Annakin or Obi Won. See that, I just listed 4 main white heroes.  This is on top of Padme and Leia.  And you give me "Lando" or "Mace" I may smack you if we meet.  One person does not equal diversity!! Learn that shit! Live that shit! Love that shit! Its not like there are no white people in The Force Awakens or Rogue One and they are all not bad guys! Get over yourself!

I'm sorry, not sorry for the rant but nothing angers me more than ridiculous, unfounded rage.  You want to be upset, don't watch then.  Ban the movies, sign your petition to bring back George Lucas.  But remember, George is chilling in his mansion like this!

The Producer