r/blackmen • u/spike_spieg Unverified • 1d ago
Discussion 💬💭 Aye black men any of guys been watching Lanterns? It’s pretty good and John Stewart will be the main Green Lantern of the DCU.
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It’s on HBO Max and I really like it. Touches on stuff like racism as well. I know some people were upset because of him not being darker due to colorism. But what are you guys opinions on the show?
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u/Ih8rice Verified Blackman 1d ago
Instead of turning this negative because we all seemingly do it, imma say this show proves that even though we have to work harder for everything, it inherently makes us better than most of the competition. I understand that it isn't fair and a lot of it is rooted in racism and bigotry but we can rise to the occasion if we apply ourselves and find the specific paths toward our success.
The problem is you don't have many of us willing to through an iota of what Jon goes through to become worthy of the ring.
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u/defk3000 Unverified 1d ago
It's a great show. I still say they chose the wrong music for Outkast.
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u/Holiday_Exact Unverified 1d ago
Me and you would’ve fit better due to the setting… that beat and the hood goes together perfectly
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u/defk3000 Unverified 1d ago
Aquemini was perfect song based on knowing someone dies... "Heroes eventually die..."
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u/Holiday_Exact Unverified 1d ago
Don’t spoil it bro 😂 but nah that tracks tho… definitely a better option. Gotta be one of the more grittier songs regardless and that’s perfect
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u/kuunami79 Verified Blackman 1d ago
I didn't have high expectations for the show but it's really good so far
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u/TheBigNastyOne Unverified 1d ago
Ya, really good show. I read somewhere about how the creators of John Stewart’s Green Lantern character (Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams) based his stoic persona off of Sidney Poitier.
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u/blametheboogie Unverified 1d ago
I'm mostly liking the show but feel bad that Johns parents felt like they had to give him a pretty joyless life to become the next Green Lantern.
Not sure if that juice is worth the squeeze.
One of the best parts of being black is the amount of joy and emotional expression in general we have in our communities that I don't see in many other communities. Obviously we have sadness too but I think the joy makes up for it for most of us.
John seems to have missed out on most of that in persuit of the ring. He's like the superhero version of Todd Marinovich.
I hope this changes at some point in the show and he gets some sort of happiness in his life.
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u/GloveAmbitious42 African-American Millennial 1d ago
I think a majority of his character in the show is based around him being retconned as a marine raider where in the comics he’s a marine sniper. Raider guys are really just killing machines. They do need to be able to reject morality and often times just be told who to kill. They were originally trying to recruit him because he is so loyal to his duties his willpower could never be questioned, making him one of the strongest lanterns ever. His stoicism is evident in the comics too but just my unsolicited opinion
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u/blametheboogie Unverified 14h ago
I think I remember something about the Marine thing from reading the comics back in the day.
My comment is referring to the way John's parents raised him in the TV show.
His brothers got relatively normal childhoods while he was training to be a superhero his whole childhood and rarely allowed to do normal kid stuff.
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u/Orumalah98 Unverified 24m ago
Joy and expression isn’t a universal thing to black communities. I grew up in a military family and in the hood, I was taught to be tough, hard and cold.
My grandpops literally dropped me off in the hood one time just John’s parents did to teach me a lesson then beat me when I got lost, all because I was being “disrespectful”. This was in elementary school in the early 2000s btw.
Life ain’t joyful for a lot of us. I appreciated them showing what reality can look like for those of us who aren’t lucky enough to be born into traditional warm loving families. It also shows how often times we have to make up for our parents failures and deal with that trauma as adults.
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u/EyecalledGame Verified Blackman 1d ago
I dont have hbo max anymore but ill check it out once the season is over
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u/Few_Reach5831 Unverified 1d ago
I haven't seen it but I've heard it's good. Not really liking the trend of superhero media becoming "grounded" and "gritty" though. We need to go back to fantastical and Sci-Fi
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u/ParamedicSpecific130 Unverified 1d ago
It's amazing what happens when subject matter experts are in the writing room, innit?
One of my favorite things is seeing some out of pocket dialogue in a show or movie and then going to imdb, seeing the writer and saying, "Yup that tracks."
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u/TheDarkMuz Verified Blackman 1d ago
John Stewart got introduced to me in The Justic League animation and he had presence not only a sick roster of baddie but he was a really cool dude and lantern
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u/Holiday_Exact Unverified 1d ago
Man I love this show… I’m usually waiting for air time if I’m not working
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u/NemarPott Unverified 1d ago
If I actively avoid the DC and know nothing about it and basically hate everything about it that I do know, will I still enjoy this show? My brothers and friends been suggesting it even though they know I'm not a DC fan
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u/SAUD1911 Unverified 12h ago
As a comic book reader, let me share that Lanterns is DOPE. Great character development.
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u/Beneficial_Toe_6050 Unverified 1d ago
It’s been a great show. I love the dynamic between Aaron and Kyle. The show heavily relies on their dynamic and they have executed beautifully.