‘Captain America: Brave New World’ Star Anthony Mackie Unintentionally Torpedoes Hollywood’s Representation Arguments, Says His Younger Self Looked Up To Superman’s “Character” Despite Differences In Skin Color
In undercutting the popular Hollywood narrative that audiences can only connect with and feel properly ‘represented’ by characters who share their exact physical qualities, Captain America: Brave New World star Anthony Mackie has revealed that Superman was one of his favorite childhood heroes due not to a shared skin color – obviously – bur rather out of an admiration for “the integrity of the character”.
Mackie offered this ostensibly unintentional counter-argument regarding Western entertainment’s constant obsession with exclusively surface level representation while speaking to Collider‘s Garrett Blaney as part of the press tour for the aforementioned Brave New World.
Asked for his thoughts on the “cultural significance” of a ‘Black Captain America’ making their silver screen debut, the actor asserted, “I think just anyone taking up the mantle of Captain America, there’s a huge responsibility that comes along with that.”
“And my responsibility is not just to Black kids,” he added. “It’s very important for Latino kids to look up and see a Black Captain America. It’s very important for white kids to look up and see a Black Captain America.”
It was at this point in the interview that Mackie recalled his relevant anecdote.
Attempting to explain that the ‘importance’ of children being introduced to a non-white version of the Star-Spangled Avenger was to help them understand that a hero is defined by their values rather than their appearance, the actor then told Blaney, “When I was a kid, one of my favorite superheroes was Superman.”
“And I’d never been to the planet Superman was from,” he said. “I never, you know, could be a white dude. But watching him, the integrity of the character made me want to put a sheet around my neck and fly around the house.”
“So it’s about what’s inside you,” concluded the MCU star. “It’s about that idea of, when you see it, and you aspire to it, it’s the beauty of humanity that answers that question, not the symbol or the emblem and what you want to put on it. I think, you know, there are problems all over the world. You know, and I think the beauty of mankind is what will fix them.”
As noted above, there exists a very strong brand of ‘representation rhetoric’ in the Western entertainment industry that claims audiences members cannot, or at the very least will have immense trouble, connecting or identifying with any character that does not look exactly like them.
However, as evidenced by Mackie, such thinking ignores the fact that more often than not, diverse crowd members are able and happy to identify with the actual character of a given hero, as human connections are built on emotional and mental foundations rather than purely superficial ones.
In other words, more non-white people will identify with the humanity Spider-Man than the skin color of a generic, corporate marketing gimmick like the new Asian Iron Fist Lin lee, who has no real personality due his character having to remain in ‘neutral standing’ with consumers just in case Marvel wants to use him for a given merchandising opportunity.
All in all, whether Marvel and Disney’s own upcoming representation gamble pays off will ultimately be revealed when Captain America: Brave New World flies into theaters on February 14th.
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