Can You Save Me?: Black Male Superheroes in Film

Film is an important component of society and works to influence how Blacks are viewed and constructed in the world. Today, as in the past, media are spaces of struggle over power and meaning in our culture as well as mediums where dominant power relations are reproduced. American cinema has normalized Whiteness of superheroes in action films, classic examples of which include Superman, Spider-Man, and Batman. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Black superheroes were constructed in films. This project used the Afrocentric approach as a lens to uncover moments when films play on the unconscious adoption of Western worldviews and perspectives on race and gender roles. This analysis included Black superheroes’ appearance, bodies, actions, histories, language, purposes and missions, performance of their duties, and positionalities in the community, which is important to add to literature focusing on stereotypical representations of Black males and masculinity.