Skip to main content

Spidey goes evil and his suit turns black. Hmmmm.

Yes, perhaps just a coincidence, 'cause there are only a couple of colors to depict a character's transformation to evil: black or green or red mostly, maybe even purple. But, the mega movie Spider Man 3 (which i will be seeing next weekend) exists in American history and in this same body of ideas, in the same society we have a history of casually identifying African-Americans and many other non-European/non-"white" people with the color black and also attributing negative human qualities to those people. So, given this history, is it somewhat insensitive to use a black suit to symbolize Spidey's turn towards the dark side? Probably. Specially when there doesn't seem to be any African-American or other dark skinned characters in heroic & positive & significant/major roles in Spidey 3? Yup, probably. But I guess the blame should go to the comic book, since Venom has always been depicted in that medium the way he is being depicted in Spidey 3. Didn't seem as noticeable or irritating in the comics though. On second thought, I'll skip Spidey 3, I'll be too distracted & annoyed by the black suit & possible tie to racism issue (& the lack of minority actors most likely - let me know if i am wrong on this one) to enjoy the flick & the popcorn, will save my $10-$20 for Pirates 3.

UPDATES:

New York Times' Manohla Dargis briefly questions the choice to use black to depict evil in Spidey 3: "Though there’s something dubious about the idea that black still conveys evil in our culture, pop or otherwise (tell it to Batman and Barack Obama, for starters),..." Read her full review here.

Chuck Tryon has a review of the movie here, definitely not very excited about seeing the movie after reading that, now that I know about all the problems in the flick.

- Sujewa

Full Movie - SNEAK PREVIEW - Cosmic Disco Detective Rene And The Mystery Of Immortal Time Travelers

NEW - COSMIC DISCO DETECTIVE RENE (2023) - TRAILER!

Popular Posts

Canon G60 daytime and nighttime test videos - excellent camcorder for indie filmmakers

 

Written notes/review plus live video review of By the Stream (2025) by Hong Sang-soo

By the stream review - from Lincoln Center, NYC viewing - no spoilers The hype is real - By the Stream is very good by Hong movies standards and also normal comedy-drama standards. There were like 30-40 people at Lincoln Center for the 1PM Fri 8/8/25 (opening day) screening of By the Stream.  People in that neighborhood are serious about their foreign films. Cinematography is very simple, from a canon XA small sensor HD cam, I could see familiar details, how those cams film the moon, scenes at night - it’s like a 1980s or 1990s early indie cinematography style that we do not see much these days - works well for Hong’s movies. No color grading, very simple video/cinematography. A more fleshed out movie than some recent Hong movies. In the movie a skit is prepped, and we actually get to see it performed. A couple of serious issues are discussed.  Some unexpected, light things happen. It’s a comedy-drama chill hangout movie w/ creative South Korean people - good times. Probably o...

Review - doing difficult things well - making a period movie about the early 1980s with teenagers - Blake Calhoun's CASEY MAKES A MIXTAPE

By Sujewa Ekanayake * Blake Calhoun is an experienced indie filmmaker - but, it's very difficult to do period movies well - movies set in another era - on a low indie film budget, and it can be difficult to have several teenagers in your cast as the main characters - to get great performances. Calhoun has managed to do both things well in his new movie CASEY MAKES A MIXTAPE. The early 1980s Texas in Calhoun's movie looks - and more importantly feels - believable.  Great cinematography and color grading work.  And his teen actors do a great job bringing their characters to life.   I think the movie is being promoted as a mainstream accessible, realistic, light comedy-drama.  And perhaps it is also being marketed to a teenage audience. But, as an old person in NYC, I found the movie to be almost an observational movie - documenting a summer in the life of the main character (played in a low key, somewhat dramatic, and overall an entertaining way by the excellent Presle...

Reading Material