Barnabas File

 " You think things are different? You think times are different? … They will never let a Black man be Captain America. And even if they did, no self-respecting Black man would ever wanna be.—Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) Perhaps these are the defining lines of dialogue in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier mini-series that concluded on Disney+ this week.  I think all of us knew that Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) would eventually take on the role of Captain America, but the series challenged us to consider the hurdles to this conclusion:  Sam’s own reluctance to accept the shield from Steve Rogers after being his backup through several films; the expectations both of the public and the government about the Cap heritage; the treatment of Bradley, a Black Captain America, in the Korean War era; and the possible reluctance of a Black American to become the symbol of a nation that still struggles with systemic racism.   Marvel was not subtle about those themes in t...

Although The Avengers has been out for several weeks, I just had the opportunity to take my 13 year old grandson to see it this past weekend.  I must admit that my expectations were low despite all the hype.  This anticipated ensemble piece bringing together Iron Man (Tony Stark), Thor, Captain America (Steve Rogers), the Hulk (Bruce Banner) as well as Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff) and Hawkeye (Clint Barton) could have been a disappointment akin to John Carter , but it works.  Thanks to the creativity and vision  of director/writer Josh Whedon and solid performances of all involved  (including an established supporting cast), the movie is everything that a good summer popcorn movie should be—distracting, visually impressive, and entertaining. The beauty of the film is that Whedon gives each character enough screen time to be personally interesting and adequate action time to show off their individual powers or skills.  He shows what happens when ...