Batman v. Superman v. Racism (Spoiler Free, Superhero fans!)

Already this class is starting to impact the way in which I critically think about how race is portrayed in media, and I'm so happy that it is! A few of us have posted blogs about Daredevil, Punisher, Spider-Man, and other superhero incarnations, discussing the role that race plays in each of these character's narratives and how altering their race might affect their storylines and fan-base. But as I sat in the movie theater last night watching the recently released Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, a few things puzzled me.

Despite the lead characters all being white (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Lex Luthor, Lois Lane, etc.), it is also interesting to note that most (if not all) of the non-white actors play minor characters that seem to eerily fall within Stuart Hall's three characteristics of "race"-based power relations as outlined in his essay, "The Whites of their Eyes."

To refresh your memory, the three characteristics are defined thusly:

1) The Slave Figure; dependable, simple, devoted, but also unreliable and unpredictable
2) The Native; primitive nobility and simple dignity, or savage and barbaric
3) The Clown; we either are laughing at or laughing with them

Now, these characteristics are incredibly controversial, and I am not suggesting that all three exist in Batman v Superman in their simplest forms, otherwise we certainly would be hearing public outrage, but as Hall states:

"These particular versions may have faded. But their traces are still to be observed, reworked in many of the modern and up-dated images. And though they may appear to carry a different meaning, they are often still constructed on a very ancient grammar."

I am suggesting, however, that the traces can be observed in the vast majority of the non-white characters featured in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Below are the examples that I made note of and the characteristic that best defines how their characters are portrayed, as defined by Stuart Hall.

• The Slave Figure:

Once again, I will be careful to avoid spoilers for all you superhero fans, but among the very small group of minority characters featured in Batman v Superman is Lex Luthor's assistant and a group of captured women being held in a basement of a Gotham criminal. Both the assistant and the group of women all appear to be of Asian descent, and represent what Hall would describe as a "trace," of "The Slave Figure." Luthor's assistant has maybe two spoken lines of dialogue, but otherwise does all of Luthor's bidding obediently and without any protest. The women being held in the basement are "slaves," of a different variety entirely, literally being held as slaves against their will. 

• The Native:

At the start of the movie, there is a battle scene involving Superman and a terrorist group in the Middle East. Here, we see the characteristic of "The Native," in the form of the "savage," and that an outside force of good must come in and stop the spread of evil.

• The Clown: 

Finally, the third characteristic can be seen in Laurence Fishburne's portrayal of Daily Planet editor Perry White. White is the movie's one consistent source of comic relief from the overarching drama throughout the narrative, and I found it curious that this singular source of humor seemed to stem directly from Fishburne's sarcastic and heightened delivery of the lines.


Now, of course, I believe these tropes to be unintentional and examples more of inferential racism than overt, but it still was fascinating to see these characteristics show up in such a recent film. Thankfully, in the not-too-distant future, DC superhero movies yet-to-come are slated to include more diversity among their superheroes and villains, so it should be interesting to see if these characteristics still remain present in these storylines, or if they vanish entirely.