The theory goes that film and television roles such as Dennis Haysbert's turn as a charismatic and effective African-American president on the Fox network show, 24, made it just a little bit possible to imagine a black president. It is a persuasive argument, though made ironic by the rumours that 24 was also used as a primer for torture techniques by Dick Cheney and his band of evil cohorts. One wonders what Fox News makes of the supposition that its own network helped elect a Democrat.
Both the CBC segment and the NY Times article travel back to the 60's, highlighting the ground-breaking roles of Sidney Poitier in "The Heat of the Night" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner". Both also brought up the Bill Cosby vehicle, "The Huxtables", which portrayed a black man as an average (albeit upper-middle-class doctor with a gorgeous wife and precocious family) father-knows-best lives-in-the-suburbs American.
The NY Times also had a picture of Richard Pryor which is less persuasive. His brilliant, socially-skewering humour was somewhat overshadowed by the tragedies of his life. It might have also mentioned Chris Rock's role as an American president, which was probably as influential as Bill Pullman's interpretation as the lantern-jawed, fighter-pilot leader-of-the-free-world. Right.
Speaking of Independence Day, Will Smith merited a mention for creating a niche as the American hero icon who has African roots. Yet, there was no mention of Denzel Washington who is the most accomplished actor of his generation. Perhaps he should have portrayed Muhammad Ali instead of Malcolm X.
And then there's James Earl Jones, who played the voice of Dick Cheney (sorry, Darth Vader) in one of the most popular film series of all time. Perhaps that's not an illuminating example, either.
