Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/LanternsTVSeries/comments/1w3dacn/coming_from_a_black_man_the_outrage_on_episode_3/
HIGHLIGHTS
It’s such a weird phenomena with some dudes and digesting media. It’s like they short-circuit and reboot in defense mode the moment racial inequality is even mentioned. Its like we aren’t indicting you personally when we criticize a system; we know white people aren’t a monolith motherfucker, that recognition is built into the statement of “don’t treat us like one either”
Shit is ridiculous the “green lantern fans” ain’t true fans if they see this as such a big problem actually sad asf
This shot aint green lantern
It’s okay to have not read the comics g, this is in fact, very green lantern though!
I’m not a long term fan when I was in high school I read most of Geoff johns run and was blown away by the colourful space epics. Remind me fella was the ever a comic where John Stewart shagged an older lady or one where hal was shot in the head from the get go.
There’s no Rachel in the Batman comics. I guess the Dark Knight isn’t Batman. Your point is stupid and betrays that you don’t get the medium of comics. There is no bible. Geoff John’s run is “Geoff John’s run” because it’s his interpretation of this universe. That is and will always be how these stories work. Your favorite interpretation doesn’t get ruined by the inevitable retcons of a future one because it fucking exists and stands on its own merits … the stories are amendable by design… people buy comics for new interpretations not to see the same interpretation regurgitated by a different illustrator…
The point about Rachel is ass even tho I don’t like that char in the dark knight, Bruce Wayne has many flings across the mediums. Is my point stupid tho? Johns run i only brought up because me reading the books was called into question, but its something that’s quintessentially green lantern so much so it’s existing part of lore going forward(like the bible). johns run gave us all the different lantern corps and fleshed it out and explored, a well of creativity to be tapped from and the best we can manage is shitty cw true detective with a green lantern skin. It’s bs because this will be many potential fans first experience with this ip and it’s another fumble. And because it’s just fail after fail they’ll just bury it and we won’t get to see some of the truly amazing stories worth telling
Ah yes it’s “quintessentially green lantern” to “not fuck older women” and “not get shot in the head”. Truly astute point. I’ll have to check the DC hero’s omnibus for that biblical knowledge of yours
This is disgusting behavior. If you lost a hand and I lost an arm, we are both entitled to treatment. Im not going to complain about you asking for medical treatment just because I lost more. Im not going to argue that you shouldnt get treatment because I believe I deserve it more. You're here trying to create enemies when we should be allies seeking a future where we're treated better together.
Dude has a valid point, though. He’s not trying to invalidate or nullify black people’s struggles. He’s just saying that in the grand scheme of things, there should be equity; because as little as black people have in America, natives have even less. He’s basically, I think, saying that y’all are focusing on the wrong thing when you focus on the “outrage” over episode 3 of Lanterns. At least y’all got that episode. That’s at least some type of progress and recognition of Black history and struggle. There’s no Native American lantern for there to be a whole episode on how centuries of genocide and subjugation made their cultural experience relevant to be chosen as a lantern. Choosing to focus on the reaction of a bunch of incel racists instead of being content that you get this kind of representation in media is what’s wrong. Some cultures don’t even get that.
"Dude has a valid point, though. He’s not trying to invalidate or nullify black people’s struggles" He literally is going black people dont have that bad, native Americans have it worse! How is that not invalidating or nullifying black people's struggle. He just said black people are essentially white people. Are we reading the same guy?
I think the dude is just getting overheated and saying shit that’s getting misconstrued. He has a point in saying that Native Americans don’t have as much representation in the US socially, culturally, and politically. That’s pretty much a fact. His argument is basically “Y’all complaining about the racist reactions to the cultural representation black folk are getting. Shit, I wish we had any kind of representation for racists to get angry about. Racists getting angry about too many native stories in superhero media would be nice.” I’m not saying everything he says is right. I’m just saying, representation matters. Native Americans get almost zero and it makes sense for him to be upset when black people focus on how their representation is received by white folk instead of rejoicing at the fact that their people and culture are being seen and heard.
I never said he didn't have a point, him going "black people actually dont have it that bad" is the problem. We are literally in a thread where people are throwing their hands in the air because they see a black man on screen. 😂
Sure. But what he’s getting at is “at least there’s a black person on screen. We don’t even get that 🤷🏽♂️”
All right yal right. We dont have it that bad, at least we get to be on TV!
I mean, we are talking about a superhero tv show, right?
The fact that some people are taking John’s mom’s words as fact is ridiculous, they’ve shown throughout the episode that his parents are insane, especially his mother. Also from what I understand, in the comics Hal wasn’t even the first choice for the ring either or even the second.
I mean yes and no. They've shown that they are obsessed with making John a Lantern. But the show hasn't done anything to critique the racist views they espouse, if anything, we've seen them parroted a few times by other characters.
a kid crying in his bed is not a critique? The show is exploring the characters, im sure we are setting up issues to be addressed in a later date.
Did you just see that one scene? The entire premise of the last episode is John's parents feel the ring was basically systemically racist because white people are less scared than black people, and the show has presented that narrative without a counterpoint thus far. I agree, its part of the set up, but I think people are frustrated because the narrative the parents are pushing is similar to the narrative a lot of modern media pushes, it's a rough episode to stop and wait a week on.
Lol, no
Media literacy is dead.
It's turned into what fits an agenda.
You can read and learn and critic on your own. it needs to come from you. the rest is propaganda.
Interesting, nothing they have shown the parents doing comes across as insane. Only people trying to change the status quo and using themselves and children as means to do so
Yep shooting apples off your kid's head is totally sane.
You want aliens and humans to have the same idea of sanity?
What? Are John's parents not humans? I get the idea behind "We have to do terrible things to make our kid capable of survival" (Which in John's case wasn't necessary in the slightest.) but to call their training sane is ludicrous.
Are you even watching the show? Everything his parents are doing is to get the aliens to recognize him as a worthy candidate for being Green Lantern. Wanting more for your children and giving people of your race something to look up too isn't insane even if the methods to do so might be seen that way
Yeah and they are doing it in an insane way. Not to the Guardians maybe. But to us, as viewers abusing your kid to get them on the Guardians' shortlist is insane full stop. Did the apple stuff even come up in John's interview? NO! Because it wasn't even relevant to the Guardians, they cared much more about the fact that John is willing to be their lapdog in exchange for the ring.
No they are taking drastic measures to create someone who won't back down in the face of fear like his father did, nothing insane about that. Viewing the show only as a viewer will limit your ability to have deeper discussions about said show in the future
You're still not talking about my point of privilege existing and the effect it has on people.
there is no privilege, the ring doesn’t recognize privilege.. the mother does because she is playing the race card.. the process is not flawed the human construct of race is flawed..
so are the people selected because they wore green not privileged?
I’m not following your point..
The green shirt scenario was describing how circumstances create privilege. It's meant to mirror how circumstances can make you someone who can say you're not afraid.
There is no circumstances, the ring doesn’t recognize it.. only humans construct circumstances.. the whole show is about how green lanterns have the ability to change reality through their abilities to construct.. humans construct a reality through their perception.. perception it’s not reality..
Human constructs and society and the effect they have on people are real. The ring isn't looking for white people, but it is looking for something white people have been granted access to and black people don't. The comfort and safety to society grants people to not be able to not be afraid or the green shirts if you will. (32 more comments of these two arguing)
It’s honestly baffling how many fundamentally just don’t get it. Like holy fuck no shit we’re at where we’re at in 2026 — these people can’t even grasp what privilege really means or what white privilege is, they just take immediate ignorant offense and that’s that. Y’all
What is privileged about a child watching his father die in an explosion?
This privilege was stated by someone who was born under actual racial segregation and grew up her entire life seeing black people fail via the system put in place by "white" people turn on them, so that's the lens that she was speaking to the Guardian through.
I think the reason people put a lot of weight behind it is after John's mom says it... The Guardian agrees. Which does sort of legitimize the idea. If the Guardian said "The ring seeks out only those capable of overcoming their greatest fears regardless of the color of their skin." And if John's mom still had issues then fine. The audience can chalk it up to her being a bit jaded and skeptical due to her experiences. But the Guardian agreeing with her does come off a bit heavy handed imo.
I saw it as the Guardian acknowledging that them not noticing human fears would be different across social lines - thus the test being the same for everyone wouldnt be exactly fair.
Thus the issue. The test was fair, are there issues that African Americans face that others do not? Yes, does losing your father at a young age in front of you in a tramatic accident compare? Maybe, maybe not. But the ring is meant to find people capable of overcoming those fears. John Sr. was not.
The ring in the comics is more about overcoming your fears. You can be "scared" of something, realize it, absorb it, and work around it, and thats stronger than just not being scared of stuff. The initial test in the show is shown as flawed in itself. Thatd how you get a Guy Gardner, where he has no fear because hes dumb and deludededly cocky, for instance. Thats why raising John to have zero fear whatsoever would also normally result in an extremely flawed person. Someone who has justified fears but works around them and in spite of them would be a better Lantern, and thats probably where the show is going.
Seems kind of like lazy writing honestly. Deal with the racial issues, sure. But lines like “Hal Jordan was privileged enough to live in a world without fear.” Dudes a freaking fighter jet test pilot. Definitely had to overcome fear. It just seems like they are making the whole issue with the Stuart family is that a white guy got chosen. Specifically the mom. Maybe she’s just supposed to be like that though.
They don’t know what’s Hal been through it’s all from their prospective and they don’t know what’s he’s done to earn the ring it all goes back to their struggles it’s makes sense
There’s no problem with the parents thinking that. The problem is show is saying the parents are correct. Also, its pretty damn racist of a black man to conclude that a black man cant be fearless.
The show does not say the parents are correct. The show literally tells you that Hal's fearlessness comes from loss, not privilege.
When? name the time stamp.
They're referring to Hal's 60 Minutes interview that John watches in 1996.
There’s 2 conflicting narratives then. The Stewart family believes its because of white privilege. Hal believes its from loss. We gotta pick one