Then there’s Emmy Award winner Mr. Elister Larry Wilmore. He’s known better as Larry Wilmore, an actor, a comedian, magician, media critic, political commentator, producer, television host of The Nightly Show, and a writer. Evidently he can’t hold down a job and he might be looking for a new one soon due to the furor resulting from his ill conceived comment that is being called “just a joke”.  This past weekend at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Mr. Wilmore used a racial slur in referring to President Barack Obama. The President, in turn for what Mr. Wilmore called him in public, is being accused of being a hypocrite for not criticizing Mr. Wilmore for his actions.

President Obama is not only the one on the spot. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest was put in the uncomfortable position of trying to downplay the racial slur thrown at President Obama stating: “Comedians are going to go right up to the line” and that the President “appreciated [Mr. Wilmore’s] sentiments”. Yeah sure; depending if that comedian is a close enough friend to say what he said to President Obama in front of a packed televised room,  otherwise the First Amendment of a comedian saying that word all of a sudden doesn’t apply. Don’t believe me? Ask Michael Richards who played the character Kramer on “Seinfeld” when he said the N-Word. It was practically career suicide for him.

People of all color and across the political spectrum were shocked by Mr. Wilmore’s statement. Reporters, politicians, even Reverend Al Sharpton was left appalled. He usually jumps at things like this to cause protests or raise money for his organization.  What could he say or do when the President laughed along with Mr. Wilmore when Larry Wilmore  turned to President Obama (at his last White House Correspondent’s Annual Dinner as President of The United States no less) and said: “Yo, Barry, you did it my n*gga”??  You could’ve heard a pin drop when he said that.  I mean seriously, where is Reverend Al Jackson going to protest on this one? Where is he going to march? Yes, an element of comedy is shock, but that’s on film or stage, not directed at the leader of the free world, especially when he is the first President of the United States of America who isn’t white and especially when his presidency is stained with racial divisiveness. This is a real life black President of the USA, he is NOT the black sheriff of Blazin’ Saddles.

What’s even more shocking is that Mr. Wilmore beat his chest when he said it to the President and President Obama smiled back and hit his own chest. As a reminder, President Obama received a lot of flack when HE himself used the infamous “N-Word” in an interview last year and then he continued guilting the nation and the world about racism, racism, and more racism–and there he is grinning and beating his chest in response to Mr. Wilmore’s statement. This is the man who won the Emmy Award for writing the pilot episode of The Bernie Mac show?

‘Merica, he couldn’t come up with a better line than: “Yo, Barry, you did it my n*gga”?

When he finally addressed the issue of why he said what he did, he said that he considered The White House Correspondent’s Annual Dinner as a roast. The kind you see at the Friar’s Club or the old Dean Martin Roast, or the ones on Comedy Central lately. “You got to see how we interact when we’re not there. This is how we do it. And this is a word that has been used against black people for so long,” he said. “I was called a n—er several times as a child. I’ve heard that word. To defuse that and to use it in a way of camaraderie, and to take the power out of it in that moment is something that meant a lot to me personally.”

President Obama has roughly 7 months left in his presidency. This is just another unfortunate incident that will be remembered in his final year. Many feel racism is alive and thriving in the USA but let’s not gloss over something that’s in our face as much as racism presumably. The nation voted in an African-American in not once, but twice. That’s something to build on.

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Jessica Jones is based on Marvel Comics’ Max line of adult themed comics. The Netflix version of her is the  typical example of the creative world today: take the stereotypical male model of a character and change the sex. Viola! Instant “new and fresh” character, unrecognizable to those who don’t read a book. Seriously, her private investigator persona is your typical male stock character: the private investigator of film noir from the 1940s. The hard edged, financially broke, investigator with secrets and skeletons in the closet, who gets into fights, lives in a dump, drinks like a lush, and falls for the obligatory attractive love interest. With her jet black hair and porcelain white skin, she looks like she stepped out of a black and white film. The only difference is that she has a superpower, she has super strength. Physical super strength that is because emotionally she is a wreck who would rather drink and run than fight.

The show is full of strong female characters both gay and straight: the super powered Jones, her friend with a popular radio program who can also beat up men, a heart broken doctor, a high powered attorney; and meanwhile all the men are crap. Roll call: Rueben is mentally ill, Malcolm’s a drug addict, and Simpson is a weak demented version of Steve Rogers (“Captain America”) who needs red, white, and blue pills (how corny) to continue his clandestine special ops civic duties. Then there’s Detective Clemons, the black cop who is more concerned about coasting his job instead of getting involved with Jones’ manhunt for the villain Kilgrave because Detective Clemons is just two years from retirement–wait a sec, that sounds a lot like Danny Glover’s Lethal Weapon character doesn’t it? Ah well, and there’s Kilgrave who Jones accuses of using his powers of persuasion to rape her physically, emotionally, etc. The man-hating behavior & dialogue is blatant. In regards to Kilgrave, Jones wants to “cut his balls off”, she teases him that he “can’t get it up”, and that he has a “Slim Jim” in his pants.  They’ll probably get nominated for an Emmy Award for best writing in a series.

The role revision continued with the obligatory love interest, Luke Cage, POWER MAN. Yes, the guy who went toe to toe with The Fantastic Four’s Thing and other powerhouses in Marvel Comics comic books is the eye-candy client in distress needing help to track down a kid; and what were the odds that Jessica Jones would fall in love with Luke Cage the husband of the woman she killed? Pretty much in her favor in a poorly written plot.  Cage himself didn’t play that much of a part in this series. This was not the way to introduce Cage to the world; he should have premiered on the upcoming Iron Fist Netflix series as a rival on some mission and had a big fight with Fist. It really bugged me because Cage is one of my three favorite Marvel Comics characters (the other two being Captain America and  Prince Namor–who Marvel Comics killed off after 76 years. Thanks a lot Marvel!) I would have much preferred a Luke Cage/Iron Fist film set in the 1970s. It would have been perfect. A killer 1970s soundtrack, and a film paying homage to the martial art films and other genres of 70s movies with wit and humor. The dirty and run down look of 1970s Time Square in New York.  With the eclectic Quentin Tarantino at the helm of the movie, or Robert Rodriguez with his grind house style of storytelling , either director would have done a fine job directing that type of film. Nope, I got Luke Cage as eye-candy for a chick-flick type of a streaming series on Netflix.

The fight scenes were pretty cheesy in comparison to the ones choreographed in the Daredevil series,  which is the superior Marvel series on Netflix so far. Jones and Cage were mostly tossing bodies around like Lou Ferrigno’s Hulk did back in the 1970s.  One hopes that the same stuntmen and choreographer on Daredevil will be utilized on Netflix’s Iron Fist, or at least professionals of the same caliber. This is a live action show; it’s not a play. There was dialogue, too much of it. Flashbacks were used but not for the most important part: there should have been a flashback or at least dialogue over the flashback as narration when Luke Cage was opening up to Jessica Jones about where he’s from and how he became “near indestructible”. It’s live-action: SHOW it, don’t TALK it. If I wanted talk I’d go watch a play at my local theatre; if you’re going to fight, FIGHT. If they didn’t want to show his origin on this show then they should have not used him. It’s an injustice to the fans of Cage and to those who are just learning who he is from watching this show.

The saving grace of this first season of Jessica Jones is Scottish actor David Tennant.  The popular and critically acclaimed performer well known for his fantastic turn as the 10th Doctor of the BBC’s classic science fiction series Doctor Who. The thespian Tenant (hey, he performs regularly for the Royal Shakespeare Company for sooth’s sake) took on the role of the demented villain Kilgrave, a sinister, selfish master of mind control who can possess anyone, anytime, anywhere..even groups of people. A former love interest of Jones, whom she eventually kills (“Spoilers!” to quote Doctor Who). Yep, they went and killed off the most interesting character of the first season who is played by a great actor.

Jessica Jones is getting a second season. Hopefully she will exhibit less angst and less self hatred, and cut guys some slack. She probably won’t wear the superhero costume she wears in the comic books; her confidant showed it to her and Jones rejected it so it looks like her costume will remain blue jeans and black leather jacket– a Fonzie approved fashion if there ever was one.

Although rumors are rampant, the villain for season 2 has not been confirmed as of yet. It’ll be interesting to see where the character goes from here.

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