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Dwayne Johnson has a way, and he's been upset. In fact, it's a lucrative path: the affable star of action has earned a lot of money because she is an affable action star.
But on Tuesday, with the announcement of his latest project, an adaptation of African-American folk hero John Henry, Dwayne's "The Rock" Johnson committed a heinous offense.
As reported by CBS News, the reception of Johnson, a light-skinned half-breed, playing an undeniably black American folk legend, was at best incredulous.
Johnson's legacy is not entirely a mystery: he comes from a line of legendary fights that includes the legendary Samoan wrestler Peter Maiva (his grandfather) and Dwayne's father, Rocky Johnson. Dwayne Johnson himself celebrated his father's groundbreaking career as a black wrestler who "broke the color barriers" in the business.
But recognizing black heritage is not the same thing as identifying yourself as a black man – and Johnson never publicly told him. Even more relevant, Johnson's racial ambiguity has been characteristic of many of his roles, which have rarely seen him explicitly portray a black man (and to this end, part of a black family).
Which brings us to John Henry. Johnson has never lacked charisma, and certainly has the type of body that one would attribute to the legend. But John Henry – the legendary man with steel behavior who literally worked to death – is not an ambiguous black character. It has not been described as such – many Twitter users have noted that Henry was often described as having dark skin. Previous adaptations of the movie of the star legend Danny Glover (in the TV series, The tales and legends of Shelley Duvall) and Roger Aaron Brown (in the Disney movie of 1995 Great story).
And that does not fit into the cultural context of the legend of John Henry, who, according to research, would be based on a true railway worker. According to one theory, John Henry was a former Union soldier jailed for theft (probably, illegally) while he was working in the South. "Henry" was rented, along with other inmates, to the brutal task of building railroads. A more accurate way of thinking about this would be to do de facto forced labor. Knowing that the framing deepens the resonance of the story, and frankly, any major adaptation deserves a team of actors and directors capable of exploiting this complexity. As it stands, the project will be led by Johnson Jumanji director, Jake Kasdan.
Yesterday, Twitter users have floated actors like spawnMichael Jai White, Luke CageMike Colter, and Black PantherWinston Duke as an actor more apt to play John Henry. Others have said that they would like the leading role to come to an unknown, rather than a man who can already order about $ 20 million for a movie.
The choice of Johnson's words does not reassure many by explaining to him the importance of John Henry's legend, especially for a black audience. He shared the news of the film on his Instagram account, where he hinted that the film would feature a collective of international folk heroes, with John Henry in the lead.
"The legend of JOHN HENRY's strength, endurance, dignity, and cultural pride has been embedded in my DNA from an early age. My father used to sing "Big John" every time he put me to bed, "said Johnson. Nowhere in the message has Henry's darkness been explicitly mentioned.
The same goes for a statement made by Johnson to Variety regarding the project. Once again, Johnson emphasized the intercultural and global appeal of the film, losing all sorts of specificity about John Henry's legend:
"Netflix is the perfect partner and platform to continue to entertain our global audience in a disturbing way," Johnson said. "These different characters testify to a narrative legacy more relevant than ever and affecting a global audience, regardless of age, gender, race or geography."
Johnson is perfect: movies about dinosaurs, movies about capers in the jungle, movies with everything about vehicles that sneak into various landscapes.
But it's not that.
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