Culture
Athena’s ‘Heroes in Color’ series aims to expand audiences’ film palates and spotlight positive representation in film
By: Dawnelle Blake
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — For the past three years, Dr. Gordon Briggs and Brandon Thompson have spotlighted diverse, hero-centered films through their Heroes in Color series at the Athena Cinema (20 South Court Street) each February.
This isn’t just any collection of movies, though.
The series focuses on films that present people of color as complex heroes—moving beyond the stereotypical portrayals of slavery, struggle, or caricature that have often defined films with marginalized casts or leads.
“Sometimes when we show African Americans, we show them as stereotypes or as victims,” Briggs said. “Now, don’t get me wrong, stories about slavery and civil rights are important. I enjoy those movies. However, that’s not the only game out there.”
Representation for Black people in film has significantly improved since the ‘80s and ‘90s. Briggs mentioned that just shy of 2020, films like Black Panther and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse began to crop up, which finally marked a period of heroic, strong, and valiant representation.
“[…] We started to get a more diverse selection of heroes, but it didn’t seem like anyone was putting them together,” he said.
This is what prompted Briggs and Thompson to begin organizing Heroes in Color.
“[In] 2020, when everybody was in lockdown, we wanted to do something for a while, and I had this idea of showing Blade and either Black Panther or just Spider-verse,” said Thompson. “I really felt that showing two of those movies together would, A – bring out an audience, but B – allow us to have a conversation with people of color, because those three movies are, I think, amazing representations of people of color.”
The series has already shown films like Blade, Blade II, Black Panther, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Black Dynamite in the past. Films like these achieve Briggs’ and Thompson’s goals of highlighting diverse stories through action-packed narratives that serve as strong representations of marginalized communities.
“I think it’s good to have an idealized image of who you can be, both physically, mentally, and as far as community goes,” Briggs said. “I think it’s a good chance to portray people [who’ve] traditionally been marginalized in a positive light.”
Briggs and Thompson go back and forth debating what films to show. The film selection debate can lead all the way up to the pitch to The Athena.
Films are chosen with many different criteria in mind. How much do Briggs and Thompson enjoy these films? Do they serve an educational purpose? Is it entertaining? Does it contribute to a balanced film selection? Most importantly, is it available?
Though films like Black Panther and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse set a standard for representation, they weren’t the first to feature heroic depictions of marginalized, specifically Black, leads.
Many films are “Black famous”, as Thompson puts it, meaning they are staples in the Black community or at least have mainly Black followings, but aren’t known on a mainstream stage. This series brings some lesser-known movies to the forefront for audiences who’ve never experienced them, so that they can learn about them. One way the series accomplishes this is by incorporating pre-film trivia.
“There is this assumption that there have never been Black characters in movies until Black Panther,” Briggs said. “But when people see Blade [and] when they see The Last Dragon, the trivia is designed to be semi-educational and entertaining to give you facts before the movie starts.”
Expanding the audience’s film palette and understanding of marginalized film history is what the organizers aim to achieve with this series.
“My hope for the series is that they [the audience] will get a larger slice or a larger understanding of cinema after the series is over,” Briggs said.
Audience and interactivity are big aspects of the Heroes in Color series experience. Pre-show trivia, questions, raffles, and prizes foster a sense of community, participation, and interactivity, allowing the audience to feel connected to their experience while also learning something new.
“You don’t get that at home, you miss out on this opportunity to learn and understand that, then sit and watch this movie with a new sense of like, ‘Oh, I’ve never thought about that fact,’” Thompson said. “… There are plenty of Americans [who] have never thought about the fact that there are other people who have never seen themselves as a vampire hunter or an astronaut or whatever, in film.”
You can visit the Heroes in Color series page on the Athena’s website to learn more about the series. Film screenings are free and take place every Friday in February at 7 p.m.