{"id":131715,"date":"2016-10-03T08:29:44","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T14:29:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/10\/03\/luke-cage.html"},"modified":"2016-10-03T08:29:44","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T14:29:44","slug":"luke-cage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/10\/03\/luke-cage.html","title":{"rendered":""Luke Cage""},"content":{"rendered":"

Even though we still have three episodes of Daredevil<\/i> S2 to finish, I twisted everyone's arm at home to watch the first ep of Luke Cage<\/i> last night. <\/p>\n

Yeah, we'll definitely be watching more.<\/p>\n

It's slow and hot and rumbling below the surface, steeped in Harlem, and almost startling for its (very appropriate, but still rare on TV) saturation of people of color — mostly black, some Hispanic, and only a very rare person of Asian or white coloration. <\/p>\n

Luke Cage is a guy who just wants to be left alone, a fugitive from the law (for reasons not spelled out in the first ep, but left to simmer, just as Jessica Jones' secrets were clearly present but left as hints early on). He takes low-paying jobs, cash under the table, struggling to get by, but for a man of amazing strength and apparent nigh-invulnerability, he lives in quiet, desperate fear.<\/p>\n

I so much want to see more.<\/p>\n

The obvious shows to compare this to are the other Marvel Knights on Netflix. Like Matt Murdoch \/ Daredevil, Cage has a strong moral code, one that wants expression and only starts to creep out at the end of the first ep. Unlike Murdoch, Cage starts off with no driving need to right wrongs; even as he starts to step away from that, it's in a defensive posture, less scrapper than tank, less seeking out evil to destroy it than trying to protect what good is already there. Murdoch's fear is that he will be unable to do enough; Cage's seems to be that he will do too much. Murdoch carries his desperate and guilty demons on his sleeve; Cage's are still locked tight and deep, visible only in Mike Colter's amazingly restrained physicality. <\/p>\n

The other comparison is with Jessica Jones, and that's in different dimensions than with Daredevil. Like Jones, Cage is hiding from his past; for Jones, this is more mental and emotional, while for Cage there is a literal, physical hiding taking place, as well as emotional. Jones wraps herself up in loud cynicism and provocatively self-destructive behavior; Cage wraps himself in silence and, for the audience, provocatively servile behavior. Jones' fears eventually exploded outward, needing to be purged; Cage's seem as though they will need to be slowly, painfully, faced and overcome.<\/p>\n

How this all fits in with how Jones and Cage eventually meet and, um, interrelate will be interesting to see (or review).<\/p>\n

One thing that struck me in the first ep was how much it felt like a Western, especially toward the end, as the strong, silent, reluctant man is drawn by his innate goodness and the need of those around him to make a stand against villainy. That's a facile description of what happens here, but tonally it fits, and how that translates into modern Harlem is fascinating. What makes it fit is the sense of morality play, which is what Luke Cage<\/i> is so far: not a simple morality play, to be sure, as there are many, many layers at work here. But, ultimately, Luke Cage<\/i> seems to be about a man who has been beaten down, and who has to learn how to stand up again and protect others who face their own threats; I am looking forward to seeing how that plays out over the following episodes.<\/p>\n

(After we finish Daredevil,<\/i> of course.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/a>\u00a0\n<\/div>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though we still have three episodes of Daredevil S2 to finish, I twisted everyone's arm at home to watch the first ep of Luke Cage last night. Yeah, we'll definitely be watching more. It's slow and hot and rumbling below the surface, steeped in Harlem, and almost startling for its (very appropriate, but still … Continue reading “"Luke Cage"”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/LukeCage_US5B15D.jpgimgmax=660.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":136333,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/05\/08\/the-season-2-luke-cage-trailer.html","url_meta":{"origin":131715,"position":0},"title":"The Season 2 “Luke Cage” trailer","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 8-May-18 10:27pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Dealing with an established character \/ situation \/ reputation is difficult for second seasons of shows, both in terms of in-story plot and in terms of out-of-story viewers. Here's hoping that Luke rises to the challenge. (Also: Misty Knight bionic arm glee!) View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/luke-cage-season-2-trailer1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/luke-cage-season-2-trailer1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/luke-cage-season-2-trailer1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/luke-cage-season-2-trailer1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/luke-cage-season-2-trailer1.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":131238,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/08\/10\/and-an-official-luke-cage-trailer.html","url_meta":{"origin":131715,"position":1},"title":"And an official "Luke Cage" trailer","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 10-Aug-16 10:16pm","format":false,"excerpt":"So more Harlem-y, more street, very Luke Cage. Plus some nice Easter Egg accouterments as he gets up out of the vat.Looking forward to this. And ... still working to get my family through S.2 of Daredevil before it comes out. View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131161,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/07\/29\/why-we-wont-see-luke-cage-fighting-alongside-the-avengers.html","url_meta":{"origin":131715,"position":2},"title":"Why we won't see Luke Cage fighting alongside the Avengers","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 29-Jul-16 4:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Sigh.Definitely one of the issues is around scheduling -- movie and TV worlds have very different production schedules. And if they are avoiding stunt cameos \/ Easter Eggs, you run into issues with introducing characters into movies whom most of the moviegoers may never have met before.Going the other direction,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":132788,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/02\/07\/the-iron-fist-trailer.html","url_meta":{"origin":131715,"position":3},"title":"The "Iron Fist" Trailer","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 7-Feb-17 7:18pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This looks like a fine blend of humor, drama, martial arts, and MarvelNetflixUniverse. I am very looking forward to this.Iron Fist drops 17 March. There is perhaps a chance we will have (sigh) finished watching Luke Cage by then. View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131689,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/09\/30\/its-sweet-christmas-in-september.html","url_meta":{"origin":131715,"position":4},"title":"It's "Sweet Christmas" in September!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 30-Sep-16 10:36am","format":false,"excerpt":"I, too, am very much forward to starting to watch the new Luke Cage series on Netflix.As soon as we finish the last 3 episodes of Daredevil, Season 2. Dagnabbit. \u00a0 View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/239b7c68-59f5-425f-bb26-c482d2b54fe75B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/239b7c68-59f5-425f-bb26-c482d2b54fe75B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/239b7c68-59f5-425f-bb26-c482d2b54fe75B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49216,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/01\/09\/the-timing-of-the-marvel-tv-universe.html","url_meta":{"origin":131715,"position":5},"title":"The timing of the Marvel TV Universe","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 9-Jan-15 4:25pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, well, kudos to Netflix for throwing the whole thing out there in one swell foop and letting the audience watching it as fast or as slow as they want. Sort of a DVD season, only streaming.Hmmm. That means I might have to actually subscribe to Netflix. I'm sorry to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131715"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131715\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}