In Storytelling 'The Defenders' Is Prestige Television At Its Worst
Luke Cage
Netflix just published the new âDefendersâ series  the culmination of several years of work by Marvel Television to get Marvel into prestige serial storytelling. (We have to find a new word for this: we canât call it âTVâ much longer.) The Marvel-Netflix deal now includes two seasons of âDaredevil â and one each of âJessica Jones â âLuke Cage â and âIron Fist.â Thatâs 65 episodes  plus the new eight-episode âDefenders â around 50 minutes each. Thatâs more than 60 hours on screen in the last two years.
Now  you can blame whatâs wrong with âThe Defendersâ on the Marvel shtick: America has no enemies but its own divisions. The heroes inevitably fight each other. That could work if you had writers who understood Americaâs divisions  but itâs disastrous when all youâve got is pettiness and liberal identity politics. âThe Defendersâ does better than any Marvel movie to give you thrilling fights  however. At least Daredevil does;  Luke Cage  is also pretty good; the other two were deficient to begin with and apparently not getting better.
There is a deep argument hidden somewhere in this mess of a story. But to see it develop  the viewer has to ask himself: why is Daredevil so scared of his own heroism  which might lead him to kill people? Heâs a Catholic  of course. And weâre reminded of that in an important scene in a confessional. But whatâs the import of that fact? Why is  Luke Cage  telling a grieving mother  he  learned about the power of prayer from  his  own father?  He âs an heir to MLKâs sacrifice and hope  as we know from  his  own show  but why does that matter here? The evil guys  too: why is their quest for immortality so evil or wrong? We all want to live as long as possible  anyway!
Instead  we get this mess of American social pathologies of individualism and evil ninjas. This is worthless for articulating the fight between two worlds  one dedicated to equality  the other inequality. Maybe future stories will get better. A friend pointed out that thereâs a lot of Christianity in the first season of âLuke Cage â and the second season is supposed to be more serious about civil rights. He also pointed out another sign of hope: civil rights are connected with the Second Amendment.
In my previous essay  I said high-flying civil rights rhetoric collapses in âLuke Cage.â Behold: in an emotional moment mid-season  Luke Cage tells a young black man-turned-criminal about Crispus Attucksâthe first man killed in the Boston Massacre of 1770  and thus  the first martyr of the American Revolution. He was black. We see his legacy exploited by a gangster and a politician  who abuse Harlem while pretending to save it. Unlike Attucks  they always put themselves first  because when they were poor  weak  and needed protection  nobody put them first.
 Luke Cage  takes a shot to the head from that stupid  scared young criminalâbut it makes no dramatic sense  with a literally bulletproof hero.  Luke Cage  is no Crispus Attucks. Our stories fake sacrifice  and thus betray our deepest awareness of our neediness. Thatâs because of our politics and our fear of death.
Netflix just published the new âDefendersâ series  the culmination of several years of work by Marvel Television to get Marvel into prestige serial storytelling. (We have to find a new word for this: we canât call it âTVâ much longer.) The Marvel-Netflix deal now includes two seasons of âDaredevil â and one each of âJessica Jones â  [TGT]  and âIron Fist.â Thatâs 65 episodes  plus the new eight-episode âDefenders â around 50 minutes each. Thatâs more than 60 hours on screen in the last two years.
Now  you can blame whatâs wrong with âThe Defendersâ on the Marvel shtick: America has no enemies but its own divisions. The heroes inevitably fight each other. That could work if you had writers who understood Americaâs divisions  but itâs disastrous when all youâve got is pettiness and liberal identity politics. âThe Defendersâ does better than any Marvel movie to give you thrilling fights  however. At least Daredevil does;  [TGT] is also pretty good; the other two were deficient to begin with and apparently not getting better.
There is a deep argument hidden somewhere in this mess of a story. But to see it develop  the viewer has to ask  [TGT] : why is Daredevil so scared of  [TGT]  own heroism  which might lead  [TGT]  to kill people? Heâs a Catholic  of course. And weâre reminded of that in an important scene in a confessional. But whatâs the import of that fact? Why is   [TGT] telling a grieving mother   [TGT]   learned about the power of prayer from   [TGT]   own father?   [TGT]  âs an heir to MLKâs sacrifice and hope  as we know from   [TGT]   own show  but why does that matter here? The evil guys  too: why is their quest for immortality so evil or wrong? We all want to live as long as possible  anyway!
Instead  we get this mess of American social pathologies of individualism and evil ninjas. This is worthless for articulating the fight between two worlds  one dedicated to equality  the other inequality. Maybe future stories will get better. A friend pointed out that thereâs a lot of Christianity in the first season of âLuke Cage â and the second season is supposed to be more serious about civil rights. He also pointed out another sign of hope: civil rights are connected with the Second Amendment.
In my previous essay  I said high-flying civil rights rhetoric collapses in âLuke Cage.â Behold: in  [TGT]  tells a young black man-turned-criminal about Crispus Attucksâthe first man killed in the Boston Massacre of 1770  and thus  the first martyr of the American Revolution. He was black. We see his legacy exploited by a gangster and a politician  who abuse Harlem while pretending to save it. Unlike Attucks  they always put themselves first  because when they were poor  weak  and needed protection  nobody put them first.
  [TGT]   takes a shot to the head from that stupid  scared young criminalâbut it makes no dramatic sense  with a literally bulletproof hero.   [TGT]   is no Crispus Attucks. Our stories fake sacrifice  and thus betray our deepest awareness of our neediness. Thatâs because of our politics and our fear of death.