Racism, The Batman of Paris, And Parkour

This was a very interesting article about how racist bloggers are rejecting the idea of the new 'Batman of France - Nightrunner'.

If you follow the comics, Batman has decided (after travelling home through time) that he is going to scour the globe for individuals he feels will be good representatives of his brand of justice. He calls the venture - 'Batman Inc.'. We have already seen the Batmen of London, Tokyo and now comes Paris.

What is different is that for the first time the new character is not a 'white' Batman. The bloggers seem to have no problem with a Japanese Batman so this is not a foreign vs America thing - it's purely about this new character being a French MUSLIM who has brown skin.

"Nobody is trying to pretend that a Muslim person has never committed a terrible crime or that many atrocities are not based in religious reasons, but to invoke accusations of "political correctness" and "Islamic supremacism" when a creative work dares to present these most vilified of people in a positive light does nothing but manufacture more loathing and controversy, which obviously fuels the Internet and the discussion we're having so enjoyably now. What racists like Avi Green, Warner Todd Huston, the Council for Conservative Citizens and the protesters of "The 99" animated series don't care to understand is that by sheer force of will, superhero comic books and animation have amassed a significant amount of political and cultural capital with which to reflect and impact these complex themes -- otherwise these people wouldn't even be talking about them. This is the only storytelling genre where it is not only allowed but practically required that all problems have solutions that can be found when people simply follow the better angels of their nature."

You can find the whole article HERE. I would be interested in your thought on this matter.

I don't care who they put behind that mask. I just love the fact that this Nightrunner is an expert in PARKOUR (or 'Free Running') which is an 'urban sport' where participants use everything at their disposal to negotiate obstacles as they move from one city point to another as fast as they can.

I wish it was an Olympic event (how cool would it be to watch these guys move across London or New York - it would be a spectacular way to showcase your city.) because this activity really illustrates what the human animal and it's physical limitations are all about.

Visually it is spectacular stunt work to watch. If you like this you should check out the French action movie 'District 13' which showcases these amazing athletes in a police thriller.

Oh and if this trailer doesn't convince you how cool this movie experience this will be, I should tell you that Luc Besson (Fifth Element) created this movie.