With Barack Obama's candidacy, some Americans — and more than a few
journalists — have posed the question: "Is America ready for a black
president?"
Voters are about to answer that question, but Hollywood weighed in
long ago.
James Earl Jones was The Man in 1972.
Morgan Freeman reassured the nation from the Oval Office in the
doomsday film Deep Impact.
Tommy Lister acted decisively as Commander-in-Chief to prevent an
alien invasion in the futuristic thriller The Fifth Element.
Chris Rock rode a populist campaign to the White House in Head of
State.
Dennis Haysbert was a strong but comforting Chief Executive for two
seasons on the Fox television series 24, and that popular TV show served up not one but two
black presidents when DB Woodside took over the office from his
assassinated brother.
Of course Hollywood has produced all kinds of presidents we've yet to
see in real life: women, Latinos, handsome single dads who date brainy,
beautiful lobbyists. But with Obama in mind, we wanted to test a
question about a black man in the Oval Office: After voters have seen
several black presidents on screen, are they more likely to elect one in
real life?
We put the question to Todd Boyd, professor of critical studies at
the USC School of Cinematic Arts. His initial response?
"I'm a bit hesitant to say that because James Earl Jones or Morgan
Freeman or Dennis Haysbert played a president on a TV show or in a
movie, it means Barack Obama can be president," Boyd says. "I think
that's a bit of a stretch."
Boyd goes on, though, to tell NPR's Michele Norris that such
representations — especially those like 24's, beamed weekly
into American living rooms — "may have unconsciously made some things in
society seem less troubling" than if there'd been no pop-culture
pictures of a black president.
And he offers a thought or two on how pop culture might respond if
reality caught up with fiction, and Barack Obama — or another
African-American politician — gains the White House.
