Sleight (2017): Being young, gifted, and black...spoiler-filled analysis of random thoughts
As a film, Sleight is a typical story of the main character getting himself into trouble, and in the process, he puts himself and the people he loves in danger. He must grow into a hero, defeat the bad guys, and save the day all by the end of the film. Yeah, it’s that kind of story...but the characteristics of the protagonist and the environment he finds himself in that takes this film from being a typical story, and makes it memorable. This film won’t impress most film-goers with its story or action, but in an era where Black people are looking for representation that is complex and different from stereotypes, this film attempts to offer something new.
Jacob Latimore stars as Bo Wolfe, a young Black man living in Los Angeles who is attempting to take care of his pre-teen sister, Tina after the death of his mother (their father also died when Bo was a child). Bo is special though. He is highly intelligent - indicated by his former high school science teaching leaving a message as to why Bo didn't take the engineering scholarship. He is also highly talented - during his days, he hustles on the streets of LA doing magic tricks for tourists and other passerbys. Unfortunately, he isn’t using his intelligence to hustle at Boeing, and the street magic game doesn't pay the quickly growing bills. To survive, he's been selling drugs to white party-goers for the local drug dealer Angelo. Bo is charming; He’s not rough as compared to Angelo’s boys who, in a way, are Bo’s foils. Overall, Bo is just someone who had to grow up too fast, and make some suspect decisions, in order to be responsible for the other people in his life - while maintaining his childhood love for magic. Oh, and he has an electromagnet machine in his arm.
The drama of the story happens when Angelo starts to include Bo as part of his boys who do the “dirty work” of the drug business. Angelo wishes to stop the expansion of a potential drug dealer, and uses force after diplomacy. Bo is subject to be harassed by the rival gang, and eventually he is forced - by Angelo - to remove the hand of the offending drug dealer. As Bo realizes he has “gotten in over his head,” he attempts to cut his product with baby powder in order to double his profit. However, Angelo finds out, and gives Bo an unreasonable task to pay back the money he owes to Angelo, as well as an extra few thousand dollars. Bo, attempts this feat, but as plot demands, things do not fall into place; He takes his family to a friend’s house, as Angelo knows where he lives. As the deadline to appease Angelo this passes, Angelo kidnaps Bo’s sister in an attempt to draw Bo from hiding. Eventually, Bo has to take what is special about him [the electromagnet arm], in order to fight the bad guy. With the help of Mr. Granger, his former science teacher, (who is pretty chill about Bo having a potentially life-threatening device in his arm) he gets an upgrade to his cyborg arm, and goes to fight Angelo, “superhero style.” Bo does not kill them, but Angelo and his boys are definitely afraid of what they witnessed. Bo then completes the story, he saves his sister, runs away with his girlfriend, and lives happily ever after in San Diego.
Director and Writer J.D. Dillard (with co-writer Alex Theurer) make Bo into a likeable youth struggling in a rough world; he is a character that doesn't display those stereotypical “thuggish” qualities that are often associated with a lower-economic status; and so his anxiety from trying to make ends meet is a significant emotional connection throughout the film. Bo charms the audience as well as make them desire for his well-being. Dillard states, “there's certainly no shortage of movies centering on young black boys falling into crime...our goal with Sleight was to show that circumstances can trap anyone, forcing them to take desperate measures out of self-preservation.”[1] This good people in bad situations cliché is similar to 2015’s Dope, in both the drama of the main character, as well as their being good kids trying to get out of situations created by their environment. While these films try to show that the myth that ALL people from lower-economic situations aren't individually bad/lazy/stupid/etc, that’s as far as their systemic argument goes. These stories still say that the environment is damaged, and that the only way to “help” is for the people with potential to leave these bad environments.
As this film is innovating its own genre as it draws from aspects of other genres, it does not stray too far from being a traditional superhero-film. Yet the mixing of a story about crime, a story about magic, and a story about technological genius does not strengthen the simplicity of a hero-origin story, although Dillard assumed that it did:
“We (Dillard and Theurer) wanted to make something mixed genre with magic, crime, and a romantic and familial story. Very early on we realized if one of these pieces is too complicated, it muddies the whole movie. There came a point where we really cleaned up each major point of the story. That worked for us. It's not the most original crime, or coming-of-age story, but the most fun for us was blending these stories.”[2]
The sci-fi element was an unnecessary plot point, and how Bo did what he did could have been part of the mystical nature of who he was. The Iron Man element to the story is compelling, and has some interesting implications, however, Bo’s core beliefs revolve around magic. As the film takes time to tell the story of the magician who inspired Bo during his childhood, it would seem that the tone of the film would have the same effect and abide by the rules of magic – similar to the Prestige. The director does this thematic focus half-way when the camera keeps revisiting Bo at a desk in front of a Houdini poster, making a simile between the escape tricks which are a mainstay in the world of magic and the notions of escape this black youth desires from his bad situation. Without the technological piece, the plot already created a universe where it is easy to believe that the line between twirling rings in the air and stopping bullets isn’t that distant. Being an engineer isn’t a well-integrated or essential element of how Bo sees/interacts with his world. His technological intelligence becomes a means to an end, rather than an essential part of who he is – or was before his mother’s death. I would offer that to keep the science with the magic, that we should not have directly seen his struggles with his technology until he needs to level up at his science teacher’s house – then it would be the reveal that both allows us to see that he has been using technology this whole time, but it’s contained in the theme of magic.
Sleight wants to be a superhero film that subverts the superhero genre, similar to Chronicle and Unbreakable. It is about what happens when extraordinary abilities are put in the hands of someone ordinary, and how they figure out how best to use these powers in a mundane world. Sleight, embraces the speculative struggles of being Black and gifted, but then again, it falls into the trap of attempting to be too real.
This narrative flies in the face of the superhero genre - many reviewers and the marketers have characterized this film in the superhero genre as the tagline reads “Chronicle meets Iron Man,” which often the hero, where ever they call home, attempt to save - not only the person of the week - but the overall hopefulness of the location. However, Bo’s constant plan is to use his magic for the good of himself, his sister, and as the plot develops his girlfriend, Holly. While this motivation is valid for a protagonist, it is a typical driving force of black male protagonists in the “hood movie genre” as examples by films such as Fresh or Menace II Society, and arguably Dope. Some unfortunate but hopeful black youth finds himself in a situation in which he has to think his way out of and in the end, he learns a lesson (good or honest) about life. Yet, the magic tricks and science fiction draws feel almost trivial to the gritty drama of Bo’s life. There are many scenes of Bo doing magic in front of random people. The anxiety of his situation is paused for a moment, and from these moments, the audience is supposed to feel the joy of Bo showing off his talent. That the street magician is his true self, and the drug runner is a performance. While this dichotomy does become an issue of comparison between Bo’s multiple “shifts” to provide substance to our main character, Sleight makes it seem like Bo is an anomaly of his environment, rather than a normally occurring personality. Furthermore, as his does function as a diamond in the rough, the speculative aspects of the film – his cyborg arm – are used to transcend impoverishment, instead of being used as tool to empower himself and others. He rarely performs magic at home, for his sister, or anyone also in a similar situation. While his multifaceted nature is both a trait of being a magician, which parallels with being Black in America [code-switching being a necessary skills for many Black folx], the film doesn’t show where his personal allegiance lies - or could lay. Is he really for himself, for his family, for his new boo, or even for his magic? In watching this film, it does become difficult to center the dominant emotion we have for Bo. If this is a hood drama, can the viewer connect with Bo with sympathy or empathy? If this is a superhero movie, can the viewer connect with Bo with awe and desire? The emotional pull of the film feels muddied, as it attempts to make us both feel the need to save the main character, as well as BE the main character. Even if we suppose that the complex feeling of being both emphatic and awe-inspired is nuanced and relatable, it a feeling that again is drawn not from where the story takes us, but from the characteristics of the protagonist and the circumstance he finds himself in.
In this vein, Bo isn’t a “typical” superhero. He is similar to an Iron Man or Batman, and we can argue that superheroes can be self-made and man-made. Bo is human, and he uses his technical intelligence in order to build an incredible impossible device to “save the world” (although for him, his world may be very small and personal). Yet, every hero doesn’t have to be super and every Black person who has an interesting ability doesn’t have to be “super” either. They can just be human. Octavia Butler says it best…”I write about people who do extraordinary things.” In many of her works, Butler attempts to show the humanity of her characters in spite of the circumstances they are in. She often uses the abilities or circumstances to also emphasize the inhumanity of others. Bo installed an electromagnet in his arm, so that he can be unique as a magician. He can do something no one else can. Yet, it is how he approaches the circumstances that he finds himself in that really emphasizes his humanity. That someone would use his intelligence while in a sense sacrifice himself - his body – in order to find joy, and save others. Many of us don’t have to have a cyborg arm to do that.
For most of the film, Bo is trying to do everything “on his own.” Bo has increased anxiety about being under the thumb of Angelo, keeping the lights on, taking care of his sister, as well as providing space for his girlfriend fleeing domestic abuse, all the while trying to keep his dream of being a magician alive. We see that he sleeps, but I assume those were catnaps between jobs and other responsibilities. The scene where Tina burns the bacon is definitely indicative of his overworked life. The people in life that he is closest to -his sister, his girlfriend, and the family friend, Georgi – Bo only half-includes them in his plans, and spends most of the time by himself dealing with his troubles. He doesn’t tell anyone about his arm until he reveals it to his girlfriend, and he spends many days putting peroxide on the growing infection. He isn’t so proud that he won’t receive help, as Georgi often babysits Tina, Bo is grateful for the money Holly gives him to pay Angelo, and Mr. Granger helps upgrade his electromagnet. However, his isolation is shown as the way that Bo protects his family, although in reality, it is Bo who needs protecting.
I don’t assume that this taking on too much is not a realistic depiction, but it feels disingenuous to present a hero with no sidekick or backup or anything who is also a young black man. Where are Bo’s peer group friends, or random older folks who most likely would be keeping an eye on this young man and his sister? Story-wise it would be very ex-machina that some old black woman with a broom would come and give Angelo “a-taking to,” but at the same time, in the communities I’ve experienced, it’s not THAT far fetched.
Sleight wasn’t marketed as a Black film. It played at mostly independent theatres, and maybe a few mainstream ones. It premiered at Sundance which may have affected the how it was distributed. But, the film feels similar to others “alternative” Black films that reject stereotypical tropes such as Get Out, Moonlight, Dope, and Dear White People. While many of the critics position the film as similar to Chronicle, I guess for its extraordinary in an ordinary world feel, but
It also relates to films such as Meteor Man, Blank Man, and Brother from Another Planet. These Black SF films, while incorporating typical science fiction elements, also address African American specific social issues such as masculinity, community, family, and power dynamics between intracultural or external forces. Sleight shows another perspective of these issues, and how they could be solved via technology – or whatever the technology is a symbol for.
Two themes that are unique to the Black experience are his outfit and body.
In the final showdown with Angelo – the “a superhero is born” scene - “Bo wears a hoodie, ball cap, and a backpack.”[3] His backpack, which in the rest of the film was used for holding drugs, hides his battery pack, giving him the power to rip the fillings out of someone’s mouth (although fillings are magnetic!). His cap, although just a brand name, has an H on it, a subtle recognition that he is in his hero role at that moment. His hoodie is an iconography of black youth, as well as the response to the death of black people - a gesture to remember the physical and symbolic killing of Trayvon Martin. Like Mike Colter in the Netflix series Luke Cage, the hoodie becomes the both an iconography of black murder by police and resistance to such dehumanization. Colter remarked that the hoodie in Luke cage is an acknowledgement of “Trayvon Martin and people like him. People like Jordan Davis, a kid who was shot because of the perception that he was a danger. When you’re a Black man in a hoodie, all of a sudden you’re a criminal.”[4] In these speculative worlds, the hoodie is recodified to be the armor of scientifically-enhanced people. Instead of being a symbol of dehumanization, the hoodie instead becomes similar to a cape. When you wear it, it represents both adversity, morality, culture, and a political position. Luke and Bo are seen as dangerous Black men to mainstream white society, but they are saviors to their local communities. Also, the hoodie is a practical outfit, however else would a superhero exist within a lower-economic community, tights or a silver tiara wouldn’t get you very far.
With a Black SciFi lens and as the film ended with a teaser of Bo perfecting his cyborg arm, I definitely left the theater with questions drawn from contemporary issues. Will he find a livable-wage job without a college education? Will he go back to college? Will he attempt to grow his magic career? What does the future hold for a Black man who can stop bullets with a few moments of his fingers? He may have temporarily stopped one of the intra-societal problems, but the external racial issues still exist. What will he use his extraordinary abilities for? Does he still have to mutilate his body?
“Anyone can learn a trick. But doing something that no one else is willing to do makes you a magician. I can do something no one else can” This statement is bold, as Bo, as a hero similar to Luke Cage, has to do something no one else can to find freedom - they have to subject their body to science. This calls back to the history of Black people and scientific experiments [Tuskegee Syphilis experiment, Holmesburg Prison experiments are two egregious examples].[5] The challenge in these new representations of African Americans is that to become a hero, Black men almost embrace the repercussions of enslavement –the black body is a machine, a machine that can be enhanced to work even hard for others benefit. Yet, this script is flipped in both of these stories. These characters, although they were exposed to a skin hardening bioengineered agent or put an electromagnet in their arm, are working for the betterment of themselves and their community.
And to top it off, Bo, unlike Cage, did it to himself. It is a bodily sacrifice, but with the benefit that he made the choice as to what he was going to become, and how it would manifest. Bo is both the science experiment, and the scientist... he has more agency over his powers than most of the Black characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who have to hunt down some white man to give them upgrades or maintenance (Luke Cage, WarMachine, & Falcon don’t know much about how their tech work, although they are the primary users of it).
Unfortunately, and fortunately, the ideal black hero - science fiction - or superhero - has to be more powerful and intelligent than any human else to overcome the representational damage that has come before him.
[1] Truitt, Brian. "Here's why 'Sleight' star Jacob Latimore is the black superhero we need now." USA Today. April 26, 2017. Accessed July 31, 2017. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2017/04/26/five-reasons-why-sleight-star-jacob-latimore-is-the-black-superhero-we-need-now/100889332/.
[2] Bennett, Tara. "Exclusive: director J.D. Dillard reveals how Star Wars and Bad Robot inspired Sleight." Syfy. May 05, 2017. Accessed July 31, 2017. http://www.syfy.com/syfywire/sleight-director-jd-dillard-interview.
[4] Ostroff, Joshua. "Marvel's Luke Cage Is The Bulletproof Black Superhero We Need Right Now." HuffPost Canada. September 30, 2016. Accessed August 02, 2017. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/09/29/marvel-luke-cage_n_12202516.html.
[5] Washington, Harriet. Medical Apartheid The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present. Paw Prints, 2010.
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