Page - 123 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

Bulletproof Love: Luke Cage (2016) and Religion | 123www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 123–155 Ken Derry/Daniel White Hodge/Laurel Zwissler/ Stanley Talbert/Matthew J. Cressler/Jon Ivan Gill Bulletproof Love: Luke Cage (2016) and Religion ABstrACt there are many ways to think about religion and popular culture. One method is to ask where and when we see what might be commonly understood as “religious tradition(s)” explicitly on display. Another is to think about superhero narratives themselves as “religious”, using this term as a conceptual tool for categorizing and thereby better understanding particular dimensions of human experience. this article takes a variety of approaches to understanding religion in relation to the recent tel- evision series LUKE CAGE (Netflix, US 2016). These approaches take their hermeneuti- cal cues from a range of disciplines, including studies of the Bible; Hip Hop; gender; Black Theology; African American religion; and philosophy. The results of this analysis highlight the polysemic nature of popular culture in general, and of superhero stories in particular. Like religious traditions themselves, the show is complex and contradic- tory: it is both progressive and reactionary; emphasizes community and valorizes an individual; critiques and endorses Christianity; subverts and promotes violence. De- pending on the questions asked, LUKE CAGE (2016) provides a range of very different answers. KeyWOrDs African American, superhero, violence, Marvel, popular culture, gender, television, Netflix BiOGrAPhies Ken Derry is Associate Professor, teaching stream, in the Department of historical studies at the University of toronto, Canada. his academic work explores the rela- tions between religion and violence, particularly in literature and film. Ken has pub- lished essays on subjects ranging from The Epistle of Barnabas to The Wizard of Oz to the work of indigenous writer thomas King to the use of humor in teaching religion. he is married and has three cats.