Page - 146 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

146 | Ken Derry et al. www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 123–155 of hoodies. here Coker directly intervenes in the demonization and criminaliza- tion of Black bodies. responding to the grim reality that a hoodie could, in the eyes of a vigilante like George Zimmerman, condemn trayvon Martin to death, Coker reclaims the hoodie and opens an imaginative space wherein “heroes could wear hoodies, too”.59 in many respects Luke Cage (2016) can also be understood as a practice of freedom. this is, after all, the meaning behind the titular character’s name. free- dom is a central theme of the show, which is oriented around the wrongful conviction of a man who has escaped from prison. “No one can cage a man if he truly wants to be free”, Luke states as he explains his adopted surname (e04). he demonstrates this ideal repeatedly as he escapes an impressive array of both figurative and literal confinements, including Seagate Prison, his father’s low expectations, his own fears and anxieties, and the rubble that he is buried under when Cornell shoots him with a missile (E03–04; fig. 14). As for “Luke”, he takes his first name from the gospel where Jesus proclaims he has come to “preach good news to the poor … freedom for the prisoners, and recovery of sight for the blind” (e04, Luke 4:18). Nowhere does the show exemplify the features of African American religion more poignantly than in its open-ended orientation. Luke Cage (2016) achieves something that has long remained a defining feature of African American reli- gion: the creation of an imaginative space in and through which Black people can conjure worlds beyond the violence and degradation of daily life in a racist 59 Kim/Shifflet, 2016. Fig. 14: Luke’s fist breaks free of the rubble and symbolizes solidarity with Black liberation movements. Film still, “Step in the Arena”, Luke Cage (2016), S01/E04, 44:10.