Are You Afraid?

Spoilers Ahead!

This post also discusses suicide

My introduction to the Green Lanterns was the 2000s Justice League and Justice League Unlimited cartoons. It was empowering to see John Stewart stand among legends like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. He is one of the few black superheroes that I saw on television and in movies. I always admired his balance of structure, yet going out of his way to save his friends in need. That is why I was excited to learn that Lanterns was becoming a TV show with the John Stewart character as one of the leads. 

What was I hoping for with the series? The show announced a simple premise: veteran Green Lantern Hal Jordan trains John Stewart while they investigate a case in a small Midwestern town. Before seeing the trailer, I thought we’d see the rise of John Stewart becoming his own Green Lantern who could rival the current version of Superman in the DCU and end with John saying the Green Lantern oath: 

“In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight. Let those who worship evil's might, beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"

It is an oath Green Lanterns say (usually while charging their rings) where they reaffirm their duty, vigilance, and willpower to keep the universe safe from those who wish it harm. Anytime I've heard the oath, it gave me chills, and I hoped to see a little of that in the Lanterns trailer. However, the teaser trailer suggested something different:

“Are you afraid?” That is the question the trailer asks, and it is deeply rooted in the entire show. The Green Lanterns report to the Guardians. They created the rings, and the main trait they look for in future Green Lanterns is fearlessness. Fearless means that they are willing to face anything, no matter how bad it seems. However, is that something that we should really expect from a person? 

We are given two different perspectives with Hal Jordan and John Stewart. Both claim to be fearless. They both worked with the government and risked their lives out in the field. Hal postures himself as a cynical and fearless man willing to go up against anyone and doubts everyone’s true intentions. He doesn’t allow himself to be vulnerable to people, especially to John. He keeps everything to the vest. John believes in structure and guidance. He doesn’t believe Hal deserves the ring because he is a rule-breaker, and something as powerful as the ring should be earned. 

However, as we go through the series, viewers realize that the fearlessness is a facade. Hal is the way he is because he is afraid of becoming like his father and grandfather. They suffered from depression and committed suicide. Hal was the only one who found out about his family history, and instead of telling people about it, he kept it to himself to preserve his father’s image. Unfortunately, that decision caused Hal to suffer because he wondered if he was just one step away from losing himself to his emotions and hurting himself. 

Then you have John. His parents wanted him to be the next Green Lantern because the Guardians expressed an interest in him. Since they knew the Guardians wanted someone fearless, they decided to do things to strengthen John’s character, but it honestly felt more like child abuse than anything else. They would abandon John in bad neighborhoods to find his way home and fend for himself. They would shoot apples off his head. Because his parents put so much of a focus on John and him becoming a Green Lantern, it put a strain on John’s relationship with his brothers because he was the “chosen one” and got all their parents’ attention. 

All this comes to a head when Hal and John, urged on by the Guardians, were responsible for a town getting decimated. Hal’s fear came out through this because he thought he would lose his power, like how his dad lost his power with depression. He let his fear encourage him to do something awful. However, John didn’t become fearful until after he’d done what the Guardians and his parents wanted. His parents and the Guardians pushed for John to be a Green Lantern, saying it would be an honor and a privilege. However, John realized that the cost of becoming one was too high. Being fearless makes you reckless, and it not only puts you in danger, but everyone else, like what John witnessed with the massacre in the small town. Knowing that, John decided to forge his own path by eventually becoming a Green Lantern who was not under the Guardians’ authority. He made his own oath: 

“In brightest day, in darkest night, I'll embrace my fear, I'll do what's right. I choose this ring, I choose this fight, in service to this lantern's light.”

Instead of being fearless, he is accepting that he will be afraid sometimes, but that’s okay. Instead of running from it, he chooses to embrace his fears and gain strength from them. Doing so will not only help him mentally, but also be a reminder to check himself and not let his power get out of control and harm others. Did it give me the same chills as the cartoon? No, but I do like how the oath shows that fear isn’t bad or that it makes you weak. Acknowledging your fear can help make you a better person instead of masking it. 

Overall, this is not what I was expecting the show to do with John’s character, but I still found their take on John to be intriguing. Aaron Pierre brought excellent gravity to the character of John: a person trying to please everyone and walk a straight path.  He did a good job of showing John struggling to break away from expectations and forge his own path. I especially love the nuance that Kyle Chandler put into his role as Hal Jordan. He had to portray two characters: a present and past version of himself. It gave the viewers an idea of how people’s perspectives can drastically shift as they get older and gain more experience. I am curious to see how recognizing and accepting his fears will make John different from the other Green Lanterns out there, or if it will cause more division between himself and the Guardians. Season two has been announced, and I eagerly await the next chapter of John’s journey.