Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud
Oct 5, 2026 · 26 min · 14 segments
With season one of HBO’s ‘Lanterns’ wrapping up, culture critics David Dennis Jr. and Hanna Flint review the series, and talk with guest host Rad Simonpillai about how it measures up against other…
Talia KliotGuestDavid Dennis Jr.Guest
Hanna FlintGuestAnd so what I think of Lindelof, I think of Watchmen, which takes this comic book and puts it in this sort of racial component.
And during the time it was came out like in the middle of COVID and all this stuff.
And so it really was kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop in lanterns.
And episode three, you kind of get that in this idea of Jon Stewart as this guy.
The whole episode is a metaphor of the way that we kind of harden these black kids to be prepared for the world.
And what does it create on the other side? Like, what do we strip away from these black boys when we try to create this world or we give them the talk or we tell them, hey, you have to protect yourself.
But what unlocks his power is holding on to his creativity, his sort of innocence, his drawing, the thing that is his passion.
episode of tv that explores what it means to be a hero why uh sort of on a meta level some of these superheroes are white you know like there's all of that in their parenting um the mom is a fascinating character uh what it means to be fearful and fearless and it really sort of is a turning point for the entire season i know it was originally going to be later in the season they moved it up to episode three and i think it was a smart move because it really kind of made everybody sit up and pay attention to the show in a different way
there as well? I just want to add, because I was watching an interview with one of the writers, and one of the things they had to also do by casting Aaron Pierre, who is obviously a lighter-skinned black man, what does that mean when you...
kind of write it into a script where it's color conscious of he's, they said they call him chosen because he's lighter skin.
And so what I think of Lindelof, I think of Watchmen, which takes this comic book and puts it in this sort of racial component.
And during the time it was came out like in the middle of COVID and all this stuff.
And so it really was kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop in lanterns.
And episode three, you kind of get that in this idea of Jon Stewart as this guy.
The whole episode is a metaphor of the way that we kind of harden these black kids to be prepared for the world.
And what does it create on the other side? Like, what do we strip away from these black boys when we try to create this world or we give them the talk or we tell them, hey, you have to protect yourself.
But what unlocks his power is holding on to his creativity, his sort of innocence, his drawing, the thing that is his passion.
episode of tv that explores what it means to be a hero why uh sort of on a meta level some of these superheroes are white you know like there's all of that in their parenting um the mom is a fascinating character uh what it means to be fearful and fearless and it really sort of is a turning point for the entire season i know it was originally going to be later in the season they moved it up to episode three and i think it was a smart move because it really kind of made everybody sit up and pay attention to the show in a different way
there as well? I just want to add, because I was watching an interview with one of the writers, and one of the things they had to also do by casting Aaron Pierre, who is obviously a lighter-skinned black man, what does that mean when you...
kind of write it into a script where it's color conscious of he's, they said they call him chosen because he's lighter skin.
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