It’s also about that same white male-owned brand realizing — through the character of Jordan’s mother, who negotiated the contract (superbly played by Viola Davis) — that this win is not Nike’s alone. The brand can’t win without Jordan also winning. In other words, this will not be yet another example from that time (and still today) of a white organization exploiting Black talent.
“Air,” though, doesn’t really have the range to delve into that last point as directly as it should. Instead, it shows and implies, without actually saying it. That makes it a weaker film. But, as Affleck admits, he’s not the filmmaker to tell a more pointed story around the appropriation of Black culture by white people.
Affleck seems to at least be cognizant of the issue of cultural appropriation in fashion and what Black talent has given to white America — and, more specifically, what Jordan means to Black America. The director even says at another point in his THR interview that he’s come to understand that “culture and style in America is 90 percent driven by Black culture.”
Thoughts like that make Affleck seem like he could, in fact, be a good director to helm a more robust story about this. It’s not just that he appears to have curiosity about and understanding of the issue. He’s also interested enough to align himself with Black talent like Davis, who can help inform the cultural subtext in a way he can’t.
The same is true of Chris Tucker, who plays Nike exec Howard White, the type of fast talker who, in the movie, helps court Jordan’s parents as the only other Black face in the boardroom. This is all to say that there is some intention behind what Affleck and Convery deliver here, even if it falls just a bit short of a more provocative story.
The echoes of fearlessness throughout “Air” also extend to Deloris and, as fondly detailed in the movie’s postscript, Marlon Wayans’ George Raveling, a former basketball star who helped inspire what would soon become Nike’s groundbreaking offer to Jordan.
But it makes you wonder how “Air” could have explored that pricklier truth (perhaps through Deloris, to not disturb Jordan’s myth-like form here) as it makes sure to mention that part of Jordan’s Nike profits go to Black community organizations in his name.
It also happens to fit squarely inside Affleck’s wheelhouse, where he’s clearly most comfortable. Does that make it a less rewarding film? No, but it does give its audience a lot to chew on when we think about what we want from it and what we’re willing to research about it in our own time — and whether that’s enough for us to enjoy the movie.
This content was originally published here.
