Civil rights icon leads march thru Comic-Con

Theron on equal pay

SAN DIEGO, July 23, (AP): Civil rights leader John Lewis led a march through Comic-Con on Saturday.

About 1,000 people joined the Georgia Democrat on a march through the crowded San Diego Convention Center following a panel discussion about his trilogy of graphic novels, “March.”

Some chanted “No justice, no peace” as the group wound its way past costumed characters and mystified conventioneers. Those who recognized the congressman stopped to greet him and shake his hand. One man confessed that he was near tears at the opportunity to meet someone so instrumental in the fight for social change. “Thank you for all that you’ve done,” the man said. Lewis was welcomed with a standing ovation when he and his co-authors, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, walked into the room for their presentation. Scores of elementary school students were seated in the front row.

In his commanding style, Lewis was almost like a preacher as he urged students to remain optimistic and to believe in their power to contribute.

“Dr. King inspired me to get in trouble: What I call good trouble, necessary trouble,” he told the audience. “Now more than ever before, we all need to get in trouble. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation, a mission and a mandate to stand up, to speak up, to speak out and get in trouble.”

The “March” series tells the story of Lewis’ childhood and how he became an activist for civil rights. It details the movement’s non-violent protests, from sitins at lunch counters in the South and the bus boycott in the mid-1950s to the marches in Selma, Alabama, and Washington, D.C.

The book is being used in schools across the country to teach young people about the history of civil rights, “March” editor Leigh Walton said. One woman who stopped Lewis to thank him for all he’s done said she teaches the books in her classes at University of California, San Diego.

Lewis

Approached

Lewis hadn’t set out to become a comic-book hero, but he was receptive when Aydin, who worked on his campaign, approached him with the idea. Lewis had told his young aide a story about a comic book he read in 1957 about the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Aydin ended up doing his graduate thesis on that publication. He thought his boss’ story could have the same power to inspire.

“I thought, ‘Why isn’t there a John Lewis comic book?’” Aydin said.

He interviewed Lewis for hours to create a manuscript of more than 600 pages, which illustrator Powell brought to life in images. They rigorously factchecked their work so that the story could serve as a real historical guide.

“I think it’s important that we’re providing a common understanding of our past,” Aydin said in an interview. “Particularly as it pertains to this time in our history.”

The trilogy has won many accolades since the first book was published in 2013. The third volume received Comic-Con’s Eisner Award on Friday for best reality-based work, and the three authors were surprised at Saturday’s panel with Comic-Con’s Inkpot Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements in comics, sci-fi and fantasy.

“I didn’t know the story would have such a powerful reception,” Lewis said in an interview before the panel.

The panel veered slightly into political territory. Lewis declared that he believes health care is a right. One panel guest asked why he supported Hillary Clinton instead of Bernie Sanders in the race for president. Another asked about how to distinguish fake news from real.

But the writers’ main message was one of inspiration. Lewis said he was only 15 when he first heard King speak, and it made him believe he could make a difference toward righting the injustices of discrimination and segregation.

“I saw something that I was not pleased with. I was not at home with myself, and I wanted to do something about it. But I didn’t know what to do,” Lewis said. “And I heard the voice, the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., and it seemed like saying, ‘John Robert Lewis, you too can do something.’”

Meanwhile, Charlize Theron has a message to audiences: See female-driven movies, and studios will make more.

“I always say to studios, ‘Make more female-driven movies,’ “Theron said. “They said, ‘We would if people go and see them.’ So go see those movies!”

Wide-ranging

Theron gave a wide-ranging talk at Comic-Con on Saturday in promotion of her upcoming film “Atomic Blonde” in which she addressed the Hollywood pay gap, her own pet peeves about female action star clichés and whether or not she’d be open to playing a female James Bond, now that even Doctor Who has been made into a woman.

On the Bond question, posed in a statement by her old co-star Chris Hemsworth, Theron said she’s “all for it,” but is fine “leaving that one over to Daniel (Craig) or Idris (Elba).”

“I’ll do Lorraine,” she said in reference to her “Atomic Blonde” character — a ruthless British spy on a mission in Berlin near the end of the Cold War.

“I think that this character is someone who can hopefully live and breathe in that same format,” Theron added.

“Atomic Blonde” hits theaters on July 28 and is a project Theron has been developing for years. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly writer Sara Vilkomerson in Comic-Con’s Hall H, Theron said that she was waiting around for something very specific and when that role wasn’t coming to her, she went out in search for it. She and her production team found an unpublished graphic novel that would become the film.

Theron likes Lorraine because she is a bit of an enigma. One of her quibbles with action films centered on female protagonists is that the characters are always given a backstory or a justification for why they became warriors.

Going along with the theme of female empowerment, Theron also celebrated director Patty Jenkins’ success with “Wonder Woman.” Jenkins directed Theron in her Oscar-winning performance in “Monster” 17 years ago.

Theron also addressed the issue of the gender pay gap in Hollywood, saying that she put her foot down with “The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” where she demanded to have the same pay as Hemsworth. Universal Pictures executives did not even argue with her, she said.