(Well, yes, about — among other things — men’s genitals and the beauty of Black bodies, some of it in plain language, so not for kids or the sexually modest.)
The Joy of the Penis: A Study in Chocolate. A stunningly designed Daily Jock ad that came in my e-mail today: a Self-Regard composition, showing a man contemplating his penis with a gaze downward. Not gravely (as with the examples collected in my 11/18/21 posting “Helgi Narcissus (again)”), but with joy, pleasure, delight (his smile made me smile reflexively in response). Also, unlike my earlier examples, he’s a handsome Black man with luminously brown skin. The whole thing is a loving study in brown tones — charcoal, chocolate, leather, golden brown — and amiable masculinity (with his penis and testicles neatly, but not obtrusively, outlined in his charcoal longline trunks):
(#1) I’ll call the model’s character here Chad, in honor of Chadwick Boseman, whose amazing screen realizations of Black male characters were capped by his inhabiting the superhero Black Panther — Wakanda forever! — in the 2018 movie
Chad, taking delight in his dick, enjoying the pleasures of his prick.
The clothing. From DJ’s ad copy:
Relax in style: Step up your at-home wardrobe with this new super comfy Charcoal tee from Elia. Made from a luxuriously soft blend of Viscose/Rayon & Elastane these tee’s are so comfy you won’t want to take them off.
More colours: The Elia Henley lounge tee is also available in brown or light brown with matching longline trunks.
Yes: charcoal, brown, and light brown. If you’re Black like Chad, these colors will work for you, and they’re conventionally highly masculine. And if you want to make a political statement with your tees and trunks, go for it. Meanwhile, you don’t have to be Black to wear these clothes.
The movie. From Wikipedia:
(#2) Comic-book king … Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa / Black Panther) in Black Panther (photo: Allstar/Marvel Studios/Disney)Black Panther is a 2018 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 18th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, and it stars Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa / Black Panther alongside Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis. In Black Panther, T’Challa is crowned king of Wakanda following his father’s death, but he is challenged by Killmonger (Jordan), who plans to abandon the country’s isolationist policies and begin a global revolution.
… [the background plot premise:] Thousands of years ago, five African tribes war over a meteorite containing the metal vibranium. One warrior ingests a “heart-shaped herb” affected by the metal and gains superhuman abilities, becoming the first “Black Panther”. He unites all but the Jabari Tribe to form the nation of Wakanda. Over centuries, the Wakandans use the vibranium to develop advanced technology and isolate themselves from the world by posing as a Third World country.
It’s a superhero movie, so there’s a lot of combat (not intrinsically interesting to me), but there are plenty of strong female characters and a fairly convoluted plot, plus the Wakandans are powerful, noble, clever, and technologically highly advanced. And, oh yes, all Black, though with skin tones in a variety of shades of chocolate; T’Challa is at the really dark chocolate end. Compare #2 with #1.
The colors of chocolate provide a natural (metaphorical) vocabulary for talking about the skin tones of Black people. A relationship that was exploited by the excellent San Francisco candy / fudge company Z. Cioccolato — see my 8/1 posting “Z fudge” — when it honored the movie by creating its Black Panther fudge (of which I am very fond):
(#3) [ad copy:] Black Panther Fudge: 5 Layers of Milk & Dark chocolate fudge, Sea Salt Caramel, and creamy peanut butter
The caramel and peanut butter provide still more shades of brown, more skin tones of Black.