Telling Black History – A Review of The Porter

The history we are told is a product of who is doing the telling. Often the narratives are formed by the victors or colonizers. So, in Canada, that means the history we are taught in schools and has most often been reflected on our screens has been very white-centred. The Porter, and its predominately Black creative team (and the first all Black writers’ room in Canada, under the leadership of Marsha Greene and Annmarie Morais), shakes this perspective off the rails.

Black characters and writers in Canadian media have often faced tokenism and been expected to shoulder the unfair weight/responsibility of representing all Black people as if it’s a monolithic universal experience, something never expected of straight white cis-people. While co-creator Arnold Pinnock‘s initial inspiration was to bring the silent porters he’d seen in the background of old movies to the foreground (especially after he learned about their amazing unionization story) before the first episode is halfway through, you are already introduced to a variety of different fully formed Black characters with their own wants, needs, and varied worlds they move through. The complexities (and drama) continue to grow through the rest of the pilot and the 2nd episode.

The first primary location we are introduced to is The Stardust Club in the middle of a police shakedown. While the bottle moment with Junior (played by Aml Ameen) does a great job of foreshadowing a scene later in the episode, another important thing is established here. As soon as the cops leave, the band starts playing, the dancers dance, and drinks are served again. Joy. While this show doesn’t flinch from harsh realities and ever-present racism, it still embraces moments of joy.

One of the central Stardust Club characters is Lucy (played by Loren Lott), who faces colourism and sees her dark complexion as an obstacle to her desire for stardom. Colourism is there in the staging/costuming of the performances at the club, but it is made explicit in a confrontation in the pilot with Lucy and Corrine (played by Djouliet Amara), a light-skinned woman and the club’s star performer who embodies the beauty standard Lucy associates with what you need to succeed as a Black woman. Based on episode 2 this arc is going to be further explored and like most of the themes explored in the series they are still present in society today.

In Little Burgundy, Marlene (played by Mouna Traoré) and Gwen (played by Sabryn Rock) go around offering assistance to the community while seeking collections for the UNIA. I immediately fell in love with Little Burgundy because of the way the camera followed them as they moved through the houses, as the community was established. I also love the pairing of these two women. Gwen wants to take less time at each house so they can make more collections and the larger services the UNIA has provided in the past can keep happening. Marlene, on the other hand, is more concerned with providing immediate service to their community. Be it through taking the time to provide care, even if that means fewer collections, or stealing from the collections to cover funeral costs. Their methods are at odds, but even after Marlene’s actions blow up in their faces, Gwen sticks with her. This leads them to a brothel in episode 2 and the introduction of Fay (played by Alfre Woodard).

Then, of course, there’s our main location: the train. The workplace of the porters. We know the central story here will be their eventual unionization. One of the biggest reasons employees seek unionization, besides wage security/bargain power, is protection from unsafe work. Henry (played by Adrian Walters) is killed performing unsafe work and they send his family a bill for his uniform. Zeke (played by Ronnie Rowe) initially thinks he can speak to their boss, believing he earned his respect on the train. Right from the start of the scene, you know he does not, as the boss has a drink but doesn’t offer one to Zeke. The scene results in Zeke realizing unionization is the only thing that might protect him and his friends, and the boss combing into a past Zeke has been doing his best to forget.

The show weaves these characters and worlds together as they enter and exit these different locations and interact with each other with beautiful cinematography and costuming.

Arnold Pinnock also appears in the series as Glenford, one of the porters. Will he be the titular porter? At two episodes, in my guess is Zeke, but only time (and more episodes) will reveal the answer.

The Porter airs weekly Monday’s at 9pm EST on CBC (also available on CBC Gem).