*Ben Affleck credits his wife Jennifer Lopez for helping him understand Black culture as he prepared for his upcoming film “Air.”
The movie is Affleck’s latest as a director and centers on a group of Nike executives and their partnership with Michael Jordan in the 1980s. “Air” stars Viola Davis as Jordan’s mother and Affleck as Nike co-founder and former CEO Phil Knight.
As THR reports, Davis said “Air” was “an unbelievable experience that me and my husband and even my hair and makeup team still talk about to this day.” Davis’ husband, actor and producer Julius Tennon, plays Jordan’s father in the film.
“Ben’s an auteur and so unbelievably kind and respectful. It was one of our top experiences of being treated the way we felt we deserved to be treated,” Davis added.
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Affleck told The Hollywood Reporter that his superstar wife “helped me in talking about the way in which a part of the reason why Jordans [the shoes] were so meaningful is because culture and style in America is 90 percent driven by Black culture.”
He also noted that Jenny from the Block “is incredibly knowledgeable about the way fashion evolves through the culture as a confluence of music, sports, entertainment and dance.”
He added, “Black culture has historically pioneered music, dance, fashion, and it’s then been stolen, appropriated, re-marketed as Elvis or whatever,” Affleck said.
“And in this case, [Nike], a White-run corporate entity, was starting to do business with African American athletes in an identity affiliation sales thing,” Affleck said. “They were really taking value from what Michael Jordan represents and who he is. I don’t think the meaning can be overstated. They’re going to switch from, ‘Hey, guys, we are a nice shoe,’ to, ‘If Mike has it, you want it.’ “
Affleck’s hotly anticipated “Air” movie will release theatrically on April 5.
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