"To those who say people wouldn't look; they wouldn't be interested; they're too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter's opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost. This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that Humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box."
 
--Edward R. Murrow, the Radio-Television News Directors Association Convention, Chicago, October 15th, 1958

THE NORTH STAR
a proposed television series by Saab Lofton

The North Star is an hour long, afrocentric, sci fi/adventure series (Smallville meets Chappelle's Show, however, this is a drama, NOT a comedy). Given the cost of special effects, it might be best if this was animated (see Akira or Princess Mononoke).

A modern day Robin Hood, Scott Freeman is a black radical with superspeed who uses dubious methods to raise funds and recruit others to his cause. Though the public is unaware of his existence, Scott Freeman's exploits are closely monitored -- and occasionally influenced -- by angels and demons alike ...

Scott Freeman (Robert Richard)
Enrique Ortega (Jay Hernandez)
J.D. Sweet (Charlie Murphy)
Annie Rosen (Janeane Garofalo)
Jarvis/Metatron (Woody Harrelson)
Satan (Timothy Carhart)

SCOTT FREEMAN

Scott is the son of a Black Panther named Steve Freeman and a white hippie named Mary Ellen Stuart (or Ellen Freeman). They met at a Panther headquarters right before a COINTELPRO raid and fell in love at first sight -- so much so, they both simultaneously decided to RUN rather than be arrested. Conceived on the RUN, baby Scott gained the mutant ability to move and heal himself at superspeed so long as he had PLENTY to eat. When Scott was about to be born, a pair of cops moonlighting as Ku Klux Klansmen pulled the expecting couple over. Just as the cops were about to kill them for being a mixed couple, an angel swooped down, disabled the cops, scooped up the pregnant mother and dropped her off at a nearby hospital. The Black Panther father was left behind and the cops subsequently took their frustrations out on him -- charging the Panther with the assault the angel committed and spitefully sentencing him to life without parole. Since then, the mother split her time between raising Scott in a secluded, Northern California hippie commune and organizing a campaign to free her husband (FREE STEVE!).

Since he was able to break the sound barrier upon reaching puberty, Scott was all but raised in isolation, so his social graces aren't very refined. Between that and his leftist upbringing, he's often terse, brutally honest and rarely suffers a fool lightly. To tolerate how slow everything seems to someone with his hyperactive perceptions, Scott has studied Buddhism over the years and regularly engages in meditation. He also smokes a LOT of marijuana since it calms his otherwise accelerated state of being down. All of this -- plus his commitment to save the world -- has made him very lonely. Plus, despite his youth, Scott feels ancient given how many experiences are crammed into every millisecond. However, Scott knows several languages since his speed reading is superhuman, so he considers himself a citizen of the planet Earth and acts accordingly.

In addition, Scott's been told by the angel Metatron that he shouldn't ever have sex since his pelvic thrusts would literally feel like a jackhammer to an ordinary woman and could kill her. Scott manages to get around this rule by using lesbian techniques (or limiting himself to women who are just as superhuman as he is -- see Scott's Lovers for details). Metatron does not approve, for while vibrating his tongue/fingers aren't lethal, they leave mortal women so -- ravaged, they can never be satisfied any other way. Therefore, either an irrational addiction to Scott's touch comes over them or a bitter resentment towards him for having ruined their sexual pallet.

Scott is (pardon the phrase) faster than a speeding bullet, but since he's not invulnerable (think Wolverine's quick healing -- it accounts for why stomping his feet on the ground at hundreds/thousands of miles per hour during every run doesn't cripple him), it's very painful to try and stop a bullet barehanded. Therefore, in situations where gunfire is to be expected, Scott will make it a point to bring an ALUMINUM baseball bat so that bullets can be safely swatted away.

Because of the large amount of food his heightened metabolism must have (a full course meal seven times per day is ideal -- anything less and he begins to weaken), Scott leaves huge piles of feces the few times per year anal excretion is necessary. So Scott has gotten into the activist habit of leaving piles of manure on Wall Street, the White House lawn, the gates of the School of the Americas, in front of the Pentagon, the C.I.A. and so forth. He'll either do that or provide poor farmers with a free source of fertilizer. This is NEVER to be shown on camera, again, this is NOT a comedy.

Approximately a dozen people on the entire planet know of Scott's superspeed. These are usually proxies with money whom Scott indebts (a la Alec Baldwin's 1994 version of The Shadow) so he'll always be able to afford all-you-can-eat buffets and other amenities -- such as a series of cell phones with his number on SPEED DIAL (no pun intended) in case he's needed. Out of an understandable fear of media exploitation or governmental experimentation/extermination, Scott goes out of his way to maintain a low profile and encourages witnesses to dismiss any accounts of a black man disappearing in the blink of an eye as delusional/hallucinatory.

ENRIQUE ORTEGA

Enrique is Scott Freeman's best friend and the first person to ever learn of Scott's superspeed -- besides Scott's mother, of course. They've known each other since childhood. While Scott was home schooled and ordered by his mom to stay hidden within a Northern California hippie commune, Enrique provided a much needed window to the rest of the world. The commune grew fruit/vegetables and Enrique's parents often came to pick them up so they could be sold across the Bay Area. Since there weren't any children Scott's age in the commune -- and since Enrique was an only child whose parents would bring him along during those trips to the commune -- the two youths bonded.

Enrique's parents originally came from Mexico and eventually became American citizens. They co-own a couple of small, organic/health food stores and raised Enrique to (at least) be a (semi-)vegetarian. Though his family could be construed as an example of the American Dream come true (since they went from dirt poor to middle class), they also raised him to be a revolutionary with a healthy disdain for "gringo imperialism."

Enrique is a gifted, bilingual poet and an even more talented lecturer who's always being asked by anti-war organizations to speak at a variety of events. Though he's going to college on a full scholarship, constantly being on the road has delayed the attainment of his Ph.D. enough to upset his parents. Because his speaking voice is so important to him -- and because being punctual for speaking engagements is so necessary -- Enrique is a bit of a hypochondriac. "You can't O.D. on Vitamin C," is a common phrase of his.

His speeches are particularly scathing (he's known for his gory, graphic descriptions of Human rights abuses) and Enrique would've been assassinated long ago if Scott hasn't been bodyguarding him over the years.

Enrique is also very good looking and extremely popular with the ladies, but he's never really taken advantage of this -- except to encourage women to donate to his favorite causes, such as Pastors for Peace.

Enrique is an expert motorcycle rider and has a Honda XL500 trail bike he call El Caballo Rojo (The Red Stallion). One of his lifelong dreams is to retrace the path Che Guevara rode in 1952 (The Motorcycle Diaries). Whenever Scott isn't around to save him from assassins, Enrique escapes them riding El Caballo Rojo in elaborate, high speed chase scenes.

Though J.D. Sweet will disparagingly refer to Enrique as Scott's "sidekick," it'd be more accurate to say Scott is Enrique's bodyguard, since his popularity as a speaker will ensure that one day he'll be compared to the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

J.D. SWEET

Not much is known about his early years, but for the better part of a decade, J.D. Sweet was the most powerful pimp, gangster and drug dealer in California history. It all came to a head one night when the police cut a Faustian/Machiavellian deal with Sweet's criminal rivals in order to be sufficiently powerful enough to storm his fortress of a mansion. However, just when it looked as though Sweet was about to sacrifice his life to keep from ever being arrested (as Sweet always promised he would), Scott Freeman came to his rescue. Using superspeed, Scott disabled (and severely disoriented) both the cops and the gang members who were after Sweet while helping the crime lord escape. Because there were a series of large, fiery explosions throughout the raid, the public still assumes Sweet died that night -- an assumption Scott tries to cultivate whenever possible.

Scott saved Sweet so he'd feel obligated to fund Scott's crusades and charities, however, Sweet despises the many rules Scott forces him to work under:

1. The only drug Sweet is allowed to deal in is marijuana since it's non-lethal and all-natural.
2. Sweet can continue as a pimp but ONLY if the women in question are willing (75% of Sweet's stable abandoned him immediately after Scott came into his life and gave each prostitute a ten thousand dollar severance -- only "Jade," "Candy" and "Fulana" remained) and at NO time can he strike them or even raise his voice in their presence. They also keep two-thirds of how much ever is made.
   • Jade looks just like Lucy Liu. She's an expert in massage and acupuncture.
   • Candy looks just like Sanaa Lathan (except darker) and is in love with Scott Freeman but hates that Scott only likes white women.
   • Fulana is the leader. An outspoken Latina, she looks just like Salma Hayek and makes sure J.D. Sweet ONLY gets a third of what's made.
3. Because it's best if the world assumes he's dead, Sweet can no longer live in a mansion or frequent nightclubs every night as he's accustomed to. Instead, Sweet is to spend the rest of his life secluded in a suburban three bedroom/two bath, which is the base of Scott's operations.
4. On those rare occasions Sweet can leave the house, he has to "dress down" (Scott pawned all of Sweet's gold/jewelry and the money was given to the homeless), wear sunglasses and limit himself to public transportation -- he can never own another car.

Given all the pain and suffering Sweet was responsible for, Scott doesn't have a problem keeping him on such a tight leash. "Beats jail or the grave," is what is commonly said/heard.

In addition, the house is adorned with pictures of Gandhi, the Black Panthers and other left-wing legends as a reminder of where Sweet's money is going. And since Sweet is constantly asked to pay for things such as the bail of jailed activists or full-page newspaper ads for leftist organizations, he's gained the nickname "ATM" -- much to his chagrin.

Over the course of the series, Sweet makes a variety of threats (some are made in jest, most are not) towards Scott, but knows full well he'd stand NO chance against "the world's fastest man." And while the public believes him to be deceased, there are those in the underworld who know better and view Sweet as either a laughing stock or someone who's fallen from grace -- all the while wondering why he's clearly under the thrall of someone like Scott Freeman (yet another rule is that Sweet must help keep Scott's secret) ...

As a result of the aforementioned, Sweet often vents his frustration of Scott's friends -- Enrique Ortega and Annie Rosen. Sweet usually makes racist comments about Enrique's Latino heritage, and since Annie doesn't like that Sweet's a pimp, there's plenty of sexist antagonism between them to say the least. This never goes too far since Scott is always a cell phone call away.

Sweet is a product of mainstream, urban black culture whereas Scott is a nerd who dresses like a 1930s adventurer and "sounds white" -- this difference in tastes accounts for even more conflict. However, Sweet isn't just a common thug -- he's a huge fan of Shakespeare who's able to quote the Bard at whim and in depth (his favorite play being Macbeth). Sweet is also a botanical genius and grows his own marijuana in the basement of the suburban home Scott had him buy. It's even been implied (albeit vaguely) that Sweet was on the fast track towards a Ph.D. at an ivy league university but instead chose a life of crime because he didn't want to appear "square" to his peers in the ghetto.

ANNIE ROSEN

Annie is a Jewish lesbian and the single best trial lawyer the American Civil Liberties Union has ever had in its employ due to her deductive reasoning and photographic memory. Because of Annie's solidarity for the people of Palestine, she was disowned by her Zionist family, so risking a great deal by taking on lost causes is almost second nature. It hasn't helped her popularity in the community, but Annie's willingness to rush where angels fear to tread accounts for how often she's fought for the free speech of Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen in court.

She doesn't approve of Scott's and Enrique's chronic marijuana smoking and she definitely has a problem with J.D. Sweet being a pimp, but Annie turns a blind eye to all that (and more) out of an acknowledgement of all the good Scott's superspeed is capable of. Annie and Scott first met when a gang was threatening to "rape her straight" and Scott came to the rescue. Indebted to him as Sweet was, Annie signed on for his mission (see The Mission for details).

While Sweet reluctantly goes against his capitalist, egotistical nature to work for Scott and Enrique helps because of a lifelong camaraderie, Annie lends her legal services out of guilt. Having defended the far right on behalf of the ACLU for so many years, she felt the need to balance the scales of justice.

Annie love dolphins, anything with caramel on it and the Rocky/Bullwinkle cartoon.

JARVIS/METATRON

The night Scott Freeman was born, two white supremacist cops pulled his parents over. Before the cops could lay a hand on either parent, a winged, glowing superpowered figure descended from Heaven, beat them down and flew the expectant mother to the nearest emergency room so she could give birth to Scott in peace -- leaving the father behind to face the racist cops' wrath alone.

The winged figure was none other than Metatron, the voice of God, and unlike Satan, he could remain solid while on Earth (hence him being able to thrash the cops). After Scott grew up and began his destiny as a superhero, Metatron began occasionally appearing to him while he dreamt. Except curiously enough, Metatron appears to Scott as a Southern gentleman named "Jarvis" who wears a white hat/suit and black string tie while rowing a boat down a river. Scott is usually the only other person in the boat, and given the surreal sights around them, he's theorized those "dreams" are actually jaunts into the afterlife (or out of body experiences) and that Jarvis performs the same function as Charon from Greek myth. It's also been theorized Metatron appears as Jarvis to assuage Scott's understandable mistrust of Southern white men.

Jarvis/Metatron contacts Scott very rarely and only to alert him of the gravest of dangers -- usually threats that involve Satan. Jarvis/Metatron feels guilty for having left Scott's father behind and almost sees Scott as the son he, as an angel, could never have.

SATAN

Satan is jealous of Humanity (longing for the days "back before the beginning of time" when it was just him and God) and is the biggest proponent of the cynical claim that "Human nature" will inevitably cause the Human race to fail and ultimately destroy itself. After Samson and the birth of Jesus, Satan made God promise not to send any more superhumans to Earth in order to "cheat" or "help Humans when they ought to be helping themselves." Therefore, Satan views the advent of Scott Freeman as a gross violation of that promise, hence their feud. In fact, it was Satan who alerted the cops to the car Scott's parents were in -- all the while prompting them to kill him before he was born.

Satan can visually/audibly appear in the material world -- and can instantly teleport anywhere (so he's "faster" than Scott) -- but he has no actual substance. As a result, Satan always makes it a point to tempt someone from afar, lest he be given away -- coming in physical contact with him would be akin to passing through a ghost or hologram (a telltale sign of his presence is Satan's inability to cast a shadow). Satan can shapeshift, and is also telepathic/empathic, so he's able to take a form that'll best suit his purposes.

However, Satan is far from omnipotent: He cannot hypnotize anyone or tell the future. And since he can't handle solid objects (while on the mortal plane), Satan counts on villains who -- in the pursuit of their baser instincts -- wind up doing his bidding. For instance, a mad scientist overly concerned with overpopulation was once told by Satan to lower the population via genocide.

THE MISSION

When Scott Freeman was a child, he fell in love with Robin Hood. Between the potential his superspeed provided and how the Northern California hippie commune he grew up in naturally reminded him of Sherwood Forest, Scott envisioned himself as a modern day successor to the Prince of Thieves. As Scott began to race across the globe, he couldn't help but notice the glaring contrasts between the haves and have nots. So from a very early age, Scott would rob from the rich and give to the poor -- except he'd do it so fast, no one could ever catch him.

By the time he became a young man, Scott did less and less himself and operated more and more via a series of proxies. Taking a cue from The Shadow, Scott got into the habit of saving certain people with access or talents he needed all so they'd be indebted to him. For instance, the rapper M.T. Pockets gives half of everything he makes to Scott as does the boxer Moses "The Mountain" Hightower. The money is then funneled into the peace movement and other, similar causes -- as is the case with J.D. Sweet. However, Sweet differs from Pockets, Hightower and the rest of Scott's proxies in that he's the only one who's reluctant and regrets having signed on with The Mission. This is because Sweet was a crime lord for so many years who never cared about anyone but himself.

The money raised by the proxies goes towards everything from feeding the homeless to paying the bail of jailed activists. The only indulgence Scott allows for himself is his swashbuckler wardrobe. As Sweet once put it, "Scott's the only nigger I know who doesn't wait for Halloween to dress like Flash Gordon."

Scott has never revealed exactly how many proxies there are worldwide -- no doubt out of concern for their safety should his connection to them ever be revealed. There couldn't be more than a handful since Scott thinks (and rightfully so) there are far too many people who know about his superspeed as it is.

Within the universe Scott resides, his Earth is similar to ours, but better off because of The Mission -- which accounts for any historical or political differences there may be in the storyline ...

SCOTT'S LOVERS

1. Penny Hicks is a pale, petite blonde from a small town located at the exact spot where Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee meet. Knowing Scott's weakness for hillbilly women -- and knowing that Penny secretly lusts after black men because her father was a KKK Grand Wizard -- Satan played cupid and used his influence to see to it they met. Once the two of them did come together, Scott decided to retire from being a superhero and resolved to only use his superspeed to upkeep Penny's farm. After being told in their dreams of Satan's involvement by Jarvis/Metatron, Enrique Ortega, J.D. Sweet and Annie Rosen then hunted Scott down and talked him into returning to duty before he was bound to Penny forever via a shotgun wedding.
2. Atomwoman is a redheaded superheroine from a parallel universe in which the characters from Scott's favorite comic book are real. Initially, Scott was asked to permanently reside in said universe and join a superteam called Just U.S. However, upon realizing how racist the group was (Scott was rendered to the status of an errand boy while the only other black member was Weatherman, a closeted gay who suffered constant discrimination), Scott returned to his universe -- taking Weatherman and Atomwoman with him (since she had grown tired of being the only female in Just U.S.). Weatherman settled in Africa (where he became quite popular in desert regions -- one of the historical differences between Scott's Earth and ours is Africa's partial salvation) while Atomwoman and Scott Freeman fell in love. Unfortunately, in addition to not being able to psychologically deal with how Scott's universe was comparably darker and more cynical, its presence of nuclear missiles/power plants wrecked havoc with her atomic superpowers. Eventually, Atomwoman accumulated so much excess nuclear energy she had no choice but to fly into deep space and self-detonate -- lest she destroy the Earth. This broke Scott's heart so much he swore off of women altogether, until ...
3. Desdemona (a.k.a. "Dez") is a hundred year old vampire (a very Gothic pale brunette) who was bitten by members of the Clan Calixa, an extremely elitist clique of aristocratic, Victorian vampires. Rather than feed on Humanity, Desdemona left the Clan Calixa and subsisted off of forest animals until the lack of Human blood drove her mad. Coming to an internal compromise, Desdemona decided to limit herself to the blood of criminals -- hence she became known as Vampire Vigilante. In fact, fighting crime is how Desdemona and Scott met. After getting to know each other, Scott learned the Clan Calixa was trying to tempt Desdemona into feeding on innocent Humans as they do. Once he'd had enough of their smug, condescending manner, Scott decapitated the entire clan -- thus killing them all (except one, but that's another story) and setting Desdemona free. Out of all the relationships Scott ever had, the one with Desdemona lasted the longest and was the most meaningful.