Today, students, you can enjoy The Brother from Another Planet. It's a full-length feature film, it's in colour, and it's from 1984. For some complicated copyright reason, it's gone public domain – which is a really cool thing for a cult film to do. Set aside some time and enjoy this one, or take a quick look at the clip below.

Joe Morton, the star of this one, made his Broadway debut in Hair. TV fans will know him as the eccentric professor in the series Eureka. He's a fine actor, and fun to watch.

In Brother, Morton plays a telekinetic alien who has escaped from slavery on another planet, only to find himself in New York City in the early 1980s. He's mute, and has three toes on each foot. Otherwise, he looks normal. The film is a wry commentary on contemporary society.

If you don't have time for the whole thing, here's a scene in the New York Subway. Science fiction should always be this down-to-earth and witty.

What did Joe Morton think of it all? You can read the interview here.

Why was doing a science fiction film set among African Americans in New York a breakthrough in 1984? For three reasons.

1. African Americans had to fight for recognition in the film and TV industry for an unconscionably long time. They got stereotyped. We all remember what Whoopi Goldberg (Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation) said about seeing Nichelle Nichols on the original Star Trek series. She yelled to her mother, 'Mom! There's a black lady on TV, and she's not playing the maid!'
2. Many writers, such as Rod Serling, took up science fiction largely because they wanted to discuss issues like civil rights, but couldn't get past the censors. Famously, Serling used ground-breaking actors such as Ivan Dixon in his Twilight Zone, just to sneak in themes that wouldn't play in mainstream series. He could always tell the sponsors, 'See, it's not about politics. These are just alien/time travel/space opera stories.'
3. Even when TV and film started to use black actors, they relegated them to second-class status. Lt Uhura was a glorified receptionist. It got to be a cliché of scifi films that the black actor would be the first to be killed by the alien or monster. Beaming down while black was almost as dangerous as doing it wearing a red shirt.

The Brother from Another Planet was a protest against all that. And a pretty good one. A quirky, interesting film.

Beam us aboard.