Hey all. While we're still figuring out who is going to star in Shang-Chi (crossing the fingers we get an announcement this Saturday!) just wanted to share with you an article over on Deadline concerning Asian-Americans and superhero movies. A fair chunk of it is devoted to the upcoming Shang-Chi film. It covers a lot of the expectations, fears, criticisms, and hopes of Shang-Chi. The complete link is here:
https://deadline.com/2019/07/shang-c...6132/#comments
Here are some interesting points and my thoughts:
I like that idea concerning Kung Fu. Maybe its popularity has died down in the last couple of years, but it's still known. Seeing an Asian using martial arts hasn't been done in America for a while. In terms of "the complicated history" (more on that later), I support Asians writing Asian characters. We're seeing that with Greg Pak and his rendition of Shang-Chi. He's giving a characterization of Shang that certain non-Asian writers may not know. Still, I'm always on the fence with regards to ideas of ownership. Of course, people should be proud of their cultures and be representative of that culture. We should have more of that. But some of the best expressions of culture don't necessarily have to be from the originators. I think some good representations of Shang have been written by non-Asians.But of all the Asian characters in the Marvel canon, why is Shang-Chi as the Asian entry into the MCU the best choice?
Jen Bartel, an illustrator and comic artist who is best known for work with Marvel, Disney, and as the co-creator and artist of Image Comics’ Blackbird points out: “Kung fu films have resonated with a wide range of audiences for many decades now — a character like Shang-Chi, who specializes in martial arts, specifically kung fu, could potentially bring some of that mainstream appeal while simultaneously reclaiming that piece of our culture for Asian audiences.”
In the comics, Shang-Chi is the son of a China-based globalist who raised and educated his progeny in his reclusive China compound, closed off to the outside world. The son is trained in the martial arts and developed unsurpassed skills. He is eventually introduced to the outside world to do his father’s bidding, and then has to come to grips with the fact his revered father might not be the humanitarian he has claimed to be.
Chhibber says that the forthcoming Shang-Chi adaptation is a classic superhero created and written by non-Asians, and that the movie “is an incredible way to take ownership of a character with a complicated history.”
Just covers a lot of the things we've talked about before, that Shang is rooted in stereotypes from the 1970s and there exists a plethora of other Asian characters that aren't. Still, maybe he can become flawed and human in a way. That's the way we can avoid those caricatures. Having Asian Americans involved can perhaps recontextualize those things. I'm digging the idea that people are hopeful in the way Marvel can handle this, though. Posters on this thread have been hopeful as well.However, Noguchi has some reservations about the character to lead the first Asian superhero pic. “Shang-Chi is basically every ’70s stereotype about Asians all wrapped up in one big Bruce Lee Lightman of Kung Fu personification,” he said. “I don’t know that I can look at the character from an objective point of view so I’m not entirely sure he is an appropriate entry. I feel like Jubilee, Amadeus Cho, or Nico Minoru are characters that aren’t dripping in Asian stereotypes and wouldn’t need some mystical Asian background to justify their existence in a movie.”
His concerns are valid considering the current Hollywood landscape, where audiences are looking for authenticity and will be quick to check any and all mistakes. Apprehensions about the portrayal of Shang-Chi are definitely top of mind for many as characters can fall into stereotypical tropes and not get the shine they deserve.
“I think every Asian person worries about being viewed as a caricature, and because there are so few positive representations of Asian heroes specifically, there is a heavy burden for Shang-Chi to be that for all of us,” adds Bartel. “Unfortunately, it’s simply not possible to do that with just one single character as Asians and Asian-Americans are not a monolith, so my hope is that he is allowed to be flawed in the same ways that non-Asian characters are often afforded in media.”
Chow points out characters of color created by white men have the tendency to become walking stereotypes. “That was true for Shang-Chi, who was Marvel’s attempt to ride the kung fu cinema wave the way they used Luke Cage to parrot Blaxploitation — I mean, his father is Fu Manchu for chrissakes.”
“However, when you give creators of different backgrounds the opportunities to write these stories, you’re able to move beyond the surface,” Chow continues. “Like what Greg Pak is currently doing with the character in the comics. That’s why I don’t have any apprehension for the upcoming movie. Marvel Studios is smart to hire Asian Americans to write and direct the movie, which allows us to reclaim and recontextualize a lot of the Orientalism inherent to the character.
Can the film rocket someone to stardom? Will it turn Ludi Lin or Yonson An into a superstar? I'm not too sure. MCU films have worked their magic with other actors in the past, but the hurdle is harder to overcome with Asian-American actors. In any case, I hope it does. And yes, I definitely hope that Shang-Chi opens the door for other Asian characters, whether its Amadeus Cho or Kamala Khan!For Shang-Chi, Chow points out whoever is cast in the lead “will automatically become a movie star the way Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, and Chris Pratt shot straight to the A-list, despite not having the pre-Marvel résumé.”
“I hope that this opens us up to a wide world of bringing marginalized people to the screen,” said Chhibber. “We have characters like Kamala Khan or Pravitr Prabhakar (dear Sony, please include Pravitr in the next Spider-Verse movie, thank you) who are ready to go! All steps forward in the fight for representation are beneficial, and so hopefully this opens the door to a more inclusive notion of Asian representation.”
“My hope is always that any representation just leads to more — more variety, more characters, and a wide range of stories being told and AAPI identities being explored,” said Kuhn. “When you take those first steps, there’s always so much pressure to be all things to all people — I felt that way when my Heroine Complex series debuted, that it somehow had to be everything for all Asian American women everywhere, especially those of us who love superheroes, because I know what it’s like to desperately need representation, to feel like you’ve been waiting your whole life for it.”