Originally Posted by
Tien Long
I can see your point. Indeed, if you've read any of my posts at the Shang-Chi or Iron Fist threads, I've stated that characters like Fu Manchu have a lot of potential. If people could look beyond the Orientalist trappings, there was a very cool character. In the comics, Fu Manchu was very smart and devious, all of the makings of a terrific villain. In the same way, I, as a Chinese-American, haven't been very offended by the Mandarin. I've only come to appreciate these characters more in recent years when writers, who have been caucasian, have tried to modernize and remove these aspects of Orientalism and yellow perilism. When the villain for Shang-Chi was in flux, I adamantly believed that the villain should be a) Shang-Chi's father and b) a villain of Chinese descent. It would have added complexity.
So, when ANY writer goes and adds complexity to these characters, that's something that should be praised. (Indeed, as Jeff Yang mentioned, the Mandarin could be used, as long as he had complexity. I believe implicit in that is that any writer could do something like that). It disheartens me that a lot of individuals (Asians, Asian-Americans, and otherwise) didn't see it that way. I wish more individuals could. (I wish that for all the other things that come loaded when we have discussions like this, i.e. Danny Rand being white or the Ancient One being caucasian in the Dr. Strange movie). It disheartens me when people automatically feel that if a white hero were to fight an Asian villain, that would be seen as racist.
Still, I can't deny that others have felt differently. Yes, having Asians at the helm of the creative process makes a difference. There are certain intricacies of Asian culture that have very, VERY unique flavors (Shang-Chi defying his father, being a failure to parental expectations, that's something that a lot of Asians know deeply about. Other cultures have that too, but there's a special Asian quality to that's hard to describe). No, there isn't anything inherently wrong when a white hero fights an Asian villain. But it's been done over and over for many a long time now. Thus, Having Asians in charge of an Asian character who for the longest time was helmed by non-Asians, that means much. Having an Asian hero fight an Asian villain, that means much. These things take away the sting. Now, I personally don't fully agree with it. (Gail Simone can write tough action stuff with male protagonists. Christopher Priest writes a mean Deathstroke. Jim Lee draws a fantastic Batman. None are the same race and/or gender of the characters they produce).
But I still see it. And maybe a film like this can lead to a day where people don't care who writes whom, plays whom, or produces whom, just as long as its a great whom.