And the importance of an Asian-led film on Hollywood’s big screen
A lot of fans are excited about the newest upcoming installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is projected to have a much larger impact than just superhero lore.
The movie, set to be released to the American public on September 3, centers around Shang-Chi, a former assassin, master of Kung Fu, and heir to the sinister organization known as the Ten Rings. After spending ten years in San Francisco, he is soon forced to revisit his past with the Ten Rings, and with it his father, the Mandarin.
This will be the first film from Marvel to feature an Asian (Chinese-American) lead as well as a primarily Chinese-American cast. Destin Daniel Cretton, the director of the film, revealed that a primary theme will also be Shang-Chi’s conflict with his identity as an Asian American, caught between two cultures, and searching for a place to belong. The cast is full of prominent Asian actors, including Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, and Awkwafina, who should be well-suited to capturing the intricacies and realities of what it means to be Asian American.
Shang-Chi, while not representative of all Asian or Asian-American experiences, is still a large step forward in the positive portrayal of Asians and Pacific Islanders in Hollywood. The hype surrounding the trailer has drawn the attention of a very wide audience while proving more accessible to audiences than past MCU films, since Shang-Chi will be less dependent on the unspoken records of Marvel lore. Moving forward, as one of the more prominent superheroes even in the original Marvel comics, Shang-Chi can be expected to make many appearances in future productions.
However, some are wary of Shang-Chi and company’s questionable comic presence, and are hoping the movie will patch up any racist connotations the character used to portray. Originally, comic Shang-Chi was the son and archenemy of Fu Manchu, an infamous Marvel supervillain. Based on a character created by English author Sax Rohmer in the early 20th century, Fu Manchu has oftentimes been criticized by the public as he is less of a person and more of a series of racist Asian stereotypes stacked upon dehumanizing Hollywood tropes. In the upcoming movie, Fu Manchu has been replaced by the Mandarin (a villain introduced but not present in Iron Man 3), but this new character is still being viewed in a relatively negative light in China due to his name and plot similarity to Fu Manchu. Hopefully, the Mandarin will be able to break free of racist Asian portrayal and be a fully fleshed-out villain in his own right.
Another potential issue worth mentioning is the limited representation of other Asian identities, both in the film and in future Marvel endeavors. A common worry among Non-Chinese Asian fans is that Marvel is only producing Shang-Chi to appease the lucrative Chinese box office, which accounts for over a quarter of global box office earnings. If Marvel’s newfound desire for Asian representation truly is solely profit-oriented, that could spell out disaster for the rest of us. Of course, as Marvel will never directly admit this to their audience, the only thing left to do is simply wait and see where this goes.
Regardless of their reasoning, however, Marvel’s influence still has the potential to open the door to new and progressive Asian representation in Hollywood as a whole. Movies like Shang-Chi also create greater avenues for Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) creators and directors such as Cretton, whose mother was Japanese-American. The people behind the soundtrack (a fire one from the sounds of it, with the likes of Sichuanese rap group Higher Brothers, Indonesian rapper Rich Brian, and the Queen of Pop herself NIKI coming together on the record) and cinematics are also largely of Asian descent. Hopefully, the projected success of Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings means we can expect to see more and more AAPI involved with both casting and production in the future, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. In the meantime, we look forward to watching the rings roll!
Bibliography
Kit, Borys. “Marvel Finds Its Shang-Chi In Chinese-Canadian Actor Simu Liu.” The Hollywood Reporter, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 July 2019, www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/marvels-shang-chi-sets-simu-liu-star-at-comic-con-1225856/.
Liu, Narayan. “Shang-Chi Has A Difficult Task In Navigating Asian-American Audiences.” CBR, Www.cbr.com, 7 June 2021, www.cbr.com/shang-chi-asian-representation/.
Marston, George. “Who Is Shang-Chi and What Are the 10 Rings?” Gamesradar, GamesRadar+, 19 July 2021, www.gamesradar.com/mcu-shang-chi-10-rings-comic-book-origins/.
Paige, Rachel. “'SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS' Reveals Additional Cast.” Marvel, Marvel Entertainment, 11 Dec. 2020, www.marvel.com/articles/movies/shang-chi-legend-ten-rings-cast.
Travis, Ben. “Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings Is Inspired By 'Jackie Chan And Wuxia'.” Empire, Bauer Media Group, 7 June 2021, www.empireonline.com/movies/news/marvel-shang-chi-inspired-by-jackie-chan-wuxia-exclusive-image/.
Various Authors. “Destin Daniel Cretton.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 July 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destin_Daniel_Cretton.
Various Authors. “Fu Manchu.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Aug. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu_Manchu.
Vary, Adam B. “What the 'Shang-Chi' Teaser Reveals About Marvel Studios' Groundbreaking Movie.” Variety, Variety Media, 20 Apr. 2021, variety.com/2021/film/news/shang-chi-teaser-details-mandarin-simu-liu-1234954927/.
Comentários