What's the big deal with casting the lead as a white dude? Wasn't he always white in the comics? Besides, aren't we already used to watching white dudes as leads?
If you really want to watch asian mains, why not just watch asian series from HK or japan? They area ALL asians without a single white or black dude in them.
Why the big debate about lead being white?
I don't think there really is much of a debate, just some whiney people trying to drum up controversy where none exists.
shareBecause it's 2016 and representation in TV and films is important.
Because the comics were written in the 1970s.
Because there are Asian Americans and African Americans, not just white Americans.
Use your brain. You know what the "big deal" is.
Due to the lack of moderators, trolls can ruin the IMDB message boards. Don't feed them.
And all have been represented in LC, DD, And JJ, very well. So get over it and stop beaching.
shareAnd all have been represented in LC, DD, And JJ, very well. So get over it and stop beaching.
If you knew anything about the original character, you would not make this argument. This is NOT a "white man's world" issue.
Power Man and Iron fist was a story of racial equality. Danny is a white guy raised in a mythical Asian city. He partners with a black man, his girlfriend is Chinese, and they fight crime in the streets of NYC.
Ignorance; the largest, and most untreated, disease in America.
Happiness is a warm gun.~ The Beatles
No touching guns. River ~ Firefly
It was the story of a low-selling kung-fu comic and a low-selling blaxploitation comic being pushed together.
Comics aren't carved into stone like the 10 Commandments. They can change without you filling your pants with crap.
yeah, like I wear pants.
Happiness is a warm gun.~ The Beatles
No touching guns. River ~ Firefly
Why not make Iron Fist a talking dog, with a German accent? Why bother even calling him Iron Fist? Change it to Steel Paw.
In the kingdom of the blind, you're the village idiot.
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Let me get this straight...
You pan the "trolls" in your signature and you troll that guy by instructing him to kill himself?
In your mode of thinking, are "Trolls" just people who say things you don't like or want to hear?
His comment was quite specific drawing attention through hyperbole. In essence, "Is it important to keep to the very foundations of the story and the racial dynamic that was addressed when the stories were created (Iron Fist as a privileged white man working together with Luke Cage, a poor black man) or eliminate it almost entirely in favor of catering to the political whims of today.
You may feel that addressing Asian inclusion is more important...and that's your opinion. I tend to think that casting yet another Asian American as a kung-fu master could be seen as a touch insensitive as well...and that's mine.
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There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who get binary and those who don't.
"His comment was quite specific drawing attention through hyperbole."
LOL he wouldn't even know what "hyperbole" meant.
He got the reaction he deserved.
Considering the character of Iron Fist is supposed to be an outsider of two worlds, I have no problem with him being white. If he were East Asian, it wouldn't be as interesting. The character of Iron Fist is supposed to serve as the ultimate fish out of water story.
shareConsidering the character of Iron Fist is supposed to be an outsider of two worlds, I have no problem with him being white. If he were East Asian, it wouldn't be as interesting. The character of Iron Fist is supposed to serve as the ultimate fish out of water story.
It'd actually be more interesting if he were Asian because of the frustration of being of Asian descent and discovering he really doesn't fit in the country of his ancestors. Reminiscent of African-Americans that get tired of life in America and talk about going back to Africa. First, it's a continent. Secondly, the culture is foreign.
I'm Barry Allen & I'm the fastest man alive. Darn it Wally! I'm Barry Allen & I'm the 2nd fast...
Besides, aren't we already used to watching white dudes as leads?While I don't have a problem with Iron Fist being white, the attitude that this comment represents is why some people might want a change.
Because we live in a world where whiney liberal nutjobs like to yell real loud about BS. They are an entitlement culture who cries about everything.
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dies ist meine unterschrift
I got no issue with Iron Fist being White and I'm a liberal. No it's not about being an entitlement culture, it's about not everyone in the world or this country are all White People. Not everything has to revolve around White People, there are other groups of people. However in the case of Danny Rand he's suppose to be a foreigner as a fish out of water character, so him being White makes sense and doesn't bother me in the slightest. Marvel from what I've seen clearly has no issue showing or representing diversity, they've actually done a pretty good job of it thus far, especially with their Netflix universe. They've even hinted at White Tiger in Jessica Jones, I'm hoping they do a White Tiger series because it would be nice for us Latinos to get represented as heroes to. However they've clearly had Hispanic characters appear in all the series as both allies and antagonist, I like that they showed Puerto Ricans in Harlem, especially since my mom happens to have been from Spanish Harlem. So Marvel has no issue with diversity, and I got no issue with Iron Fist being White because it fits who the character is suppose to be, being the foreigner/outsider.
As for whiny liberal nutjob, how would you like it if I was to bring up right wing nutjobs who are racists, sexist, homophobic and religious fanatics who also spend their time yelling about BS, particularly the White Christian genocide. Oh yeah and weren't those the same genius who were also complaining about how Luke Cage was racist because it didn't have enough White people or how Star Wars the Force Awakens was racist and sexist against White Men because the three new leads were Black, Hispanic and Female? Because no insanity or stupidity ever comes from the right at all.
@OP,
The big deal has to do with the "White man using exotic culture as backdrop" story that many are sick and tired of.
We've seen this story plenty of times, including from Marvel (Doctor Strange). White man goes into foreign culture and rises up to become the greatest 'insert profession/sportsperson/hero' among them.
Many nonwhites are tired of being secondary/background characters in stories.
Finn Jones may be fine in the role, and the show may even be okay. That's not the point.
Marvel had a chance to avoid the "white man in exotic locale" by casting an Asian man (they have no Asian male superheroes) and they again missed.
Marvel had a chance to avoid the "white man in exotic locale" by casting an Asian man (they have no Asian male superheroes) and they again missed.
It's political correctness masking possibly unintentional racism and cultural segregation.
Most of the people calling for the Asian lead have no intention of watching the show for any other reason. They're vain, shallow children who place diversity and political correctness over quality. They also mostly don't know dick about the character.
They use buzzwords and terms like white savior, oh the white man comes into the Asian city (interdimensional alien city with asian inspired humanoid aliens.) and becomes their best warrior and saves them all. Even though he's basically a servant to all those people, and isn't their best fighter just because he's the Iron Fist. And in his seminal run, he needed the help of a black man, and asian woman to save the day. He's neither the white savior or the best martial artist, that title belongs to Shang-Chi, a chinese man who's getting his own show in Phase 2.
They never do this until it's slightly racist. Iron Fist is a martial artist, he must be asian! Nobody ever said "Hey, Scott Lang could be asian. Lang is also an asian name and they could mix Scott with the Ultimate Wasp who was asian."
It's only when the whitey goes to some foreign place that it becomes a campaign to rally behind.
Morover, they're huge hypocrites. The same people chastizing Marvel for whitewashing the ancient one were praising the blackening of Baron Mordo.
It is phenomenal that we live in a time where Ken Watanabe could hypothetically lead his own movie. I come from a beautifully diverse family. Diversity is great when it fits. Diversity at a gun point is cancer. And in Marvel, it's led to the wasting of one of the hottest/talented actors out there, Idris Elba, and probably another with Tessa Thompson.
We should be focused on creating orignal films, and franchises, and adapting characters of those ethnic and racial origins, not lazily color swapping and banking on the name of another character. Especially not in a medium that has visual depictions of their characters.
Put LeVar Burton on Money
I agree with everything except the Idris Elba bit. I thought he was great as Heimdall. He doesn't have much to work with (and let's face it, Heimdall isn't the most complex Thor supporting character even in the comics), but I always thought he was appropriately regal and intimidating.
shareThat's kind of the point though. If there was one character you just throw one of the stunt guys as it's Heimdall. I just see it as a waste. Especially now that Black Panther is coming out. He would've made a great villain. Something that's been hit or miss in the universe.
Put LeVar Burton on Money
True. Elba could have made a great Killmonger.
shareI don´t get it, why people want Iron Fist, to be an Asian? He is born in america, grew up in america, and his parents are americans too.
shareI don´t get it, why people want Iron Fist, to be an Asian? He is born in america, grew up in america, and his parents are americans too.
I hope you realize that being born in America doesn't mean a person is default Caucasian. I know the term All-American boy is supposed to invoke the image of a 6'3 strapping blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy from Iowa, but non-whites are "real" Americans too.
I'm Barry Allen & I'm the fastest man alive. Darn it Wally! I'm Barry Allen & I'm the 2nd fast...
[deleted]
Is Shang-Chi really getting his own show? I have not heard of this.
Anyway, I agree a lot with what you say and I actually am Asian.
I'm only somewhat familiar with the character of Iron Fist but considering this version is about Danny Rand then he should remain as originally depicted (being Caucasian). If in the future Marvel wants to have an Asian person or some other person of color as Iron Fist, whether in comic form or TV, I think they can. It should just be another character with a different name holding the the title of "Iron Fist". Sort of like what they did with Ms. Marvel and Ultimate Spider-Man.
I'm not that bothered with Tilda Swinton being The Ancient One although I personally don't think it would have been super difficult to have wrote the character as Asian and stay clear of stereotypes at the same time in that specific case. I was not happy how Margaret Cho handled revealing that she had an email exchange with Tilda.
What I most definitely agree with for increasing diversity is the creation of original new characters and/or bringing closer to the forefront existing characters who already are of color, etc.
I don't think it's crazy to expect the representation of diversity to match the local population (whether real or fictional world). I can see how a slight over-representation might be needed at certain key points to kickstart the process but generally speaking I think once the movement settles that diversity could generally be proportionate to the population of the communities it is trying to represent. Sometimes (and I don't know if this is actually the case) it can FEEL like those asking for diversity are asking for more than what the proportionate population actually is. That might explain why some say diversity in media is such a big deal. I think when things are disproportionate then that is when we need to see if there is discrimination actually happening (ex. Prison population).
Shang Chi was very quietly reported as part of phase 2 of Netflix. I was shocked that I didn't see it reported outside of comicbook.com and comicbookmovie.com. Maybe it was unsubstantiated. But I think that with all the controversy, they'll either introduce him in another show to test out a possible series like Punisher. Or do a Daughters of the Dragon series with Colleen Wing and Misty Knight.
What's funny about the people calling for diversity is so often do I hear them call for it, but when the time comes to support Daniel Wu's Into the Badlands, or Marco Polo's 99% Chinese cast, it's nothing but excuses.
Iron Fist is a title. I'd be very interested in seeing a future version like Batman Beyond or Spider-Man 2099. Or just if the comics ever got around to the next one. Though Marvel's been pretty 50/50 with new versions of old heroes. I like the idea of Carol becoming Captain Marvel and Sam becoming Captain America. But the execution on most of these has been lackluster for me. Even more so when it's entirely original characters taking the mantle.
Your comment about it not being hard to have written in non-stereotypical ways for Ancient One is something I want to staple to Shane Black's forehead because he went on about the Mandarin being an offensive character from the Yellow Peril days and how he wouldn't do the character. Never mind that the Mandarin from the comics has evolved past the Fu-Man Chu wearing, yellow skinned robe wearing villain and has been depicted as a Chinese industrialist before. He even appeared as such in the Iron Man script before rewrites. Then he tried to modernize him with the rest of Iron man's origins, making him middle eastern instead, but then as an extra slap to the face to the fans, it was all just a joke and here's a junkie actor.
Any writer worth his salt could take an offensive character and reinvent it, and Shane Black is talented. So he can't even hide his disinterest or hatred for the character behind some "it's offensive" barrier.
Here's hoping there's more clarity on the Shang-Chi front once Iron Fist is out. I know he was rumored to appear in it at one point. Maybe he'll literally be their Punisher and get a spinoff announced by summertime.
They all strive to deviate from the norm, but collectively swarm to be all the same.