The Problem with Netflix's Iron Fist - Issue At Hand, Episode 12
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Date: 2023-12-10
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Comments and reviews: 30
-KahlevN
Something that many people are missing is that Danny's white race IS actually important to the character, far more so than any connection he has to Asian culture. For the reason as to why, you must understand that Luke Cage was the first African American comic hero who starred in his own comic. Before him characters sere either African (Black Panther) or side characters (Falcon etc, and Black Culture in America was never really addressed in them.
Now think on the fact that Luke Cage's best friend, in the 70's, where race relations were still sensitive and needed good role models, was a rich white boy that should have had little in common with him. White v Black relations were commented on regularly in the early comics, and especially with the issues we have today still with police etc, it's still an important dynamic to showcase. I imagine it will play a much larger in the Defenders series as the two characters get to know each other, but either way his race being white was very intentional and very important to the stories that were told regarding the Defenders.
As an example of how important a role race played in The Defenders, in the original Comics Luke Cage marries and has children with Jessica Jones, a white woman, while Iron Fist settles down with Misty Knight, a black woman, (he does not date Colleen Wing iirc. This of course was that a time or the idea of biracial couples was still very controversial, and is just one example of them using the Defenders, and Luke and Danny's comparative race, as a way to comment on it.
I do understand the concerns still of the idea of them co-opting Asian martial arts in the process of giving Danny Rand his powers. But as the vast majority of the storylines take place in New York, Danny being Caucasian and interacting with Black culture in many ways plays a much larger role then his interaction with Asian culture, which is generally kept to his past and a few scattered villains.
In short, his Martial Arts background is really actually a fairly minor character trait, and is just a way to make him powerful as a hero, it could have been Alien fighters that he had learned from, and it would have had largely a similar result on his story (Martial Arts were chosen as a power simply because Kung Fu movies were booming at the time, Bruce Lee, etc. While his actual character storylines come from the fact that he, a rich White guy, is best friends with a Black man from Brooklyn, and what that meant 40 years ago, and what it can mean today given some of the still currently existing issues.
Personally I'd love see an all new Asian American comic hero created, who touches on some of the issues facing that community both here and with relation to their ancestral lands. But not at the cost of one of the more important comics in regards to Black and White relations in US history, something that still is worth using as a platform to have those discussions today.
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Something that many people are missing is that Danny's white race IS actually important to the character, far more so than any connection he has to Asian culture. For the reason as to why, you must understand that Luke Cage was the first African American comic hero who starred in his own comic. Before him characters sere either African (Black Panther) or side characters (Falcon etc, and Black Culture in America was never really addressed in them.
Now think on the fact that Luke Cage's best friend, in the 70's, where race relations were still sensitive and needed good role models, was a rich white boy that should have had little in common with him. White v Black relations were commented on regularly in the early comics, and especially with the issues we have today still with police etc, it's still an important dynamic to showcase. I imagine it will play a much larger in the Defenders series as the two characters get to know each other, but either way his race being white was very intentional and very important to the stories that were told regarding the Defenders.
As an example of how important a role race played in The Defenders, in the original Comics Luke Cage marries and has children with Jessica Jones, a white woman, while Iron Fist settles down with Misty Knight, a black woman, (he does not date Colleen Wing iirc. This of course was that a time or the idea of biracial couples was still very controversial, and is just one example of them using the Defenders, and Luke and Danny's comparative race, as a way to comment on it.
I do understand the concerns still of the idea of them co-opting Asian martial arts in the process of giving Danny Rand his powers. But as the vast majority of the storylines take place in New York, Danny being Caucasian and interacting with Black culture in many ways plays a much larger role then his interaction with Asian culture, which is generally kept to his past and a few scattered villains.
In short, his Martial Arts background is really actually a fairly minor character trait, and is just a way to make him powerful as a hero, it could have been Alien fighters that he had learned from, and it would have had largely a similar result on his story (Martial Arts were chosen as a power simply because Kung Fu movies were booming at the time, Bruce Lee, etc. While his actual character storylines come from the fact that he, a rich White guy, is best friends with a Black man from Brooklyn, and what that meant 40 years ago, and what it can mean today given some of the still currently existing issues.
Personally I'd love see an all new Asian American comic hero created, who touches on some of the issues facing that community both here and with relation to their ancestral lands. But not at the cost of one of the more important comics in regards to Black and White relations in US history, something that still is worth using as a platform to have those discussions today.
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-sirperybLakeney
I disagree with some of what Alex has to say. I think a distinction needs to be made between the idea of the White Saviour and Mighty Whitey.
Iron Fist was not conceived as a White Saviour -quite the opposite. He is a character that returns to the Occident with skills, wisdom and power from the East and uses them to save the West. Kunlun was not depicted as dependent on being saved by Danny. I think the suggestion that the writers of the early Iron Fist stories didn't know better is unfair and the adoption of condescending hindsight is a bit complacent; and perhaps even arrogant. That he is an example of Mighty Whitey is certainly accurate -he is a white dude who becomes the best at Asian skills. However, that was necessary for the character's creation as they already had a successful Asian martial arts character in Shang-Chi and needed something distinctively different (as they would do with the Sons of the Tiger and ultimately the White Tiger as well) rather than another Bruce Lee clone. It's not that they were ignorant of the danger of making it look like heroes had to be Caucasian because it literally didn't apply to them as they already had a very successful Asian Kung Fu hero.
As for the casting of the TV show I agree it could have been a nice idea to use an Asian actor, and the lack of Asian leads in Marvel televisual products is ongoing and problematic, although the question of stereotyping is arguably even more offensive. Perhaps it is a missed opportunity which is a shame but the idea that it was somehow incumbent upon Marvel to change the character's ethnicity and that people should be angry about this is ridiculous.
FWIW I think Marvel's best opportunity to cast an Asian lead was in Ant Man as the Ultimate version of the Wasp was Asian and there would've been no question of stereotyping. To my mind that was a much bigger missed opportunity than Iron Fist. Doctor Strange would've been a good one too as magic is certainly not an exclusively Asian idea (although Cumberpatch was perfect for it as it turned out.
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I disagree with some of what Alex has to say. I think a distinction needs to be made between the idea of the White Saviour and Mighty Whitey.
Iron Fist was not conceived as a White Saviour -quite the opposite. He is a character that returns to the Occident with skills, wisdom and power from the East and uses them to save the West. Kunlun was not depicted as dependent on being saved by Danny. I think the suggestion that the writers of the early Iron Fist stories didn't know better is unfair and the adoption of condescending hindsight is a bit complacent; and perhaps even arrogant. That he is an example of Mighty Whitey is certainly accurate -he is a white dude who becomes the best at Asian skills. However, that was necessary for the character's creation as they already had a successful Asian martial arts character in Shang-Chi and needed something distinctively different (as they would do with the Sons of the Tiger and ultimately the White Tiger as well) rather than another Bruce Lee clone. It's not that they were ignorant of the danger of making it look like heroes had to be Caucasian because it literally didn't apply to them as they already had a very successful Asian Kung Fu hero.
As for the casting of the TV show I agree it could have been a nice idea to use an Asian actor, and the lack of Asian leads in Marvel televisual products is ongoing and problematic, although the question of stereotyping is arguably even more offensive. Perhaps it is a missed opportunity which is a shame but the idea that it was somehow incumbent upon Marvel to change the character's ethnicity and that people should be angry about this is ridiculous.
FWIW I think Marvel's best opportunity to cast an Asian lead was in Ant Man as the Ultimate version of the Wasp was Asian and there would've been no question of stereotyping. To my mind that was a much bigger missed opportunity than Iron Fist. Doctor Strange would've been a good one too as magic is certainly not an exclusively Asian idea (although Cumberpatch was perfect for it as it turned out.
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-Ruspanic
Iron Fist had a lot of issues but this is not one of them. The worst thing you can say about the -white guy trains in an Asian mountaintop monastery and learns martial arts- plotline is that it's cliche and overused. Fine, but if you're going to do an Iron Fist show (or a Doctor Strange movie) you have to maintain the core elements of the story, so there's not much you can do about the cliche. There are loads of stories in many cultures that follow the same or very similar plots. I can even use Mulan as an example: instead of a white guy entering an Asian world, learning their skills and saving everyone, it's a woman entering a man's world, learning their skills and saving everyone.
It's not racist. It's not -problematic-. It's not even a -white savior- thing, because in the show and comics Iron Fist spends most of his time defending New York, not Kunlun or anywhere in Asia. It doesn't imply that Asian people can't defend themselves, because in the story Asian people are the ones who teach him to be a badass, and there have been loads of Asian Iron Fists (and Sorcerers Supreme) in the past.
Also, what's this nonsense about characters having to be similar to you in order for you to like or relate to them? I'm not blind, female or black but I still enjoyed the hell out of Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. For that matter I also don't have ninja skills, super strength or unbreakable skin. I'm not a lawyer, I don't have PTSD, I haven't been wrongly imprisoned. I'm not even a New Yorker. And yet I liked all these shows even though I have almost nothing in common with the characters. Hmm. it's almost as if storytelling, character development, action choreography, production value and dozens of other things are way more important than which demographic the protagonist belongs to.
The only people who can honestly believe that -cultural appropriation- is oppression are people who have never experienced oppression. Cultural appropriation is a first-world problem.
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Iron Fist had a lot of issues but this is not one of them. The worst thing you can say about the -white guy trains in an Asian mountaintop monastery and learns martial arts- plotline is that it's cliche and overused. Fine, but if you're going to do an Iron Fist show (or a Doctor Strange movie) you have to maintain the core elements of the story, so there's not much you can do about the cliche. There are loads of stories in many cultures that follow the same or very similar plots. I can even use Mulan as an example: instead of a white guy entering an Asian world, learning their skills and saving everyone, it's a woman entering a man's world, learning their skills and saving everyone.
It's not racist. It's not -problematic-. It's not even a -white savior- thing, because in the show and comics Iron Fist spends most of his time defending New York, not Kunlun or anywhere in Asia. It doesn't imply that Asian people can't defend themselves, because in the story Asian people are the ones who teach him to be a badass, and there have been loads of Asian Iron Fists (and Sorcerers Supreme) in the past.
Also, what's this nonsense about characters having to be similar to you in order for you to like or relate to them? I'm not blind, female or black but I still enjoyed the hell out of Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. For that matter I also don't have ninja skills, super strength or unbreakable skin. I'm not a lawyer, I don't have PTSD, I haven't been wrongly imprisoned. I'm not even a New Yorker. And yet I liked all these shows even though I have almost nothing in common with the characters. Hmm. it's almost as if storytelling, character development, action choreography, production value and dozens of other things are way more important than which demographic the protagonist belongs to.
The only people who can honestly believe that -cultural appropriation- is oppression are people who have never experienced oppression. Cultural appropriation is a first-world problem.
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-kaleknelson8429
Why does his Skin Color matter. If him being white is not essential to his character, him being any other skin color would be just as in consequential. Responding to the white washing argument, It's nothing I've ever had any kind of problem with personally and have trouble fully understanding it, from what I do understand most of the whitewashing argument comes from the adaptation not being faithful to the source material. With Avatar the Last Airbender for example, mixing up the races of the characters for a beloved franchise grated on many fans. I personally have noticed that there is another element to this as well. Weather or not the adaptation is faithful to the source material or not tends to be of little consequence if the adaptation is good. The last Airbender's whitewashing backlash was not nearly as bad as the backlash they got for ruining Sokka Iroh and Aang. Incredibly popular characters from the show who's personalities were completely warped into something uninteresting. Where as the movie adaptation of the popular video game Tekken, didn't receive nearly as much flack for not being faithful to the source material considering the fighting moves were authentic, and the costumes were spot on. The movie wasn't great but simple elements such as proper recreations of original elements did help it along. It feels like political matters get dragged into art far more often than it even deserves to.
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Why does his Skin Color matter. If him being white is not essential to his character, him being any other skin color would be just as in consequential. Responding to the white washing argument, It's nothing I've ever had any kind of problem with personally and have trouble fully understanding it, from what I do understand most of the whitewashing argument comes from the adaptation not being faithful to the source material. With Avatar the Last Airbender for example, mixing up the races of the characters for a beloved franchise grated on many fans. I personally have noticed that there is another element to this as well. Weather or not the adaptation is faithful to the source material or not tends to be of little consequence if the adaptation is good. The last Airbender's whitewashing backlash was not nearly as bad as the backlash they got for ruining Sokka Iroh and Aang. Incredibly popular characters from the show who's personalities were completely warped into something uninteresting. Where as the movie adaptation of the popular video game Tekken, didn't receive nearly as much flack for not being faithful to the source material considering the fighting moves were authentic, and the costumes were spot on. The movie wasn't great but simple elements such as proper recreations of original elements did help it along. It feels like political matters get dragged into art far more often than it even deserves to.
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polygon
Well that's might racist. Iron Fist is a martial arts master so he MUST be asian? That is soooo stereotypic it's not even funny. Part of the character of the character is the fact that he is NOT asian. I have no issue with race or gender or any such, until you say it has to change to please the masses. I mean, if race is no big deal then it won't matter if Storm were white, if Luke Cage were hispanic, if Batman were black, or Superman asian, or Wonder Woman trans gender. Oh, I know, let's film Warriors of the Shao Lin with a multicultural cheerleading squad. And if we're discussing asian, which asian do we pick? Can't risk offending anyone if we made him Chinese and he should been Japanese or Korean, etc. ALSO, it is not absurd a notion for someone to enter a new culture and embrace it, learn it immerse themself in it, train, succeed, excel. Leave things alone. Stop messing with the Canon of established characters for pointless PC points. I mean look how well that didn't work th the last Fantastic 4. Finally, I watched the whole season, and while Finn needs to practice his moves some the only offense I could really find was all the whining Danny is doing. (And you want to talk racial stereotyping, why is the Hand asian ninjas)
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Well that's might racist. Iron Fist is a martial arts master so he MUST be asian? That is soooo stereotypic it's not even funny. Part of the character of the character is the fact that he is NOT asian. I have no issue with race or gender or any such, until you say it has to change to please the masses. I mean, if race is no big deal then it won't matter if Storm were white, if Luke Cage were hispanic, if Batman were black, or Superman asian, or Wonder Woman trans gender. Oh, I know, let's film Warriors of the Shao Lin with a multicultural cheerleading squad. And if we're discussing asian, which asian do we pick? Can't risk offending anyone if we made him Chinese and he should been Japanese or Korean, etc. ALSO, it is not absurd a notion for someone to enter a new culture and embrace it, learn it immerse themself in it, train, succeed, excel. Leave things alone. Stop messing with the Canon of established characters for pointless PC points. I mean look how well that didn't work th the last Fantastic 4. Finally, I watched the whole season, and while Finn needs to practice his moves some the only offense I could really find was all the whining Danny is doing. (And you want to talk racial stereotyping, why is the Hand asian ninjas)
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-staggs9696
The ethnicity of Finn Jones is not the problem with Netflix's Iron Fist. The problem with Iron Fist is bad writing, poor training of some of the actors, the absence of a clear villain, the ultra slow pace right out the gate that causes people to stop watching not even half-way through the second episode. There is no comic relief, there is no particularly lovable character, the main character is all over the place and out of character through the first half of the show, and his poor fighting skills, once again, discredit him even more.
If a writer wants to make their character white and have him go learn martial arts and be a shaolin master, let that writer be. Saying it should be someone else cast because of culture or what not is ridiculous because it attacks the freedom of imagination and dream that people have. It would send a message to kids saying -if you're not from this place, you can't be this, you can't do that, you'll never achieve these things, - when the point is to tell them to dream big because they can achieve whatever they want to.
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The ethnicity of Finn Jones is not the problem with Netflix's Iron Fist. The problem with Iron Fist is bad writing, poor training of some of the actors, the absence of a clear villain, the ultra slow pace right out the gate that causes people to stop watching not even half-way through the second episode. There is no comic relief, there is no particularly lovable character, the main character is all over the place and out of character through the first half of the show, and his poor fighting skills, once again, discredit him even more.
If a writer wants to make their character white and have him go learn martial arts and be a shaolin master, let that writer be. Saying it should be someone else cast because of culture or what not is ridiculous because it attacks the freedom of imagination and dream that people have. It would send a message to kids saying -if you're not from this place, you can't be this, you can't do that, you'll never achieve these things, - when the point is to tell them to dream big because they can achieve whatever they want to.
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-nervclax7458
Typical SJW #Gamergate intersectional feminism crap from gaming media. You even went so far as to bring up Ghost in the Shell again. ScarJo didn't take the role from a Japanese actresses. The Japanese creators and producers couldn't be happier with ScarJo, and it's their money on the line. Please tell me which actresses could have carried this multimillion dollar film? SJWs shouldn't be bashing women in Hollywood for accepting $10M roles. Cultural appropriation is not a thing. When one culture borrows from another to create something new, it doesn't adversely affect the former. You also don't take into account the -intent- which is escapism and entertainment, as if a comic book or TV show could diminish the value of another culture. When Asian cultures -appropriate- Western traditions, nobody bats an eye, and neither do I.
You then go on to say that changing the character's race would have created just as many problems as it solves. There's just no pleasing the SJW.
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Typical SJW #Gamergate intersectional feminism crap from gaming media. You even went so far as to bring up Ghost in the Shell again. ScarJo didn't take the role from a Japanese actresses. The Japanese creators and producers couldn't be happier with ScarJo, and it's their money on the line. Please tell me which actresses could have carried this multimillion dollar film? SJWs shouldn't be bashing women in Hollywood for accepting $10M roles. Cultural appropriation is not a thing. When one culture borrows from another to create something new, it doesn't adversely affect the former. You also don't take into account the -intent- which is escapism and entertainment, as if a comic book or TV show could diminish the value of another culture. When Asian cultures -appropriate- Western traditions, nobody bats an eye, and neither do I.
You then go on to say that changing the character's race would have created just as many problems as it solves. There's just no pleasing the SJW.
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-seishinteki25
Hooo boy, those dislikes.
Anyway, I'm really curious as to why Marvel insists on adapting these properties that are inevitably going to be controversial. I mean, I guess both Iron Fist and Doctor Strange did well enough financially, which is all they really care about, but when they have so many characters (both white and of color) that don't have an inherently loaded history, why bother with the PR nightmares?
It's not like there was an overwhelming demand for those adaptations. Most of the consumers for these shows and movies don't read comics anyway, they just check them out because they see Marvel/Disney is associated. They can basically adapt whatever they want bolstered by the Marvel name alone, why Iron Fist? Plus, they've been slacking on the writing since forever.
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Hooo boy, those dislikes.
Anyway, I'm really curious as to why Marvel insists on adapting these properties that are inevitably going to be controversial. I mean, I guess both Iron Fist and Doctor Strange did well enough financially, which is all they really care about, but when they have so many characters (both white and of color) that don't have an inherently loaded history, why bother with the PR nightmares?
It's not like there was an overwhelming demand for those adaptations. Most of the consumers for these shows and movies don't read comics anyway, they just check them out because they see Marvel/Disney is associated. They can basically adapt whatever they want bolstered by the Marvel name alone, why Iron Fist? Plus, they've been slacking on the writing since forever.
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-SpiderSimpleton
Lord have mercy! The dude's race doesn't matter! Danny is a white man. The show is dreadful! The producers aught to be sued by Marvel for malpractice. They treated a damned superhero show as if they were making a season of House Of Cards half the damned time, and the rest was lazy action filler that makes the CW fluff look like The Raid. All this nonsense about people having a problem with the show because Danny is white is ridiculous. The show is dreck and set back these Netflix comic book adaptations a few rungs down the ladder. Stop engaging the insecure bigots or MCU superfans looking to validate themselves through Netflix's version of Danny Rand's existence. Sheesh! This isn't that deep. The show is bad, people. Let's move on!
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Lord have mercy! The dude's race doesn't matter! Danny is a white man. The show is dreadful! The producers aught to be sued by Marvel for malpractice. They treated a damned superhero show as if they were making a season of House Of Cards half the damned time, and the rest was lazy action filler that makes the CW fluff look like The Raid. All this nonsense about people having a problem with the show because Danny is white is ridiculous. The show is dreck and set back these Netflix comic book adaptations a few rungs down the ladder. Stop engaging the insecure bigots or MCU superfans looking to validate themselves through Netflix's version of Danny Rand's existence. Sheesh! This isn't that deep. The show is bad, people. Let's move on!
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-BenSal891
So. dropping a white guy into a magical city in Asia where he masters their ways is insensitive because it's a white guy in Asia mastering Asian martial arts.
It would be less insensitive if it were a half-Asian guy, I get that. The guy would be Asian (partially) mastering Asian martial arts.
So. why would it be less insensitive if it were a black guy or Latina girl? Those are not Asian (or partially Asian) either.
It seems it's not about -non-Asian characters mastering Asian martial arts- is it? It seems to be about -white character mastering Asian martial arts-.
I smell racism, but it's okay to be racist as long as we're being sensitive about non-white people.
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So. dropping a white guy into a magical city in Asia where he masters their ways is insensitive because it's a white guy in Asia mastering Asian martial arts.
It would be less insensitive if it were a half-Asian guy, I get that. The guy would be Asian (partially) mastering Asian martial arts.
So. why would it be less insensitive if it were a black guy or Latina girl? Those are not Asian (or partially Asian) either.
It seems it's not about -non-Asian characters mastering Asian martial arts- is it? It seems to be about -white character mastering Asian martial arts-.
I smell racism, but it's okay to be racist as long as we're being sensitive about non-white people.
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-JingeKing
You are an idiot plain and simple. Playing on this random new trend appearing on the internet with all these new -Racial Aware People. - People like you create drama where you can to get the views and what ever you are searching for but in reality you are misleading people into your own sad world.
The show is following from the comic series, as do most other shows. And not all shows follow this same agenda as you made your self believe with -White people being heros whilst all others are bad. - Just look at the other shows and movies out there xD
Before you start to try and -Make the world a better place- Actually understand what you are talking about please.
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You are an idiot plain and simple. Playing on this random new trend appearing on the internet with all these new -Racial Aware People. - People like you create drama where you can to get the views and what ever you are searching for but in reality you are misleading people into your own sad world.
The show is following from the comic series, as do most other shows. And not all shows follow this same agenda as you made your self believe with -White people being heros whilst all others are bad. - Just look at the other shows and movies out there xD
Before you start to try and -Make the world a better place- Actually understand what you are talking about please.
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-jbmarkowicz9209
First off, Danny didn't master a culture better than the people who made it, he mastered it better than -other children-, who trained the same as him under the same Asian trainer, who is still superior in terms of skill.
There is no -white savior trope-.
The entire point of Danny is that he earned the mantle of Iron Fist due to the motivation of being isolated by the K'un-Lun natives because he was white. On top of that, once you change one character's race because it's -cooler- or -makes more sense- what's to stop them from making Miles white or Silk Arabian? Leave the source material be.
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First off, Danny didn't master a culture better than the people who made it, he mastered it better than -other children-, who trained the same as him under the same Asian trainer, who is still superior in terms of skill.
There is no -white savior trope-.
The entire point of Danny is that he earned the mantle of Iron Fist due to the motivation of being isolated by the K'un-Lun natives because he was white. On top of that, once you change one character's race because it's -cooler- or -makes more sense- what's to stop them from making Miles white or Silk Arabian? Leave the source material be.
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-samr8889
I will defend ghost in the shell, becouse well, you can argue that the narative make a Point of her being white. She is a product an artificialy made -thing-. She is made by the -default standards-, so it would make sense for this huge cynical company to make here white.
! Spoilers!
It also makes sense when you consider the fact that she ISNT actualy white. Giving her a body that looks nothing like her original one parly makes it harder for her to remeber her past, but is in a way a comment on, not a product of white washing in and off itself.
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I will defend ghost in the shell, becouse well, you can argue that the narative make a Point of her being white. She is a product an artificialy made -thing-. She is made by the -default standards-, so it would make sense for this huge cynical company to make here white.
! Spoilers!
It also makes sense when you consider the fact that she ISNT actualy white. Giving her a body that looks nothing like her original one parly makes it harder for her to remeber her past, but is in a way a comment on, not a product of white washing in and off itself.
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-brianhogg358
I would have enjoyed Danny Rand -- or whoever -- to be of a different ethnicity, because it would've been different. That said, I also am fine with him being white -- especially when the white saviour-y story is done sensitively enough, as it seems to have been with Iron Fist.
That said, saying -fans wanted- as though we're a single group is misleading. Some fans wanted him to be of a different ethnicity. Some were indifferent. Some wanted him to be white. Some, I imagine, didn't want Iron Fist to even be made into a TV show.
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I would have enjoyed Danny Rand -- or whoever -- to be of a different ethnicity, because it would've been different. That said, I also am fine with him being white -- especially when the white saviour-y story is done sensitively enough, as it seems to have been with Iron Fist.
That said, saying -fans wanted- as though we're a single group is misleading. Some fans wanted him to be of a different ethnicity. Some were indifferent. Some wanted him to be white. Some, I imagine, didn't want Iron Fist to even be made into a TV show.
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polygon
I think asian--white- hybrid would ve been the best. I think plain assian wouldnt have made him be that alien to the enviroment, I like the idea of im looking somewhat different than the race there.
I dont really have a problem with the -mighty whitey- thing. I dont think there is anything wrong with using some stereotypes in stories.
I mean, are we pretending stereotypes dont exist? having a stereotypical character doesnt immidiately mean you are saying everyone of said gender, skin color, etc is like that.
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I think asian--white- hybrid would ve been the best. I think plain assian wouldnt have made him be that alien to the enviroment, I like the idea of im looking somewhat different than the race there.
I dont really have a problem with the -mighty whitey- thing. I dont think there is anything wrong with using some stereotypes in stories.
I mean, are we pretending stereotypes dont exist? having a stereotypical character doesnt immidiately mean you are saying everyone of said gender, skin color, etc is like that.
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-LifeisLivid
People who had a problem with Danny being cast as a white person are either people who don't read comics in the first place or are people just looking for a reason to complain about whitey. If you don't like the thought of a white character being casted by a white actor then it's simple, don't watch the show if it offends you so much. Stop trying to tell others with no problem with the show or the casting of it how we should feel about it. We don't care about your feelings.
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People who had a problem with Danny being cast as a white person are either people who don't read comics in the first place or are people just looking for a reason to complain about whitey. If you don't like the thought of a white character being casted by a white actor then it's simple, don't watch the show if it offends you so much. Stop trying to tell others with no problem with the show or the casting of it how we should feel about it. We don't care about your feelings.
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-olgavalentova2439
I can agree with you on one thing - there's definitely racism present in Danny's story, and that's the racism he experienced when in Kun Lun. In the comics, the people there didn't accept him because of his race and nationality, and that's why he had to work twice as hard to win their respect. That's why he's better at martial arts than anybody in Kun Lun - he had to be better than they were, because otherwise they would never see him as their equal.
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I can agree with you on one thing - there's definitely racism present in Danny's story, and that's the racism he experienced when in Kun Lun. In the comics, the people there didn't accept him because of his race and nationality, and that's why he had to work twice as hard to win their respect. That's why he's better at martial arts than anybody in Kun Lun - he had to be better than they were, because otherwise they would never see him as their equal.
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-munounom8991
How does this make sense? How would the series become better just by switching a characters skin color?
Everything concidering the series are full of none whites, makeing me think that the entire point here is the pure hatred of whites. Just think about it, if we remove Danny Rand from the list of good guys, this series end up with only one white person that is good(ish. And the Meachums being the only whites, so what is the problem here?
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How does this make sense? How would the series become better just by switching a characters skin color?
Everything concidering the series are full of none whites, makeing me think that the entire point here is the pure hatred of whites. Just think about it, if we remove Danny Rand from the list of good guys, this series end up with only one white person that is good(ish. And the Meachums being the only whites, so what is the problem here?
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-TinyGiiant
this video makes me upset because it barely addresses the actual problems with the show, it doesn't say anything about how the performances are relatively weak or that the effects are lacking or even how the story is just trying to be the arrow tv show but for marvel. Sure diversity might be a problem but it is getting better. instead you chose to rant about that the whole time and give a shrug and an eh, when asked about the writing
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this video makes me upset because it barely addresses the actual problems with the show, it doesn't say anything about how the performances are relatively weak or that the effects are lacking or even how the story is just trying to be the arrow tv show but for marvel. Sure diversity might be a problem but it is getting better. instead you chose to rant about that the whole time and give a shrug and an eh, when asked about the writing
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-ZarliWin
I'm part Chinese and I don't see the problem with him being white. Look yes, the trope has been done to death, but I'd rather the character stay in line with the source. Times are changing and we are slowly winning this issues of social recognition. There will be more roles for Asians as to. E progresses. I don't think keeping him white is inherently harmful.
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I'm part Chinese and I don't see the problem with him being white. Look yes, the trope has been done to death, but I'd rather the character stay in line with the source. Times are changing and we are slowly winning this issues of social recognition. There will be more roles for Asians as to. E progresses. I don't think keeping him white is inherently harmful.
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-Insanity-kk7rh
as someone from a different country i dont understand whats the issue with americans and race, or skin color, does this have something to do with what europeans did in the past? if thats the case you re all very ignorant, you see my country was conquered by the spanish my people suffered a lot but that was in the past the now is a different case.
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as someone from a different country i dont understand whats the issue with americans and race, or skin color, does this have something to do with what europeans did in the past? if thats the case you re all very ignorant, you see my country was conquered by the spanish my people suffered a lot but that was in the past the now is a different case.
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-chadfurlong2919
I'm not saying he had to be Asian, but it would have been a cool bit of diversity for the Defenders. Also, having been disappointed by the show and Finn Jones's performance, I can only imagine how awesome it would have been to have Daniel Wu play his character instead. Albeit old, he'd have nailed some awesome action sequences.
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I'm not saying he had to be Asian, but it would have been a cool bit of diversity for the Defenders. Also, having been disappointed by the show and Finn Jones's performance, I can only imagine how awesome it would have been to have Daniel Wu play his character instead. Albeit old, he'd have nailed some awesome action sequences.
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-noty2673
videos like this are the reason how trump won. if its racist to have white characters like this retarded video claims why not make your own and submit to marvel as a writer instead of trying to change the already established characters to suit your political agenda? that too much work appearently for you pitiful sjw's.
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videos like this are the reason how trump won. if its racist to have white characters like this retarded video claims why not make your own and submit to marvel as a writer instead of trying to change the already established characters to suit your political agenda? that too much work appearently for you pitiful sjw's.
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-SenstrixGS
I dnt understand why this show is so bad. I'd give it 5 stars. I've never really liked marvel. But once my uncle showed me this. I fell in love. Also I think it would be better if he was not Asian. A white boy that learned kungfu. That's a first. This is just my opinion. For me, best show I've ever watched.
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I dnt understand why this show is so bad. I'd give it 5 stars. I've never really liked marvel. But once my uncle showed me this. I fell in love. Also I think it would be better if he was not Asian. A white boy that learned kungfu. That's a first. This is just my opinion. For me, best show I've ever watched.
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polygon
Lets be 100% honest, it being a white-dude is NOT the reason this show sucked. It sucked because it was garbage writing. That's it. Had no problem with the actors. The storytelling was shit, the 'martial-arts' was CW level, when its supposed to be a Kung-Fu series. But mostly just the storytelling.
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Lets be 100% honest, it being a white-dude is NOT the reason this show sucked. It sucked because it was garbage writing. That's it. Had no problem with the actors. The storytelling was shit, the 'martial-arts' was CW level, when its supposed to be a Kung-Fu series. But mostly just the storytelling.
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-sharkofjoy
I had literally never heard of Iron Fist, but I was watching The Defenders and after less than two episodes, I was fast-forwarding past all of his scenes. He's beyond cringe-inducing. Glad to know a little more about how that disaster came to be, because it was truly painful to endure.
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I had literally never heard of Iron Fist, but I was watching The Defenders and after less than two episodes, I was fast-forwarding past all of his scenes. He's beyond cringe-inducing. Glad to know a little more about how that disaster came to be, because it was truly painful to endure.
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-leejones2113
It's simple it not that deep. Ppl for once want to see the character for the race they should be. Why is that a problem? At the same time I feel that in the material sense the beginning luke cage was black and should be. If iron fist is white then he should be.
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It's simple it not that deep. Ppl for once want to see the character for the race they should be. Why is that a problem? At the same time I feel that in the material sense the beginning luke cage was black and should be. If iron fist is white then he should be.
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-CthulhuTheory
-It's great for a person to want to immerse themselves in another culture as a way of expanding their experience. -
. So long as they don't become better at the things people from that culture are known for.
Fixed that for you, polygon.
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-It's great for a person to want to immerse themselves in another culture as a way of expanding their experience. -
. So long as they don't become better at the things people from that culture are known for.
Fixed that for you, polygon.
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-DaxRaider
i hate it when they change the original and he is white in comics. its the story of this rich white kid learn martial arts in asia it makes NO sense having him asia.
show was great actor was awesome best casting decision
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i hate it when they change the original and he is white in comics. its the story of this rich white kid learn martial arts in asia it makes NO sense having him asia.
show was great actor was awesome best casting decision
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-HateProphet
I disliked at about 4 minutes when the she-fangs descended. Your analysis isn't engaging. I realize that there are some hilarious racial and cultural issues to unpack, but don't treat them like holy cows.
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I disliked at about 4 minutes when the she-fangs descended. Your analysis isn't engaging. I realize that there are some hilarious racial and cultural issues to unpack, but don't treat them like holy cows.
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