Sinking Deity vs. Rising Underdog
Shang-Chi does an excellent job of displaying Asian stereotypes as propagated by modern American culture. However, rather than using a David and Goliath approach, where the minority rises up to beat the giant of their stigma,
Shang-Chi is portrayed as a Hercules with natural talent for all aspects of heroism imbedded into the code of his being. His presupposed aptitude, ingrained in him as a child, frame the narrative as someone whose life was only pathetic because they chose to ignore their bestowed capabilities. Instead, Marvel could have framed Shang-Chi as someone who rose from normalcy to meet the challenge before them, crediting personal character rather than inborn supremacy.
Another way to modify the story to minimize the damaging assumption of the "A" grade Asian would have been to make Shang-Chi the exception to his peers rather than the norm. Instead, Marvel chose to include one single scene of a "Dumb Asian", whose highest aspirations are to become a valet driver (Acted by the brother of a main supporting character) as the exception to the race. The main foundation for the Asian character is elite- starring a lazy Berkeley honors graduate (Katy), a successful married lawyer, and an exceptional martial artist who built an underground fight club empire at the age of 16 (Xialing). The indication, as stated by the lawyer, is that all these exceptional Asian characters must do in order to achieve success is to "grow up". This positive stereotype of naturally skilled Asians brings with it an assumption of success on all American Asians, as well as a sense of personal blame aimed towards those who fail to meet that expectation.
Hi Kaelyn! My name is Kyle, first of all you were quick to write about Shang-Chi! I liked the movie, it was pretty action-packed. I love your ideas and the analogy with Hercules. It's very similar and definitely comparable to write about. There really is this evident expectation for Asians to succeed in order to be viewed as an accomplishment and it's an unrealistic one. I think your ideas of deflating these expectations is the way to go. Historically, these Asian expectations have created a burden in some Asian households arising toxicity and pressure. It's ultimately detrimental and it's a perfect fit to a problematic positive stereotype. Your modifications were my suggestions, so I think you're set! A little expansion of detail, and everything will be awesome.
ReplyDeleteI really like your ideas on how hang chi is a stereotype. With the use of stereotypes, it is quite rare to see an asian as a main character in a super hero movie. The movie also incorporated many asian traditions and had elements that were not western which gave new light to he Marvel movie industry.
ReplyDeleteVery nice. Yeah I am not sure why films always use cultural stereotypes with their characters, is it for natural social comfort? or do they genuinely find it important for characters of color to act an expected way.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting question. I think that the reasons differ by individuals. Sometimes it's for comedy, other times it's because of hidden stigmas, but there are so many reasons this happens. There are always exceptions to this though. Not all characters are culturally stereotypical!
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