Finn Jones cast as Iron Fist, people inexplicably take offence to his race

[Vausch]

*reads*

It would seem they are opposed to what they call "the white saviour story", AKA Mighty Whitey. Y'know, where the white guy hero goes off to some exotic culture, learns their ways and promptly becomes the best ever at those ways. Maybe saves them using his white person power for bonus points.

So think Avatar with Asians instead of blue alien cat people.

I have no idea if "Iron Fist" was or will be that kind of story.

Also, representation, diversity, "wouldn't it be nice" etc etc.

Fortunately I have no stake in the casting of some Marvel Netflix crap. Imma sit this one out.

Have fun folks!

Well that doesn't happen. Daniel (Iron Fist) does become one of the best fighters of the clan he joins but it's mostly because he's driven by a lifelong revenge goal. He does become great, but he doesn't become a saviour. The Yu-Ti don't need saviours. They're quite powerful.

Still though, isn't having an Asian character becoming a master of a chi-based martial art with a goal to avenge the death of their father playing heavily to stereotypes? Guess you just can't win with some people.

 

[shrekfan246]

You say "making lame jokes among themselves", so "among themselves" seems like there's some sort of little group or something? I take it that's what you're implying there, yes? So uh, where's the "among themselves" here? Is everyone I quote just part of this little group? Or is it people that quote me?

I'm just quoting you because I want to get it on this apparent circlejerk.

I'd laugh at how many people are so offended over a single person being a little offended, but at this point I've seen it so frequently and with such furor that, really, it's just kinda sad.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

Have we gone full circle now in terms of "outrage"? "White guy is playing a white character"...

...

...

... I'm getting too old to keep up with internet rage and internet controversies anymore.

"A MASCULINE CHARACTER IS BEING PLAYED BY A MAN?! WHERE'S THE GENDER EQUALITY?!"

I'm pretty sure we're heading down that road, eventually.

 

[Jack Action]

1: While people generally don't tout Jackie Chan as a huge icon of acting brilliance, they certainly do with Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, both of which played similarily to a certain type. Maybe there's hope yet.

Why go that far back? Patrick Stewart and Samuel L. Jackson only ever play themselves under different names.

 

[Zontar]

Y'know at least most of the stupid extreme SJWs take issue with people who actually have some influence on something, rather than trawling though tumblr or twitter to find people to complain about and misrepresent.

Really? Because last time I checked most of the people who became targets for the SJW internet lynch mod where nobodies who only became known due to a perceived transgression.

 

[Zontar]

Y'know at least most of the stupid extreme SJWs take issue with people who actually have some influence on something, rather than trawling though tumblr or twitter to find people to complain about and misrepresent.

Really? Because last time I checked most of the people who became targets for the SJW internet lynch mod where nobodies who only became known due to a perceived transgression.

Like Zoe Quinn.

Yes, like Zoe Quinn lying about getting death threats from a website used by people with clinical depression and effectively telling the SJW lynch mob to go after them. That is a perfect example of what I was talking about.

 

[Captain Marvelous_v1legacy]

Oh, Marvel ain't winning this one! Seriously. Infront of them they have two options. A.) Racist Stereotype or B.) White Savior. They lose either way! This is fun!

I say they keep Rand a rich white guy. Sure, they can make him Chinese, but that certainly wont make him any better. If anything they'll just be playing into a stereotype. I mean, the only reason people want him to be Asian is because of his martial arts. That's pretty damn racist if you ask me. No one cared that Daredevil or Jessica Drew were white, but as soon as the martial artist is white, BAM! Problems. I'd much rather get non-stereotyped Asian characters.

Furthermore, Luke and Danny's relationship. I, personally, think it works better if Danny is white. Sure, they can still be best friends if the MCU Danny is Chinese or whatever, but I really do think it'd be best if he were white. Especially considering the race issues going on in the US of A. I just really want a white guy and a black guy to be, like, best friends. That's just a personal thing I want. I really liked seeing them together the few times I have. Especially in the Deadpool comics. Fun stuff!

Snip

Great, an Iron Fist fan! I haven't read much of the character and I want to confirm something. Iron Fist's fighting style is alien, right?

 

[Fappy]

Furthermore, Luke and Danny's relationship. I, personally, think it works better if Danny is white. Sure, they can still be best friends if the MCU Danny is Chinese or whatever, but I really do think it'd be best if he were white. Especially considering the race issues going on in the US of A. I just really want a white guy and a black guy to be, like, best friends. That's just a personal thing I want.

I mentioned it in this thread already, but I agree with this. Besides the character already being white, if they want to focus on his and Luke's relationship (which they should) I feel like the racial aspect of it can't be ignored. The reason they're remembered by fans as such good friends is because they were color-blind buddies in an era of heightened racial tension in the US. Considering the political climate of today, their brand of friendship is more relevant than it's ever been.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

SJW funtimes part Yet Another One: Electric Boogaloo.

Combined with my stumbling on this [http://sadydoyle.tumblr.com/post/138860699828/progressive] article via MovieBob's Twitter (and my fucking God, now I realize why so many people hated him even during his run here), it really is starting to seem like the Ouroboros is almost complete. The snake is about to eat its own tail. Perhaps the "progressive", "liberal", "feminist", "left" and whatever term you can think of to describe these kinds of people will eventually end up just bickering amongst themselves endlessly, and perhaps leave the rest of us alone.

 

[kitsunefather]

For my two cents, I feel that characters should be made to feel as much like the source material as possible. Danny Rand is a wealthy white dude who inexplicably turns out to be the prophesied "Iron Fist". This has actually caused conflict with other Kung Fu heroes (such as Shang Chi), who essentially are offended that a white dude is the Kung Fu Messiah. His interactions with Luke Cage are often informed by the disparity between their life experiences, and them finding a middle ground between. This is all excellent fodder for his series, and any possible crossover series (fingers crossed for a Heroes for Hire series).

Again, my two cents, but if a character must be "racebent", I'd prefer it be done as an element of the story over simply a retcon or rewrite. Miles Morales and Kamala Khan work for their audiences not because they're complete reboots of their superhero identities (Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel respectively) into minorities, but because they exist in a larger universe, where they can be inspired by heroes to take up their mantle.

Legacy characters are an excellent way for creators to introduce more diversity, if they are willing to put the effort in to writing the stories well and developing the characters naturally.

Also:

Yes, like Zoe Quinn lying about getting death threats from a website used by people with clinical depression and effectively telling the SJW lynch mob to go after them. That is a perfect example of what I was talking about.

What did the lynch mob do to them?

Yes, let's make this into another thread about that.

 

[Simonism451]

What did the lynch mob do to them?

Yes, let's make this into another thread about that.

Don't worry, I won't be getting an answer to that question.

Btw, shouldn't it be "inexplicably" in the thread title? I mean, the people who argued against the choice were fairly explicit about their desires or at least disapproval.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

What did the lynch mob do to them?

Yes, let's make this into another thread about that.

Don't worry, I won't be getting an answer to that question.

I'm just wondering why "lynch mob" suddenly came back into parlance. It might just be because I'm American, but "lynch" is a very specific adjective, not to mention verb. To reduce it down to "some people harassed other people over social media" is almost insulting.

Quick, someone quote me in agreement so we can be an offended SJW movement!

EDIT: Somewhat on topic, Iron Fist is my roommates favorite superhero by far. He has, years before this show was announced, before the MCU was a thing, told me that the only flaw he has with the character is the origin story. And yeah, brainstorming it, he came up with the mixed-race Asian-American playboy who's the type to only know English idea.

And I agreed with him, so we got to be a perpetually offended SJW movement before it was cool.

 

[MrFalconfly]

What did the lynch mob do to them?

Yes, let's make this into another thread about that.

Don't worry, I won't be getting an answer to that question.

I'm just wondering why "lynch mob" suddenly came back into parlance. It might just be because I'm American, but "lynch" is a very specific adjective, not to mention verb. To reduce it down to "some people harassed other people over social media" is almost insulting.

Quick, someone quote me in agreement so we can be an offended SJW movement!

EDIT: Somewhat on topic, Iron Fist is my roommates favorite superhero by far. He has, years before this show was announced, before the MCU was a thing, told me that the only flaw he has with the character is the origin story. And yeah, brainstorming it, he came up with the mixed-race Asian-American playboy who's the type to only know English idea.

And I agreed with him, so we got to be a perpetually offended SJW movement before it was cool.

Regarding the usage of the word "Lynch Mob", and it's connection to people who are labelled/get labelled SJW's.

I think the UVA Rape hoax helped.

Spoiler: Spoilered because of size

I mean these guys, who were picketing, didn't really care if the accused had actually done it. They just took one persons claim at face value and deemed the alleged perpetrators guilty (much like a "Lynch Mob").

Later turned out that the UVA Rape thing was a hoax, but of cause none of these picketers apologized for any kind of character assassination, because in their mind "due process" is probably just another example of the "Rape culture".

Anyways, just to keep this post a bit on topic. I don't think there was anything Marvel could've done to avoid any kind of comment about the casting. And if the choice is between "Foreign Perspective" (White Savior, but really this can be done with any kind of ethnicity), or stereotypical asian, I think the Foreign Perspective is an easier sell.

 

[wulf3n]

snip

Original poster has clarified that the tweet in question received a significant number of likes and retweets. There's also an ongoing petition with ~4000 signatures started on another site to try to bully Marvel into casting an Asian-American actor. So yeah, it's fair to say that this on the radar of quite a few people.

Ssssh, don't interrupt the circlejerk. People need to look for things to get offended about and nothing sets this forum off more than pointing out their disingenuous arguments.

 

[JimB]

Yes, like Zoe Quinn lying about getting death threats from a website used by people with clinical depression and effectively telling the SJW lynch mob to go after them. That is a perfect example of what I was talking about.

What did the lynch mob do to them?

I feel like "lynch" is the new "rape" in terms of being a word that describes a bad thing that happens to people, so certain groups use it to lend false weight to situations that aren't really comparable but that they really want to be.

 

[K12]

To me it seems more like a missed opportunity to have an asian super-hero leading a show. Daisy and Agent May are fine but they're part of an ensemble.

It's a double edge sword with "Iron Fist" either you have a white guy playing an asian inspired character and people say "why couldn't he be asian when his character seems to fit that so well" OR you make him asian and you get "this asian character is a kung fu martial arts stereotype" AND you get the white guy protection force/ not-exactly-like-the-source-material-therefore-shit people complaining as well.

If it's good and a respectful homage to asian culture, rather than people vaguely using the word "sensei" while doing a Chinese martial art, then it should be fine. It should have some good asian support characters at least...