A lot of thought goes into the creation of superheroes, from their names to their powers to their responsibilities. Take Spider-Man, for example: he was created to represent the meek. Peter Parker was a poor nerd, he was bullied and had terrible luck with women. He felt alone and inadequate, a misfit without his place in the world. This is important because Peter is all the boys that couldn’t get a date to the prom, Peter is all the boys who would get tripped walking down the hallway, or made fun of in gym class. You are supposed to see part of yourself in Peter Parker and be inspired by how he is able to rise above adversity rather than give into a rage. That’s why Peter doesn’t go around beating up all the kids who are mean to him because it wouldn’t be the responsible thing to do! Peter Parker represents those without power and also represents what those who do have power ought to be like, but Peter is a white man, and while he can be representative of many things there are concepts such as racism and sexism that he doesn’t need to confront as someone who gains social advantages due to those concepts.
Although there is still a lot of work to be done, comic books have become relatively diverse but much of that diversity has been centered on black superheroes and characters. Latinx, Hispanic, and Asian superheroes are still rare.
There has been a lot of outrage over the past several months over the casting of the Iron Fist Netflix series. While traditionally Iron Fist has been a white man by the name of Danny Rand, many comic book fans are arguing that Marvel should’ve cast an Asian man to play Danny Rand. Iron Fist comics wouldn’t be the same if they weren’t drenched in Orientalism. In fact, Danny Rand should’ve been Asian, to begin with. Asian men are constantly being portrayed as meek, nerdy, and comedic. To cast and Asian man as a badass living weapon could’ve been a powerful move, and frankly a step towards positive representation of Asians in America. But Marvel just…dropped the ball man, Marvel they missed the assist, they circled the square, they just fucked up man!
American comics have a long history of anti-Asian racism, and the industry has yet to make up for it, and while they gave black people Luke Cage, as an ode to Trayvon and an acknowledgement to police brutality, this doesn’t excuse the inability to do make a substantial move towards addressing issues facing Asian Americans, especially considering the hand the comic book industry played in amplifying propaganda.
White comic book fans: You all need to understand that racial minority groups need representation for the same reason you needed Spider-Man. If you are able to understand why Spider-Man is important but unable to sympathize with the desire for Iron Fist to be cast as Asian then you are engaging in hypocrisy.
