Anghus Houvouras on Marvel’s Iron Fist and the broad strokes of whitewashing…
Diversity is one of those troubling topics of conversation that always places you on the precipice of wedging your creps firmly in your soft palate. Especially when you’re white, since conventional logic tells me that the only opinion I should have on any topic involving diversity is “Yes, diversity is great”. And of course, it is. Who hates diversity? I mean, other than bigots, racists, religious fundamentalists, and 86.8% of the Trump administration?
I understand the value of diversity. People seeing themselves represented in movies, television, comic books, and literature is important. I’ve laughed at people when they’ve made idiotic complaints online, like the furor over Michael B Jordan playing Johnny Storm in Fox’s legendarily tragic Fantastic Four reboot. Or the deep-fried lunacy over Tilda Swinton being cast as the Ancient One in Doctor Strange. I’m smart enough to understand the cause behind the firestorm, even if I completely disagreed with the points they were trying to make. To sum up: I don’t care what race, creed, color, or gender a character is as long as they are portrayed by a talented performer. That’s my only criteria.
The word ‘whitewashing’ started getting thrown around a lot, with people getting triggered by the fact that Tilda Swinton was taking a role that should have been played by an Asian actor. The comic fans claimed it was slight to the character and social justice warriors acted like Tilda Swinton was lifting the wallet from a half-dozen known Asian actors who ‘deserved’ to play the part. I’m all for diversity. Cast Idris Elba as Bond, I’ll stand and applaud. Give me a Miles Morales Spider-Man movie. Get that Black Widow movie off the ground before Scarlett Johansson qualifies for an AARP membership.
But sometimes, the whitewashing claims go from ‘reasonable’ to ‘laughable’. Take, for instance, the use of the word in many articles about Netflix’s upcoming Iron Fist series. The show has been under attack ever since Finn Jones was cast in the role. The blond-haired, blue-eyed Game of Thrones actor and the show began receiving flack within hours of the announcement. “Just more Hollywood whitewashing” was a comment found on several message boards. I stared at these comments, dumbfounded by the abandonment of logic is so many of these arguments thinking…
“They know Danny Rand a.k.a. Iron Fist is white, right?”
The reply to that question from those claiming ‘whitewashing’ boils down to ‘they’re whitewashing Asian culture’.
Let me dispel that with some history. Iron Fist was created in 1974 by comic creator Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane. They were capitalizing on the martial arts trend that had made Bruce Lee a household name. Thomas had created Shang Chi: The Master of Kung Fu (thanks Roy) and was looking at expanding the roster of kick-ass karate characters. Enter Danny Rand. The character of Iron Fist was always predicated on the basic story concept of a ‘stranger in a strange land’. Someone who stumbles into a mystical place, discovers a world larger than his own, and learns the ways of his adopted land before returning to his own. Thomas created Shang Chi and Iron Fist. One, a traditionally Asian character and another an American who acted more as a commissary for American comic book readers into the world of mystical martial arts. The Netflix series is simply echoing the character origins from the comics. So I suppose the claims of ‘whitewashing’ should be lobbed at creator Roy Thomas. So let’s get in a time machine, travel back to 1974, and punch him in the testicles for daring to create a Caucasian martial arts superhero. You would, of course, be punching the bean bag of the same guy who gave us Marvel’s most popular Asian character. So perhaps you could use your time machine for something more productive. Based on the early reviews, you might want to rev up the flux capacitor to stop Marvel from putting the Iron Fist show into production.
Listen, I understand the need for diversity in our culture. And I’m all for it. But the idea that the Iron Fist series as an example of cultural whitewashing is fundamentally ridiculous. If this was Shang Chi: The Master of Kung Fu starring Finn Jones, I’d be right by your side with an incredulous “What the fuck, Marvel?” But this is Iron Fist. A character who was supposed to be white because his story was built upon the idea of an outsider learning the ways of an ancient place.
So forgive me for chuckling at the whitewashing claims on Iron Fist, just like I chuckled at the people who got bent out of shape about Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch.
Originally published March 8, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
