Marvel's "Iron Fist" (Now With Spoilers)
ccs
41st lv DM
Sure. "Iron Fist" could be anyone as it's a title & set of powers that gets passed along every so often. And I'm not opposed to that. But they chose to tell a story about one specific IF wielder - the white guy named Danny Rand. So be it.
ccs
41st lv DM
Non-Asian Danny Rand Iron Fist, yes.
Quickleaf
Legend
I agree with criticism of Iron Fist. Poor casting with the lead, mediocre dialogue, messy writing, mostly mediocre fight choreography (waaay too many confined area fights with poor camera-work), no compelling villain, and uninspired interpretation of the Iron Fist comics. Daredevil was mostly ★★★★★, with some weakening in the second season. Jessica Jones was ★★★★. Luke Cage was ★★★★★ in the first half before Diamondback, and ★★★ after Diamondback. Iron Fist was squarely mediocre throughout, ★★★ at best.
Jessica Henwick (as Colleen Wing) is far more interesting as a character and believable as a martial artist than the lead. Tom Pelphrey (as Ward Meachum) gives a nuanced and amazing performance, despite a rather garbled script. Both those actors impressed me.
Overall, I feel like there were a lot of missed opportunities, right down to a basic conceptual level: What is the Iron Fist about? How are we bringing a hero born of 70's orientalism into the modern era? How does Iron Fist fit into Marvel's ongoing series of TV stories and their themes?
What we get is...
[SECTION]Iron Fist is about Danny Rand, a child survivor turned martial artist master, yet who can't manage to control his rage or emotions, wanting his father's company back and promptly screwing the company's profits to do the right thing while not showing up to board meetings and fighting a secret organization of ninjas brainwashing young disenfranchised people.
The show doesn't pander to orientalism because the bad guy is white...don't pay any attention to the asian girlfriend inexplicably liking him or him intruding to tell her students how to conducts themselves in her dojo...and because the visit to China has no distinguishing Chinese landmarks, just a bleak port warehouse area that could have been filmed anywhere.
It connects to Marvel-verse with Rosario Dawson (as Claire Temple) taking self-defense classes, even though the stark world of corporate politics feels thoroughly disconnected from the last 3 series, but, hey, Iron Fist gets to go on the run from the authorities just like Daredevil and Luke Cage. Even the look of the show is antiseptic and stark compared to the thematic looks of the other 3 shows.[/SECTION]
Instead, it could have been so much more, maybe something like...
[SECTION]Iron Fist is about "how to live like a sorcerer in Mexico City" (to quote Carlos Castaneda), how Danny Rand takes sublime spiritual experience and tries to translate that into the modern world, challenging the notion that monastics have a better handle on spiritual matters, showing just how crazy-making attempting to bridge those worlds can be.
The show plays with some classic martial arts movie tropes (e.g. the challenge, the back alley fight, the arrogant kung-fu guy, the old man, the worth opponent, etc), using a dark tongue-in-cheek humor that lightly acknowledges the orientalism but subverts it. Danny and Colleen's relationship looks at the tension between external & internal style martial arts, and also it closely looks at what draws them together – both being dedicated to a spiritual journey which has left them questioning sanity.
While Daredevil focuses on vigilantism, Catholicism, and social responsibility; Jessica Jones focuses on processing trauma, survivor's guilt, and addiction; Luke Cage focuses on Black roots, living in the right, and prison injustice; Iron Fist focuses on mental illness & spiritual experience, class issues, and the modern need for spiritual consciousness. Daredevil's look is blood red, Jessica Jones is ethereal purple, Luke Cage is black and gold grunge. What about Iron Fist? It's darkness and light, with subtle touches of green on skyscraper windows, prayer flags, plane emblems, etc.[/SECTION]
Jessica Henwick (as Colleen Wing) is far more interesting as a character and believable as a martial artist than the lead. Tom Pelphrey (as Ward Meachum) gives a nuanced and amazing performance, despite a rather garbled script. Both those actors impressed me.
Overall, I feel like there were a lot of missed opportunities, right down to a basic conceptual level: What is the Iron Fist about? How are we bringing a hero born of 70's orientalism into the modern era? How does Iron Fist fit into Marvel's ongoing series of TV stories and their themes?
What we get is...
[SECTION]Iron Fist is about Danny Rand, a child survivor turned martial artist master, yet who can't manage to control his rage or emotions, wanting his father's company back and promptly screwing the company's profits to do the right thing while not showing up to board meetings and fighting a secret organization of ninjas brainwashing young disenfranchised people.
The show doesn't pander to orientalism because the bad guy is white...don't pay any attention to the asian girlfriend inexplicably liking him or him intruding to tell her students how to conducts themselves in her dojo...and because the visit to China has no distinguishing Chinese landmarks, just a bleak port warehouse area that could have been filmed anywhere.
It connects to Marvel-verse with Rosario Dawson (as Claire Temple) taking self-defense classes, even though the stark world of corporate politics feels thoroughly disconnected from the last 3 series, but, hey, Iron Fist gets to go on the run from the authorities just like Daredevil and Luke Cage. Even the look of the show is antiseptic and stark compared to the thematic looks of the other 3 shows.[/SECTION]
Instead, it could have been so much more, maybe something like...
[SECTION]Iron Fist is about "how to live like a sorcerer in Mexico City" (to quote Carlos Castaneda), how Danny Rand takes sublime spiritual experience and tries to translate that into the modern world, challenging the notion that monastics have a better handle on spiritual matters, showing just how crazy-making attempting to bridge those worlds can be.
The show plays with some classic martial arts movie tropes (e.g. the challenge, the back alley fight, the arrogant kung-fu guy, the old man, the worth opponent, etc), using a dark tongue-in-cheek humor that lightly acknowledges the orientalism but subverts it. Danny and Colleen's relationship looks at the tension between external & internal style martial arts, and also it closely looks at what draws them together – both being dedicated to a spiritual journey which has left them questioning sanity.
While Daredevil focuses on vigilantism, Catholicism, and social responsibility; Jessica Jones focuses on processing trauma, survivor's guilt, and addiction; Luke Cage focuses on Black roots, living in the right, and prison injustice; Iron Fist focuses on mental illness & spiritual experience, class issues, and the modern need for spiritual consciousness. Daredevil's look is blood red, Jessica Jones is ethereal purple, Luke Cage is black and gold grunge. What about Iron Fist? It's darkness and light, with subtle touches of green on skyscraper windows, prayer flags, plane emblems, etc.[/SECTION]
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Quickleaf
Legend
Well I guess that I'd better remove the "no spoilers" now
I thought I was keeping it to broad strokes that were well known about the show or didn't give anything away.
Mustrum_Ridcully
Hero
The boardroom drama however had the most compelling characters and character development.
ccs
41st lv DM
Reading comprehension isn't your strong suite apparently.
I don't give a damn how many whites/blacks/Asians/Hispanics/etc get cast.
I DO care about changing an existing character who is of one race/sex to another. If that means actors of some group don't get cast as certain characters? I'm OK with that.
It's simple: If casting Danny Rand version of IF? Hire a white guy. If casting some other non-Danny Rand version of IF? Then hire somebody of the appropriate ethnic group. Repeat process for other characters.
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