I’ve decided to do my project on representation -and lack thereof- in superhero-related media such as cartoons, comics, and movies. I chose this topic because superhero media extremely popular right now due to things like the Marvel and DC cinematic universes, and that popularity can sometimes obscure problematic themes and ideas that crop up in media and negatively influence our culture.
I plan to explore this topic through examining Asian American representation in Marvel and DC products (including movies, cartoons, and comics). This will potentially include any differences in character backstory between media, such as characters who were whitewashed in an adaptation, characters who were turned into racist caricatures or changed from being racist caricatures to being 3 dimensional characters, etc. I may also look at any racism and related backlash that characters and/or their actors experienced from comic book fandoms.
I know I’m probably going to find a lot of misrepresentation or no representation at all, so I was also considering creating a few “examples” of Asian American characters that are handled more respectfully, but I’m currently unsure of how I would go about doing that for this project.
April 20, 2019 at 4:07 PM
This sounds like a great subject. It may be of interest to your project that Marvel Studios is currently developing their first film featuring an Asian lead. Also of interest, the fact that the character is a martial artist, in keeping with so many old stereotypes. Something to be said there about the limited roles Asian actors are allowed to play in American films, where they’re allowed to play a role at all. Anyways, here’s a link if it’s useful. Excited to see how this project turns out!
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/how-shang-chi-could-be-marvels-next-black-panther-1166159
April 21, 2019 at 10:29 PM
I think there is a lot to go into with this topic. My friend who is Asian American has a dream of making a “hero” comic of his own where the main character is Asian American. I think looking into other companies like Darkhorse, I believe one of the main characters in Hellboy is Asian American (I think) and there are other western comics that have Asian American leads. Maybe a comparison of those comics and Marvel/DC comics would be insightful as well.
April 27, 2019 at 12:04 AM
Much like other people have stated, there is a lot to talk about for this subject! From Doctor Strange to Batman, there are plenty of examples in the film adaptations for these comic books to talk about. Also, if you decided to look further beyond Marvel and DC and onto something like Ghost in the Shell, you might have more to talk about if you need to 🙂 I look forward to seeing your final project!