海角大神

Before the arrival of 鈥淚ron Fist,鈥� the聽latest series to come from a Marvel-Netflix team-up, some pop culture consumers found the show鈥檚 storyline offensive. Following the show鈥檚 full season debut on March 17, 鈥淚ron鈥� has not only received reviews panning the series鈥� story, but has also renewed criticism about its depiction of Asian characters and themes.

鈥淚ron鈥� stars Finn Jones as Danny Rand, a member of a wealthy family who learns martial arts from monks in the Himalayas and is believed to be dead until he comes back to New York after a 15-year absence. Jessica Henwick, Jessica Stroup, and Tom Pelphrey co-star.聽

Prior to the show鈥檚 debut, complaints included concerns over the show鈥檚 storyline and of the decision to cast a white actor, in keeping with the original comic, rather than change Iron Fist's character.聽

"Critics who call the show a missed opportunity say it aligns closely with old Asian tropes," New York Times writer Daniel Victor聽wrote in early March, noting that "some fans saw the Netflix adaptation as a chance to cast an Asian-American lead. That, they said, would help smooth out some of the thorny racial issues, while giving an Asian-American actor the kind of leading part that has been hard to come by."聽

Similar concerns arose when actress Tilda Swinton was cast as the character known as The Ancient One in the Marvel movie 鈥淒octor Strange,鈥� which was released last November. In the original series' comics, however, The Ancient One is a Tibetan man.

As noted by Mr. Victor, critics say Iron Fist's casting is yet another lost opportunity when an Asian actor could have been onscreen. "Nothing can be more frustrating than the fact that there aren鈥檛 enough roles that [Hollywood] allows us, and then to take a role that is written Asian and turn it into one that you can no longer be considered for is adding insult to complete injury," actress Maggie Q told the Hollywood Reporter, discussing "whitewashing" in general.聽

Now that 鈥淚ron鈥� has been released and reviewers have had the chance to see some episodes, what do they say about the concerns?

After watching early episodes,聽Variety writer Maureen Ryan also sees the show as a missed opportunity, and asks why Ms. Henwick or another Asian actor could not be the star.聽鈥淎fter all, part of what made 鈥楯essica Jones鈥� and 鈥楲uke Cage鈥� stand out were the distinct identities and concerns their protagonists carried into battle,鈥� she writes. 鈥淚magine an 鈥業ron Fist鈥� in which an Asian actor with a great deal of presence and real fighting chops (which Jones lacks) plays a man trying to reclaim his business empire from a group of white characters who don鈥檛 trust him and underestimate his skills.鈥�

As for what is in fact onscreen, Ms. Ryan writes that 鈥渆ven if you can put aside issues of cultural appropriation 鈥� and the ham-fisted 鈥業ron Fist鈥� doesn鈥檛 make that easy, given that it feeds its yoga-bro lead character a series of inert lines about Shaolin wisdom and Buddhist teachings 鈥� this superhero drama just feels inessential.鈥�

Vulture writer Matt Zoller Seitz also felt that early concerns were warranted. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e probably also heard that Iron Fist is a big bag of Orientalist clich茅s,鈥� Mr. Seitz wrote. 鈥淭his is true. It鈥檚 far from the worst of its kind, but coming on the heels of 鈥楯essica Jones鈥� and 鈥楲uke Cage,鈥� both of which took greater risks with both style/mood and cultural point of view, the show feels like a regression.鈥�

Sophie Gilbert of The Atlantic was similarly troubled. 鈥淭hey went all in on the Orientalism, setting a fight scene in the very first episode in the middle of a Chinatown parade, in which Danny actually puts on a mask he purchases from a street vendor in order to blend in,鈥� she writes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an accidental metaphor that speaks volumes about the show鈥檚 clumsy footprint鈥�. 鈥業ron Fist鈥欌�檚 decided unwokeness is notable, particularly when Danny lectures Colleen, who is of East Asian descent, on the right way to channel her internal force.鈥�