“Shang-Chi” sparks conversations about Asian representation in film

Chapman students discuss Asian representation and their opinions on the Marvel film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.” DANIEL PEARSON, Staff Photographer

Asian representation in the film industry has captivated movie-going audiences in more ways than one within the past few years. Films such as “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018), “The Farewell” (2019), “Parasite” (2019), “Minari” (2020), “Nomadland” (2020) and “Boogie” (2021) all provide a glimpse of what Asians in the film industry look like. Now, we can add “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” to the ever-growing list. 

In the film, Shang-Chi (played by Simu Liu), seems like an ordinary guy, but he has a secret. When the troubles of his past return, he must confront his father, the leader of the powerful Ten Rings organization, in order to save his family. 

Emily Cho, a freshman broadcast journalism and documentary major, was not interested in “Shang-Chi” at first. It wasn’t until she saw an Instagram post from martial arts stunt school teacher Chang Xing Liang, who taught “Shang Chi” supervising stunt coordinator Brad Allan, that she became interested.  

“I was looking at the moves they were doing (in the Instagram post) and comparing it to the movie, and I was like ‘that looks so cool!’” Cho said. 

Watching the film led her to further embrace her Korean background. Cho said she used to be embarrassed when her mother spoke Korean in public, but the film forced her to confront an important realization. 

“There’s so many Koreans in Los Angeles — I’ve been speaking Korean to them all the time, and I’ve been embracing my cultural background,” Cho said. “Seeing it come out in ‘Shang Chi’ is really cool,  because people are like, ‘Oh my God, Asians and their culture are so cool.’”

Czerena Bayle, a freshman broadcast journalism and documentary major, has been a Marvel fan since watching “Iron Man” and “Spider-Man" movies with her dad growing up. Given the influence superhero films had on her own childhood, Bayle emphasized the importance of Shang Chi’s serving as a role model for Asian kids.   

“Growing up as a Filipino American, there weren't really many role models that I could look up to in American films,” Bayle said. “The only one we could was, like, Mulan, and it’s finally good to see all these new superhero Asian characters.” 

While Izzy Betz, a freshman creative producing major, believes it is good that there is finally an Asian woman starring in a superhero movie, she also believes the progress should have been made sooner, seeing as these roles typically feature white males.

“I love Marvel, but I think they are realizing the mistakes they’ve made (in the past) by releasing this,” Betz said. “I’m disappointed in (Marvel), but grateful they did it eventually.” 

Leah Aldridge, who received her PhD from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema and Media Studies with an interest in representation, race, gender and genre, teaches film studies at Chapman. She provided insight on why the release of “Shang-Chi” is more complicated than it seems.   

“There is a way in which whiteness is a default in Hollywood,” Aldridge said. “It has been since its inception. And because it’s the default, it becomes what is considered ‘normal’ ... Race, diversity and people of color become something different, something new, something exotic, something the public has never seen before because they have to stay ‘cutting edge.’ So, race becomes ‘cutting edge.’” 

Aldridge made it clear that Hollywood is a business that must appeal to a global audience to continue making money. She attributed this as another potential reason for the decision to produce “Shang-Chi,” considering it made $94.4 million over Labor Day weekend.  

“If they want to gain box office in places like China, India (and) other non-English speaking countries, they have to diversify their leads,” Aldridge said. “In order to really meet global audiences, you can’t symbolically annihilate them over and over and over again. You can’t continue to do that, especially in places where they have their own movie and TV producing industries.” 

Symbolic annihilation, in this context, is when fictional worlds are created without people of color. Over time, this annihilation can create an alternate world where no people of color exist in the media. But, Aldridge said there are ways to prevent this symbolic annihilation by creating worlds that include people of color and diversifying the identities of people in decision-making positions.  

“I believe that Hollywood is changing,” said Aldridge. “There are a number of forces that are operating on the industry that are forcing it to change, including the international market, and the fact that more and more people of color are moving into the decision-making and creative spaces.”

“Shang Chi” has not only proven to be a hit from its box office records, but has also resonated with audiences of all ages and backgrounds. 

“These little kids are going to have a role model to look up to now — their own favorite superhero,” Bayle said. “And that’s really exciting.”