5) Address The Elephant In The Room
Ok, Marvel, you’ve made your choice. You’ve chosen not to heed the wishes of many and cast a Caucasian as Danny Rand. To many people, this has condemned your show to another colonialist white savior narrative. Your best bet going forward is to weave these concerns into your show’s narrative. Make the discussion that’s going on a part of the discussion of your show. Make Iron Fist a show that asks questions about colonialist narratives, ethnicity and whether a white person like Danny Rand can be a part of a narrative like this without it being intrinsically racist.
Have his place in the Jianghu, and his status as a prominent figure in the Martial World be a source of friction with other characters, one the justification of which he struggles with. Have the show ask hard questions and not shy away from hard topics, which to reiterate, you can absolutely do in the midst of a big, crazy, colorful martial-arts adventure.
You’re going to want to engage with this conversation on at the very least some level, and in a way that doesn’t make it look like you’re trying too had to apologize for yourself or justify your own existence. But let’s face it, Marvel, you’ve gained a healthy amount of criticism and lost some viewers with your casting choice. Maybe you have your reasons for casting Finn Jones or maybe you’ve just chosen not to heed the criticisms that have been put forth and the call for casting an Asian-American in the role. Whatever the case, you need to engage with the conversation that’s going on.
The discussion about Iron Fist‘s cultural baggage is well underway. Be a part of it, and think very long and very hard about what you want to say.
