A MUST READ if you're SICK of the lack of diversity in comic book movies!

Here is an EXCELLENT piece I first read on Oh No They Didn't. 

Original source here: On Marvel, Mandarin, and Marginalization by Marrisa Lee - from Racebending.com:

At ComicCon 2012, Marvel Studios announced that Sir Ben Kingsley will be playing a version of The Mandarin, Tony Stark’s traditional yellow peril arch-nemesis, in Iron Man 3. The announcement was a sudden about-turn from previous statements the Iron Man directors have made about the Fu Manchu-inspired villain.....

Kingsley’s casting has made some waves; he is a British actor of partial South Asian descent while the Mandarin was originally of Chinese descent in the comics. It’s complicated by the fact that the Chinese government is virtually co-financing and co-producing Iron 3 through DMG film group; China likely had a say in the depiction of The Mandarin in Iron Man 3. [A stamp of approval from the Chinese government doesn't mean much given Asian Americans who live in the United States as a minority group are arguably more strongly affected by sinophobia and stereotypes than the people of China or the Chinese government. (eg. Han Chinese people living in China have access to unlimited representation of themselves in their domestic entertainment industries; Asian Americans do not.)]

Does the casting of Kingsley serve to perpetuate the stereotype that all Asian ethnic groups are interchangeable? Or does it simply cement Marvel Studios’ decision to shift the stereotypical bad guys of the comics from “yellow peril” to “Middle Eastern/South Asian terrorism”? (The first Iron Man film had the Ten Rings bad guy Raza, played by South Asian American actor Faran Tahir.) Rather than debating among ourselves about which Asian American or Asian actor should have the sad privilege to continue the legacy of the reviled Fu Manchu-esque Mandarin, or hand wringing about how Asian Americans don’t have much say in how to reinvent or salvage unforgivable stereotypes that have caused great harm to our communities, there are more pertinent questions we need to lob at Marvel. 

Questions like: How did we end up with The Mandarin in a Marvel Studios movie before any Asian American lead heroes?

Or even just: Why isn’t Marvel really utilizing it’s pantheon of women heroes or characters of color?

My Thoughts on the Biracial Spider-Man Controversy

This post was done back on August 6th.

Last night and into the a.m. hours, I was commenting up a storm over at Yahoo, the article being about the new biracial Spider-Man.  Some of the things I learned:
1) Folk can't read.

Direct quote:
Over in the comic book world, the change to the Spider-Man character has been rocking the Web. Meet Miles Morales, the half-black, half-Latino teenager who takes over when (spoiler alert!) Peter Parker is killed.  Before anyone gets too upset, keep in mind that, first, the September relaunch of "Ultimate Spider-Man" is an alternate universe from the Marvel comic book series in which the original Peter Parker is alive and well.
Did you read that?  The comic takes place in an ALTERNATE UNIVERSE.  So Peter Parker is STILL ALIVE in the main storyline.  But apparently, that hasn't sunk in for many of the posters.  All they see is that the new Spider-Man isn't white.

2)People (mostly white people) don't understand that black superheroes are seen as not as profitable as white superheroes, nor do they have as much of a following.  Nor are they as marketed to the public.

3)People jump to the conclusion that it's a P.C. thing rather than it simply being a new superhero that just happens to be mixed (over there people refer to him as black), with dramatizations of PC ruining everything - as if by making Spider-Man not white, the franchise is ruined.

4)People (mainly white people again) don't understand that changing Spider-Man's race in an alternative storyline is COMPLETELY different than changing the race of an ethnic character to a white character in a historical documentary or a single universe story or show.  Anyway, with blacks and others that aren't white still making up a small percentage in comics (and the entertainment industry in general), no one will be keen on whites taking the few opportunities that minorities have.

Another thing.  A common comment that I read was that there's "only one" Spider-Man, and he's Peter Parker.  What I wonder about is if the new Spider-Man was white, would there be as much of a reaction.  Is the issue the fact that the new guy isn't Peter Parker, or is it that he isn't white?

One thing I have to say is that folk can be dramatic.  I've seen comments jumping to complaints about the President, whites being replaced, etc., etc.  Too many people making a big deal out of nothing if you ask me.

As for changing the race of Spider-Man, since it's an alternative storyline and because superheroes are replaced all the time....I say GO FOR IT!  It's pretty cool that they went for a different race :)

Here is an EXCELLENT article about the whole thing from the blog The Root.

I give you:
New Spider-Man:  Not the Obama of Comics