Why not Asian for Iron Man for change?
BTS Yonhap
By Oh Young-jin
Does Iron Man have to be Robert Downey Jr. or Captain America Chris Evans?
Why can't BTS' s RM stand in for Downey or Hong Kong Canadian Henry Lau, a K-pop musician, for Evans?
Or can't Andy Lau play Samuel Jackson's Nick Fury (alas, he is out in the latest Avengers franchise: Endgame)?
Just in case you still don't get it, my case is about Asians in the cast of superheroes and villains in “Endgame” or, more precisely, the lack thereof.
A look at the main lineup of the “Endgame” cast on Google captures the point.
The lineup of 34 breaks down to 23 males ― 18 Caucasian, three black and two Asians; and 11 females ― three black and no Asians.
In other words, 26 out of the total or 76 percent are white, while blacks account for 18 percent and Asians a mere 5 percent.
The two Asian actors are Benedict Wong, an English actor with Chinese roots, and Akihiro Haga, a Japanese actor.
I don't remember what role Haga plays in “Endgame,” a fact that tells of the “weight” of his part.
Avengers: Endgame
Wong, the assistant to“Doctor Strange”in 2016, segued into “Avengers: Infinity War,” and gets cast as kind of afterthought in Endgame.
His role appears stereotypical as it is modeled after Oddjob, a Asian character serving “Goldfinger” in the 007 movie of 1964 with a lethal flying hat.
I remember the part he played was insensitive, enjoyed killing and showed blind loyalty to his wicked boss. He looked Chinese in the movie, but was supposed to be Korean and was played by Japanese wrestler Harold Sakata.
Now, what is my grievance with Marvel, and its parent Walt Disney, following the original comics into movies?
I would not call the Russo brothers racists or put the American entertainment leaders on the mat for being politically incorrect.
Asians have a strong case to demand fair treatment tantamount to their money's worth.
According to Box Office Mojo, a U.S. tracker of movies and ticket sales, nine out of the top 20 grossing nations, including the U.S., for “Endgame” were Asian.
After the previous weekend, U.S. topped the list with $619 million in ticket sales, followed by China that grossed $575 million.
On the Asian list, Korea came second with $82 million, followed by India's $52 million and Japan's $34 million.
Asian countries accounted for $850 million in sales out of the 20-country total of a bit over $2 billion, or 40 percent.
Now it comes down to a 40 percent Asian ticket sale contribution to a 5 percent Asian presence in the Endgame cast.
This bias means many different things.
First and foremost, it is about impact on Asians' self-esteem, whether they are conscious of it or not.
The storyline of “Infinity War” and “Endgame” is particularly disconcerting because Thanos, the ultimate villain played by American actor Josh Brolin (white) destroys half of the universe, in the first part.
In part two, the nearly all-white lineup of superheroes beats Thanos, undoes the destruction and dials the world back to its previous “wholesome” state.
Then, where does that leave us Asians in a world swinging to hell and back? Are we part of those who helplessly turn to dust, and then back to life, with no control over our lives whatsoever?
This underlies the tone of a colonial economy ― industrialized countries used their undeveloped colonies to acquire raw material for low prices and sell the processed products back to those in the colonies at big margins. A grand scheme of exploitation, Boston Tea Party!
One could say that it is just fiction and there is no need to make a big fuss over it.
But when millions of people ― a lot of children included ― watch it and are enthused by it, it forms a strong and dictating narrative that limits and expands the viewer's imagination, thereby an advantage or disadvantage depending on which race you belong to.
Then, this also involves opportunities for actors of Asian descent in Hollywood, which has a track record of being unfair ― not paying attention to the issues of underrepresentation by women and black actors until it was forced to through public condemnation or prospects of monetary damage.
When they are more active, that means more and bigger roles for them.
This would help ease the racial bias.
While seeking an appropriate ending to this column, one of my close British friends came by my office and pointed out how silly my argument sounded, considering how faithfully the movies followed the Marvel comics.
I decided to take the risk to force Hollywood to contemplate what if Asians pulled out and damged its bottom lines.
Oh Young-jin (
foolsdie@gmail.com, foolsdie5@koreatimes.co.kr
) is the digital managing editor of The Korea Times.