S4 E24 Becoming Shang-Chi: An Asian Superhero Origin Story

[Episode theme]In this episode, we talk about the latest Marvel blockbuster, “Shang-Chi: legend of the ten rings.” At the time of publishing, Shang-Chi has become the first pandemic film to gross over $200M at the box office. We dive deep into what we love and appreciate about this film — the various styles of fight scenes, Tony Leung, care paid to language and dialect. And where we find the movie to be falling short — the ambiguity of Taluo, the tired narratives when it comes to womanhood, motherhood, and a woman’s role in the marriage. [Timecode]1:19 — Guest intro and first impressions 8:00 — How Marvel creates an “anti-hero” the audience loves (Wenwu) 15: 00 — Are the Chinese dialogue and dialects in this film legit?26: 24 — The references of Wuxia style in this film, and a smart appropriating of Chinese fantasy elements  32: 21 — Awkwafina is the first female Asian character whose main use is to be a getaway driver (we dig) 34: 11 — Is the story of Taluo holding up under scrutiny? What are the weaknesses of world-building in this film, when compared with “Black Panther”? Do we need this type of ambiguity in geography and history? Do we need an Asian “Wakanda”? 49: 00 — Marvel commoditized the identity movement of Asian Americans but did not dig deep into their stories in this film 51: 20 — The movie’s polite but ultimately inadequate nod to feminism 56: 16 — Are we tired of the same old narrative of a woman sacrificing herself for a relationship 59: 00 — As a part of the Chinese audience, how should we understand cultural creations that belong to Chinese Americans? [Guest introduction] Frankie: Chinese American illustrator  Kao: Host of the podcast “Overcooked” https://overcooked.typlog.io/ [Audio editor]Joshua Odgen-Davis[Be our sponsor]Please consider supporting us on Patreon (in USD, suitable for listeners who live in the U.S.): https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs. Please consider supporting us on Patreon (in RMB)：https://afdian.net/p/e0a54e82ebd111e9bd2d52540025c377【Links & resources】越烤越糊https://overcooked.typlog.io/清醒梦播客救母那集https://hekukaixin.com/2021/05/22/%e6%b8%85%e9%86%92%e6%a2%a6-e18%ef%bd%9c%e4%b8%ad%e5%9b%bd%e6%96%87%e5%8c%96%e7%9a%84%e6%95%91%e6%af%8d%e4%bc%a0%e8%af%b4/【Business collab】Please reach out to us at [email protected] for any business inquiries. 【Listen to LMM】Find Loud Murmurs in the iTunes podcast store, Google Play, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts (e.g. Pocket Casts, Overcast)! Please subscribe, enjoy, and feel free to drop us a note and leave us a review. RSS feed: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/258327.rss Itunes: https://apple.co/2VAVf0Z Google play: goo.gl/KjRYPN Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IWNuRB Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=544416&refid=stpr Pocket Cast: Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/loudmurmurs)