"With Shang Chi and The Legend Of The Ten Rings releasing exclusively in theatres, it begs the question of the lack of faith placed upon the movie’s predetermined amount of success by Disney in general. Is this possibly because of the amount of Asian-American representation or does it have nothing to do with that?" --Lola christ, 8th grade
The premise of Shang Chi is centered around our main character Shang (or as we know him for the beginning of the film, Shaun) and how his father has been in possession of the ten rings (which give the owner powers alike to a god) and hadn’t used them for more than greed. It follows Shang as he, his sister and friends discover the power of the rings.
Reviews of the movie have been positive, including the rotten tomatoes rating being "Certified Fresh", or good. (The website compiles many reviews submitted by real critics as well as audience review.) Further proof of the movie's deemed success can be proved with the amount of earnings reaching 71.4 million dollars during its debut in theaters on Sept. 3rd.
With this success you have to wonder what classified, or rather, justified the comments made by Bob Chapek, Disney’s executive officer, describing releasing Shang Chi exclusively in theatres as “an interesting experiment for us.” He explained that the wording was regarding the 45 day release date exclusively in theaters, as opposed to a simultaneous streaming release. The movie would’ve already had to overcome the industry pressure of its minority representation, but to then expect it to set the level of pandemic box office income for the next wave for Marvel cinema during the pandemic shows Chapek and others’ lack of understanding of the necessity for representation in media.
After these comments, Shang Chi star Simu Li took to Twitter in retaliation, stating “We are not an experiment. We are the underdogs; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will persevere after an embattled year. We are the surprise. I’m fired the f**k up to make history on September 3rd; JOIN US.”
Following this, Kevin Feige tried to backtrack on the entire situation during the premiere stating, “[Liu] is not a shy man. I think in that particular Tweet you can see and I think everyone does, a misunderstanding. It was not the intention. The proof is in the movie and we swing for the fences as we always do. With the amount of creative energy we put in and the budget, there's no expense spared to bring this origin story to the screen.”
On top of all of this, fans have pointed out on multiple social media platforms that there has been a serious lack of promotion for the movie compared to other cinematic releases with similar situations of being filmed and released throughout covid, for example Black Widow. Hearing this, ask yourself now how many commercials you’ve received for the movie compared to commercials you possibly received for the recent release of the mini-series Loki. Now you may have received more or less, but I think it’s something to ponder on.
You can also notice clearly the overlap of actors in Shang Chi and Crazy Rich Asians, both movies showcasing predominantly Asian representation. Which has been pointed out as a critique to Hollywood in general but I think it should be mentioned as the l what this is about: the lack of understanding regarding the necessity of representation.
Now, you could question why exactly Disney would place enormous amounts of pressure on the film while simultaneously lacking to promote and uplift the production. You could even question if this was based off of the fact that it was their first movie to have this amount of Asian American representation in focus and or leading roles.
However, despite this, Shang Chi racked in a total of 56.2 million dollars domestically and 146.2 million globally on the opening weekend. Representation in the media is important, with this I’d hope minority representation wouldn’t have to jump through hoops to find success in the industry.
Following this, Kevin Feige tried to backtrack on the entire situation during the premiere stating, “[Liu] is not a shy man. I think in that particular Tweet you can see and I think everyone does, a misunderstanding. It was not the intention. The proof is in the movie and we swing for the fences as we always do. With the amount of creative energy we put in and the budget, there's no expense spared to bring this origin story to the screen.”
On top of all of this, fans have pointed out on multiple social media platforms that there has been a serious lack of promotion for the movie compared to other cinematic releases with similar situations of being filmed and released throughout covid, for example Black Widow. Hearing this, ask yourself now how many commercials you’ve received for the movie compared to commercials you possibly received for the recent release of the mini-series Loki. Now you may have received more or less, but I think it’s something to ponder on.
You can also notice clearly the overlap of actors in Shang Chi and Crazy Rich Asians, both movies showcasing predominantly Asian representation. Which has been pointed out as a critique to Hollywood in general but I think it should be mentioned as the l what this is about: the lack of understanding regarding the necessity of representation.
Now, you could question why exactly Disney would place enormous amounts of pressure on the film while simultaneously lacking to promote and uplift the production. You could even question if this was based off of the fact that it was their first movie to have this amount of Asian American representation in focus and or leading roles.
However, despite this, Shang Chi racked in a total of 56.2 million dollars domestically and 146.2 million globally on the opening weekend. Representation in the media is important, with this I’d hope minority representation wouldn’t have to jump through hoops to find success in the industry.
