The Sunday matinee before Labor Day seemed as good a time as any to watch Shang-Chi, and so at one o’clock that afternoon I sat alone in the dark sanctity of the cinema for the first time in over a year and wondered about the film with cautious excitement, that now-all-too-familiar Marvel Studios fanfare heralding the coming of Hollywood’s first Asian superhero film.
A little over two hours later I came out of that theater and morosely walked the whole way home with a weight strapped to my chest, thinking to myself and wondering why I wasn’t happier about what I’d just watched. After all, there was a lot to love about the film, and I’d expect nothing less when Disney and Marvel Studios has so clearly and adamantly reminded me of my status as a member of the target audience; perhaps the feeling I had was that of someone being aimed at down the sights of the proverbial gun.
Continue reading “Shang-Chi: Finding Meaning in Marvel Milestones (Or, the Purpose of Legend and Superheroes)”
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