Iron Fist

Cultural appropriation: a phrase that is never too far from a press review of Iron Fist. It's also what I'm focusing on here, rather than the questions about this show's pacing and editing (for the record, I think it's great).

Should a white man be playing the Iron Fist? That's the big question on the lips of many a film critic. And the answer, in my humble opinion, is 'Sure, why not?' After all, the character was white in the first place.

Is that 'cultural appropriation'? I guess so. But what's it's not is a problem, and I say that as a person of East Asian descent. There is simply nothing wrong with white people doing kung-fu, just as there's nothing wrong with a white person rapping or, indeed, a Chinese person wearing a baseball cap, while eating a Big Mac and singing Sweet Home Alabama.

Yet critics are making out that Iron Fist is like some kind of throwback to Yellow Peril characters like Fu Manchu, but it's nothing of the sort. There's a simple reason why that was offensive and why Iron Fist isn't.

Iron Fist features a white man playing a white man, whereas Fu Manchu was a Chinese man played by a white man, complete with 'slitty eye' makeup.

In spite of this obvious truth, a lot of people suggest that an Asian person would have been better suited to the role. Why? Another chop-socky Chinaman is not what the Asian community needs in terms of media representation. We need more Asian people just being people. An example that springs to mind is Glenn in The Walking Dead. He's great because he's just a regular guy, who also happens to be Asian.

But the critics continue to pile on the criticism when it comes to Iron Fist. I wonder, though, how many of those same critics heaped praise on Kill Bill, which is far more guilty of borrowing from East Asian culture than Iron Fist.

Call Iron Fist what you like. Say it's badly written or boring. That's fine. I disagree, but each to their own. Just stop getting offended about something that's not offensive - and if you aren't Asian, perhaps stop and think about what Asians actually care about.

Overall iron fist wasn't too bad. I think I was a little more forgiving of it flaws than I normally would have been if I had expected it a masterpiece but I had already heard people say the worst thing about it so my expectations were in check.

I watched every episode. After a while, I kept count to see if Danny Rand always made the dumbest choices and decisions in every episode. He did. He was by far the dumbest character in every single episode.

His competition for stupidity award was triad goons, hatchet thugs, street criminals, drug dealers, and all of his family and friends. It seemed like in every episode, there would be some core decision that was up to Danny, and he always made by far the dumbest choice that was possible.

Another annoying point was that Danny would trust every person, even the ones that were obviously against him. It got old that every single person he trusted always betrayed Danny, and he always acted shocked.

After a while, this and the never-ending bad decisions made it look like Danny was just a really stupid, dumb-as-a-rock person. Finn Jones, the actor that played Danny, could not pull off "honest surprise" at the terrible results of his stupid decisions. He just looked like he was incapable of any basic growth or maturity as a person.

Every episode is about 95% teenage soap opera, drama, whining, sadness, and maybe 5 minutes of action. This is like modern Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where it is all about relationships. Danny Rand should have been created as a girl for this TV series. He spends more time being a sensitive girl than his girlfriend does.

Eventually Danny is totally emasculated and he becomes Ward's substitute sister. It is pretty sad and pathetic. Danny's girlfriend becomes the man of the relationship, and she takes over the sacred power of Iron Fist. The Power of the Iron Fist, which was so sacred, gets passed around to three characters thanks to Danny Rand being a moron.

I binge watched already the whole show since I'm sick at home. I was aware of all the bad critics, but I had nothing else to watch. I was pretty surprised, the show has an entertaining storytelling, good acting (I like Finn as the sometimes childlike but also wise Danny Rand), some humor, sometimes a little bit cheesy, good fight scenes (even though Daredevils hallway scene is unparalleled ). I would rate the show in line with Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, Daredevil is better, but Iron Fist doesn't deserve the hate. It has also three strong, interesting female characters: Rosario Dawson has a comeback as the Night Nurse, but in stronger appearance than in Daredevil or Luke Cage. Also Jessica Henwick as Coleen Wing is a great female lead and Madame Gao is a wonderful fleshed out female villain. Give it a try.

Let me start out by saying: I'm an actor, so criticizing other actors is not my thing. Also, I understand that with a series like this, the choices that are made are made by several people not just the lead actor him/herself. I say all of this because I've seen some scathing comments directed at Finn Jones. I very much enjoyed the series, and I still standby the idea that everything Marvel/Netflix has done absolutely dwarfs the CW/DC series on television..makes DC look like a childs coloring book. Even Marvel/Netflix at their weakest episodes is still better.

The thing that leaves me slightly confused is simply: Why is every supporting character on Iron Fist so much more interesting, compelling and fleshed out THEN THE IRON FIST HIMSELF?!? I mean seriously it's bizarre, I've never seen anything like it. They could have made a show entirely based on Joy and Ward Meachum and it would've been more interesting then following Danny Rand. They could've made an entire show based around Colleen Wing..again..more interesting. Clare Temple. EVEN DAVOS who was only around for 3 eps! And so on and so forth.

Before everyone throws Finn Jones to the wolves lets remember SOMEONE made the call to cast him so if you don't like his look..welp! nothing he can do about that..someone way above him thought he was the guy, then someone else wrote his character a certain way...full of holes and honestly rather bratty and childish.

I get that Danny Rand, when we meet him, is in some way still the 10 year old kid from before the crash. Perhaps the thought process was that during that time in Kun Lin he didn't quite mature the same way Joy and Ward did...makes sense. But it's a fine line playing an imbecilic child and a grown man with deep vulnerabilities and fears. Danny's outbursts of anger were almost laughable..he looked like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Now compare that to the actor who played Davos. He had the same issue...these bursts of anger from residual issues. But when his burst forth, it wasn't funny, you knew something was deeply wrong here.

The point is, this is a solidly good show, but it's main character is the weakest and least fleshed out and thats excusing the pathetic and confusing excuse for a villain Harold Meachum. For everyone throwing darts at this series, I guarantee they like everything EXCEPT...The Iron Fist.