‘The Immortal Iron Fist’ Fan-Made Film by Benjamin To [Review]
It is normal for people of colour to want representation in local and international films and tv shows. Majority of the Geeks of Color squad are POC-Americans. However, I’m Singaporean. I have seen the way my American squad members talk about representation and what it means to them. I know how important it is. Being a minority of my own country, it is also equally important to me that I see myself represented, especially on international screens. Unfortunately, it might still be a few more years until I get to see Malay-Singaporean representation in any international content. In the meantime, I’ll help my other Asian friends get their well-deserved representation.
Earlier this year, I wrote an article titled ‘Why Iron Fist Should be Asian-American’. I got a lot of responses from it, both good and bad. Most of the good responses came from POC-Americans. A few days ago, I stumbled upon a fan made film titled ‘The Immortal Iron Fist’. If you know me, you’d know that Iron Fist is my all time favourite superhero and it is all I ever write about on the page. You would also know how badly I want Danny Rand to be Asian (specifically Chinese)-American. This fan made film gave me a glimpse of that. An Asian-American female Iron Fist? I’m sold.
The story revolves around Sông, a teenage martial artist who inherits her Iron Fist powers from her mother. Though this is not true to the comic book superhero, Sông upholds the characteristics similar to that of Danny Rand’s. She is headstrong, and she always gets back up when she falls, refusing to admit defeat.
Iron Fists are as diverse as they come and Sông could very much include herself in the Book of the Iron Fists alongside the other Iron Fist women. The speech Sông gives at the end is reminiscent of the Army of Thunder, a secret rebellion group of women trained by Lei Kung the Thunderer to overthrow the corrupt leader of K’un-Lun. These women would later succeed in their rebellion and end the corruption.
Sông represents the Asian-American community. She voices the importance of understanding her culture and the centuries of history attached to it. She stands up to Danny, who in this fan-made film is made to be an arrogant white male. Her culture is one that is close to her heart and it is something she takes pride in.
I think this film does a good job at showing that you can’t just pick what you like about a culture and take it without first understanding the history behind it. To all Asian-Americans, this film is for you.
Iron Fist starring Finn Jones and Jessica Henwick debuts on Netflix on March 17th, 2017. Also keep your eyes out for the new Iron Fist series by Ed Brisson and Mike Perkins and the Iron Fists series by Kaare Andrews and Afu Chan, both scheduled for release in 2017 as well.
