The Girl with the Antenna: Endgame and the question of Asian Representation

Now that the spoiler ban has been lifted on the Avengers: Endgame, the #DontSpoilTheEndgame initiative seems to be a thing in the past with trolls taking to Twitter and Reddit by storm. At the same time, it opens up a space where we can finally have a deep (and maybe critical) discussion about the film.

As you continue reading, think about how many Asian superheroes, or characters in the Marvel Universe you can name because this blog is about why this matters.

“The Girl with the Antenna” refers to Mantis who is played by Pom Klementieff in Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017). In Endgame, this line is mentioned by “build-a-bear” (ahem)—I mean Rocket Raccoon—in the scene when he recalls the names of his teammates whom he lost in the fight against Thanos. For some reason, he forgets Mantis’ name, and addresses her as the girl with the antenna. While this is intended for the purpose of comic relief, I can’t help but wonder why he was able to remember the names of everyone else, but hers. In Endgame, Mantis doesn’t play a major role compared to other heroines. Recall the epic battle scene that takes place after Spider-Man hands the infinity gauntlet over to Captain Marvel. He questions how she’s going to make it through the massive onslaught of enemies headed her way, but at that moment, Okoye appears alongside Shuri followed by Scarlet Witch, Pepper Pots, Valkyrie, the Wasp, Nebula, Gamora, and last but not least Mantis, who are all there to support Captain Marvel. This is such an epic moment in the film as it brings together almost all of the female cast in one powerful, action-filled scene (Girls know how to kick ass too!). I remember Scarlet Witch and Valkyrie fighting together to bring down the Leviathans, but I honestly can’t remember what Mantis does in this battle. This is not to undermine her role, but how come she only has ONE line in a film that is almost three hours long?

It’s true that casting has become more diverse in Hollywood (and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) than before. A succinct example of this is seen in the film Black Panther (2018), which according to Peter Kagwanja, “heralds an historic opportunity to depict a black ‘super hero’ at a grave moment when African-Americans and African immigrants are facing vilification and dehumanization across the post-liberal west, but also affirming their identities” (qtd in Omanga and Mainye, 20). The same thing can’t be said when it comes to the representation of Asian American characters in the Marvel franchise. The characterization of Shang-chi, for example, has received critical backlash in Chinese media. Spider-Man’s friend, Ned, might be one of the few exceptions to the rule when it comes to the representation of non-superhero-Asian characters, who are mostly depicted as villains, such as Akihiko, the yazuka boss killed by Hawkeye in Endgame. As I mentioned before, Mantis is featured but doesn’t really do, or say anything. And, in other films such as Deadpool 2 (2018), Shiori Kutsuna, who plays the role of Yukio, is not only doubly marginalized in terms of her race and sexuality, but she also upholds the Asian stereotype of being “cute” and “innocent,” which is reinforced every, single time she says her cringy one liner:“Hi Wade!”...

Despite these shortcomings, there are redeeming aspects of Endgame especially in terms of how the future of the Marvel franchise is envisioned. Both Captain America and Thor “retire” and pass on the torch to Falcon and Valkyrie, respectively. The film’s conclusion sends a powerful message about the limitations of hegemonic masculine ideals that have shaped and informed the identity of most American comic book heroes for so long. Instead, because the legacy of both Captain America and Thor will continue through the roles of Falcon and Valkyrie, the film tries to encourage a broader, cultural understanding of what constitutes heroism in the 21st century—one that is fluid in terms of its racial, gender, and/or sexual identity/identities—but this vision is a limited one.

So, let’s return to the question of why naming matters. The “girl with the antenna” is a reflection of me and every other Asian girl and boy out there who has a name that nobody can remember because it’s “too foreign,” or “too difficult to pronounce.” So we compensate by creating English nicknames. Marvel, as a cultural commodity, carries significant weight and currency. For this reason, the representation of strong, female Asian superheroes matters because its very lack impacts how others perceive me and how they make sense of my ethnicity. In other words, it speaks volumes about my marginalized status in the real world and the kinds of racial stereotypes that I have to deal with. For those who are familiar with Mantis, we know that she is a skilled fighter and a compassionate woman, and I hope that one day she gets the opportunity to show off her abilities in her own sequel.

So now that you’ve reached the end, how many Asian characters were you able to recall? Share your comments below.

The Adventures of Detective Pikachu and His Strange Case of Identity

In anticipation of the film, Detective Pikachu, which will be released in May 2019, fans of Pokémon turned to Twitter, celebrating the epic collab of Pikachu and what appears to be Sherlock Holmes through fan art, hilarious memes and even a countdown to the film. It was time for me to investigate what all this hype was about, so I finally played the video game.

Hurray! Christmas came a little early this year!

Detective Pikachu was released in North America on March 23, 2018, which was a little over two years after the game was released in Japan. It was developed by Creatures Inc., and made for the Nintendo 3Ds, although you can’t play the game in 3D mode... (T_T)

Without giving too much away, the game begins with a boy protagonist named Tim Goodman who travels to Ryme City to investigate the mystery behind his father’s disappearance. His father, Harry, was a detective who went missing after a car accident during one his investigations. Tim joins forces with his father’s partner, Pikachu, who miraculously survived the accident but has no recollection of it, and seems to have lost his thunderbolt powers. It’s hinted at throughout the game that something about detective Pikachu isn’t the same as before. What happened to Pikachu? Where did Harry go? And what’s the connection between the accident and the rise of violent pokémon that threaten the pokémon world order? To answer these questions, you’ll have to play the game where you’ll work alongside Pikachu to solve a series of mysteries that’ll lead you one step closer to uncovering the truth about Harry’s disappearance and the strange case that he was investigating.

The game itself is pretty entertaining although it’s mainly targeted for a child player. As a result, the mysteries are incredibly easy to solve and luckily, I was able to clear the game in two nights. I was disappointed at the fact that Tim is the only playable avatar and it’s too bad that there’s no option to pair detective Pikachu with other characters in the game.

Detective Pikachu is marketed as an action/adventure game on Nintendo’s official website, but it goes without saying that the cover of the game, which invokes an image of Sherlock Holmes is a telltale sign of it also being a mystery (not to mention the word Detective gives it away as well). Pikachu’s attire—his deerstalker cap, cape and magnifying glass—might suggest that the game adapts Conan Doyle’s Victorian sleuth, but I think it makes deceptive use of a British pop culture icon with superficial attachment to the original character. In fact, Pikachu himself comes across as a character who should be dressed in a fedora and trench coat like Sam Spade as the game playfully renders elements of the hardboiled detective fiction genre. Pikachu’s “tough” image, indicated by his preference for black coffee, his attraction to beautiful women, his unusual low, husky voice and his use of colloquial Japanese all pay homage to an image of the hardboiled detective and not necessarily that of the gentleman detective, Holmes.

Although the game seems to invoke qualities of the hardboiled in the characterization of detective Pikachu, it steers away from a world that is defined by cynicism and violence, which is quintessential to the hardboiled genre of detective fiction. This is probably because the game is rated “E” and therefore has to keep content kid-friendly. Consequently, this results in a strange, but interesting blend of tropes and conventions from both the hardboiled and classic genres of detective fiction. For example, detective Pikachu is unlike the typical hardboiled detective who often works alone and is depicted as the story’s anti-hero. In fact, the lone wolf detective character type is replaced with the dynamic duo Pikachu and Tim, and this pairing is reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes and Watson to some degree. Throughout the game, detective Pikachu guides the player to make correct deductions whereas Tim keeps hand drawn records of the crime scene, which is similar to how Watson kept a written record of his adventures with Holmes—though I’d argue that Tim is far more involved in the actual investigative process than Watson is in Doyle’s stories.

I think the creators of the game had some awareness of the world of Sherlock Holmes and its television franchise. Names of places such as Baker Detective Agency and the jingle at the beginning of the game, which reminded me of the soundtrack used in BBC’s Sherlock, are but two ways that Detective Pikachu repurposes canonical material and popular adaptations of Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes. At the same time, and to put it bluntly, the Pokemon/Pikachu and Sherlock Holmes mashup is profitable because it brings together two pop culture icons from the East and West, and it’s clear that the game utilizes the iconic image of Holmes as a major selling point but transforms the character of Sherlock Holmes beyond recognition—and perhaps for good reason—so as to avoid having to secure copyright permission with The Conan Doyle Estate (?).

Pikachu demanding (asking?) for coffee...

Tim is shocked to learn that Pokemon drink coffee (so are we Tim...so are we...)

Aside from this issue, the most memorable thing about the game by far, for me, was Pikachu who is a coffee connoisseur and lover of sweets. If pokémon were to exist in this world, then, I’d definitely search far and wide for a detective Pikachu. One of the things I really like about the game is how the cute, little Pikachu that I remember from the original Pokémon series is transformed into an おっさんキャラ (ossan kyara: old man character type) who loves coffee, sweets and not to mention beautiful women. While I’m not surprised about the representation of most women in the game, I found Pikachu’s love for coffee and sweets quite relatable. I love how at the end the game, you can access the gallery of “Pikachu’s Coffee Memo” and replay selected chapters of the game to collect them all! If anything, I learned some valuable lessons about how to enjoy my coffee.

“Ha— —!! Shadow clone!” …. wrong anime Pikachu lol

If I was asked to rate this game out of five stars, I’d give it a 5/5. The story is compelling, the gameplay is fairly easy and I love how Pikachu is revised in slightly humorous and unexpected ways.